Judd Lienhard

It never fails. If I choose set a weight down too hard, if my shorts are too short, if my son is on his iPad in a restaurant, or God forbid, I’m wearing tights, some old as***le is there to stare.

Well, two can play at that game Gandalf.

I role my eyes when guys get their test checked and it’s in the high side. There are plenty of dudes dancing around in dresses that love having s*x with other men that also have high testosterone.

Anything we can latch onto that makes us feel secure in our macho heteros*xuality though I guess

There is a desperation in men these days to find a place in the world. Often they are prone to reaching back in time, trying to emulate the perceived qualities of men from a time they seemed more valued and essential. Other times they emulate the small fragments of society left where traditional manhood seems to be an integral part.

Usually these tactics are unsuited to help them flourish in their actual environment.

Increasingly we seem lost. Society is also pushing an agenda where men are seen as inessential at best, and a dangerous toxin at worst. There’s pressure to forsake natural inclinations and characteristics to maintain acceptance, and equal pressure to rebel and embrace overt personalities that fly in the face of social convention.

The truth is that men have special characteristics that still have a valuable place in today’s world. Confidence, drive, assertiveness, and vision. But these things can only work in a healthy environment. The traits I listed aren’t limited to men, but they are things crucial for men to embrace to allow for a healthy expression of our innate abilities.

We are all works in progress. And most of us are driven to be an asset to our world and our families. Social media is often the least healthy place for us to spend our time, but we do nonetheless, so let’s make that place as healthy as it can possibly be.

Read the comments on this with a lens for the toxic nature of unhealthy interaction. Look for logical fallacies in the responses. Look for the anger in the tone of the comments. Try to understand the pain and sense of loss that must drive these comments.

This isn’t political. I won’t even confirm the right answer, so as not to “take a side”.

Just demonstrates how much more complex the world is than we realize over here with our big opinions.

The hardest part for people as our age and training g age advances is accepting we can’t do as much. But we also don’t need as much.

Body part splits, especially upper/lower, is a good option also.

No offense intended. I wasn’t an elite athlete either. The big lifts made a world of difference in my athletic performance.

But for pro and high level division one athletes their value begins to decline. Coaches wish it wasn’t the case believe me. But they’ve studied it. There is a weak correlation between strength to weight ratio, speed and in field performance at that level.

One thing to consider is that some of the best athletes are limited in their ability to successfully and safely do the big lifts because on anatomy. They are built for speed and power, not the weight room. A lot of them have narrow shoulders, long arms, small waists, poor ankle mobility, and hip structures that don’t favor the weight room.