Does strongman/powerlifting slowly consume your entire life

JamieG said:I think I have a rather obsessive personality. I hardcore eat sleep and breathe an hobby for around 6 months and then totally lose interest to the point of never wanting to do it again and it pisses me off. It seems to cycle round though and I've got used to it now. In recent memory it's been:

Lifting
Martial arts
Reading
Video games
Jogging
Lifting again
Politics
College work(wish this was permanent)
Video games again
... and it's drifted back to martial arts.

This is probably a form of autism also. At least I always have something which entertains me. I think it would be healthier though to just balance them all constantly.

The_Lechamotive said:I think you can tell pretty quickly if you have a freaky talent for something and might have a glorious future ahead of you in a given sport. Otherwise lets face it you are doing it for the fun. It it stops being fun and upsets people around you, its have a word with yourself time I guess.

JackRevans said:A year ago i decided that i was too injured to continue powerlifting and decided to stop (only going to the gym to become aesthetic). For about a week it was very depressing, however i soon after realised just how much of the rest of my life i had completely neglected because I was so obsessed with powerlifting that it was all i ever cared about. After making this realisation and then the necessary changes to remedy the situation, my whole life became about 1000000000x better. I have since started powerlifting again, and i am trying hard to not be like i was before.

So for me, the answer is yes. However it doesn't have to.


Actually heres another thing. I believe that the law of diminishing marginal utility applies to most things, lifting included. Imagine you don't lift at all and live like a normal person. Now add in 3 hour sessions a week plus a bit more food. Not really that much difference but you're going to make a hell of a lot more gains than you would do by doing nothing. Now consider someone who lifts 4 times a week and eats like john prescott. Will another 3 more sessions per week plus even more food be beneficial? possibly. But the marginal benefit will be nowhere near as much as the DYEL starting lifting.

I think it is probably possible to live a lifestyle that fulfils 95% of your potential at lifting, without actually consuming your life THAT much. Then to fulfil the additional 5%, maybe that is where the person in question becomes an autist. Im an autist anyway though so it doesn't matter

Rodger said:
What's the reason for taking diet less seriously mate? You just realised it was overated?

LessThanLuke said:
Pretty much. My body composition has taken a bit of a hit but I am just as strong not worrying about it. I doubt I get 200g of protein a day nowadays.

matthewvc said:
protein levels and diet is overrated for strength gains.
i've noticed no difference between eating 100% clean and eating less so, other than eating clean is depressing and 2x costly.

LessThanLuke said:
Pretty much. My body composition has taken a bit of a hit but I am just as strong not worrying about it. I doubt I get 200g of protein a day nowadays.

matthewvc said:
protein levels and diet is overrated for strength gains.
i've noticed no difference between eating 100% clean and eating less so, other than eating clean is depressing and 2x costly.

Robbo91 said:
I've always wondered about this. The claims that you need 2g of protein per pound of body weight to make serious progress. I've ticked along slowly but surely just fine without it. Doesn't seem worth worrying about finding 600g of protein a day.