There's more and more research that says you do need to do some sort of resistance/strength training to minimize morbidity and mortality. It doesn't have to be weight lifting, but if you're only doing cardio you're missing something.
I don't minmax life for the same reason I don't minmax games. We had healthy people before the recent weight lifting craze; my strength training is rock climbing.
> We had healthy people before the recent weight lifting craze
Most people did manual labor. Even if they didn't, everyone walked more, or rode horses, chopped wood, drew water from wells, and did a hundred other things that required using their muscles in a way that's just not necessary today.
> my strength training is rock climbing
That's weight lifting too. Bodyweight is still weight.
Rock climbing is probably going to be just as good at weight lifting. My understanding of the mental model here is:
Up until around age 60, your body adjusts your muscle mass based on usage. Somewhere around 60, you start losing muscle mass. If you have just enough muscle for day to day activities in a sedentary life at that point, then over time daily tasks like carrying groceries or standing up out of a chair are going to become prohibitively difficult. You need to do something that encourages your body to grow more muscle than you need for day to day life so that you can afford to lose some of it.
You are missing even more when you do just weight lifting. The weight lifting part is the less important part. Being bulky is easthetic preference, lifting is pleasant hobby for quite a lot of people (actually including me), but it is nothing necessary for health.
ceejayoz|1 month ago
triceratops|1 month ago
Most people did manual labor. Even if they didn't, everyone walked more, or rode horses, chopped wood, drew water from wells, and did a hundred other things that required using their muscles in a way that's just not necessary today.
> my strength training is rock climbing
That's weight lifting too. Bodyweight is still weight.
davey48016|1 month ago
Up until around age 60, your body adjusts your muscle mass based on usage. Somewhere around 60, you start losing muscle mass. If you have just enough muscle for day to day activities in a sedentary life at that point, then over time daily tasks like carrying groceries or standing up out of a chair are going to become prohibitively difficult. You need to do something that encourages your body to grow more muscle than you need for day to day life so that you can afford to lose some of it.
watwut|1 month ago