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> Except for winning competitions, is there any natural advantage of bodybuilding for both men and women? For the 'extreme' of what most competitors go through

> Except for winning competitions, is there any natural advantage of bodybuilding for both men and women? For the 'extreme' of what most competitors go through? Probably not. But resistance/strength training more generally is probably beneficial: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training For women especially, as they age about one-third suffer from osteoporosis, and lifting (heavy!) weights forces body adaptions that help strengthen bones. One also often hears about seniors slipping/falling and breaking hips, which can cause a downward health spiral: doing squats and deadlifts with respectable weights (1.0x to 1.5x your bodyweight) would probably help with that. Some simple tests can reliably predict longevity: number of push-ups that can be done, speed of walking up stairs, and a sitting-rising test: * https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/simple-sitting-test-predicts-how-long-youll-live https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/simple-sitting-test-... All involved strength more than aerobic ability. There's also the fact that strength is useful in life: from carrying children and groceries, moving (heavy) items, etc. It will also help in keeping one's independence when older: I see infomercials about electric chairs to help the elderly up and down stairs. That's completely unnecessary if one has sufficient muscle mass (which is harder to keep as one ages) for mobility and stability. * https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-to-live-longer-and-better-strength-train https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-to-live-... If one has a limited amount of time, the one activity that I'd do (and do personally) is weight training. The main disadvantage is that some equipment is needed, and with gyms closed nowadays it's hard to get much done. As a fall-back I have taken up running, but it's not my first choice (though I cycled to work pre-WFH).

Someone 6y ago
Some of the training may be similar, but I see resistance/strength training as different from body-building. You do the former to become stronger, the latter to look it, and even ignoring the substance abuse (which happens in strength training, too) that adds aspects to training that are unhealthy. I also think that strength training reaches a plateau fairly soon where endurance training gives bigger benefits than further strength training.
Guthur 6y ago
I'd strongly second resistance training, it doesn't really take that much time either. A simple program like Starting Strength will have you train for not much more than 60 minutes three days a week and you'll make significant strength gains up to 1.5x body weight easily.
- Kluny 6y ago
  For women reading this - beware, it's not that easy. I've followed Starting Strength a couple of times and I plateau at 1.3x my weight in deadlift and .75x my weight in squats. Sticking to the program doesn't get me past it. I have to shake it up a lot with more reps, smaller weight intervals, and nearly doubling my food intake. It was a great way to get started though, and I'm really happy about the changes my body went through in six months or so. After that, you have to find a different program or a trainer.
  - Guthur 6y ago
    My apologies, my experience is from a male point of view on this, limits of my biology. There is a starting strength lift standards which shows more what to expect from a female perspective and is indeed a lot smaller relative to body weight. Starting strength is definitely a beginner program but it's simplicity is an excellent place to start. After the SS program I've gone to the Texas Method and enjoyed great success, ymmv.
  - throw0101a 6y ago
    For women, the Strong Curves is a popular program/book: * https://www.bretcontreras.store/products/strong-curves https://www.bretcontreras.store/products/strong-curves * https://old.reddit.com/r/StrongCurves/ https://old.reddit.com/r/StrongCurves/ I still think that SS is a good starter for the first 3-6 months, but once you can no longer jump by 2-5 pounds (1-2 kg) per workout, you've basically used up your beginner gains. (True also for men.) SS isn't meant to be a long-term program, but mostly (a) getting people to actually do strength training with (b) proper form and (c) concentrating on the Big 5 movements that probably give the best bang-for-buck/time.
- valenterry 6y ago

Someone 6y ago

Some of the training may be similar, but I see resistance/strength training as different from body-building. You do the former to become stronger, the latter to look it, and even ignoring the substance abuse (which happens in strength training, too) that adds aspects to training that are unhealthy. I also think that strength training reaches a plateau fairly soon where endurance training gives bigger benefits than further strength training.

Guthur 6y ago

I'd strongly second resistance training, it doesn't really take that much time either. A simple program like Starting Strength will have you train for not much more than 60 minutes three days a week and you'll make significant strength gains up to 1.5x body weight easily.

Kluny 6y ago
For women reading this - beware, it's not that easy. I've followed Starting Strength a couple of times and I plateau at 1.3x my weight in deadlift and .75x my weight in squats. Sticking to the program doesn't get me past it. I have to shake it up a lot with more reps, smaller weight intervals, and nearly doubling my food intake. It was a great way to get started though, and I'm really happy about the changes my body went through in six months or so. After that, you have to find a different program or a trainer.
- Guthur 6y ago
  My apologies, my experience is from a male point of view on this, limits of my biology. There is a starting strength lift standards which shows more what to expect from a female perspective and is indeed a lot smaller relative to body weight. Starting strength is definitely a beginner program but it's simplicity is an excellent place to start. After the SS program I've gone to the Texas Method and enjoyed great success, ymmv.
- throw0101a 6y ago
  For women, the Strong Curves is a popular program/book: * https://www.bretcontreras.store/products/strong-curves https://www.bretcontreras.store/products/strong-curves * https://old.reddit.com/r/StrongCurves/ https://old.reddit.com/r/StrongCurves/ I still think that SS is a good starter for the first 3-6 months, but once you can no longer jump by 2-5 pounds (1-2 kg) per workout, you've basically used up your beginner gains. (True also for men.) SS isn't meant to be a long-term program, but mostly (a) getting people to actually do strength training with (b) proper form and (c) concentrating on the Big 5 movements that probably give the best bang-for-buck/time.
valenterry 6y ago