One trend I’ve been seeing in health is a movement away from traditional weight training. A few years ago, Mark Sisson wrote how he has moved to mostly bodyweight training. Chad Waterbury now says gymnastic-type training is as good as weights. You also have the popular Foundation training that some pro athletes are following. And recently Drew Baye had this to say:
“As long as you train hard, progressively, and consistently you can get bigger and stronger with just about anything, including your own body weight; and I think most people can get just about as big and strong with bodyweight training as anything else if they do it correctly.”
I bring this up because I have been sensing the same thing with my own training. The last year or so, I just haven’t had much desire to lift heavy weights. It’s not a matter of ability, but just not having the desire to do so. And with that I’ve also moved to more bodyweight training.
So is weightlifting really on the way out? Certainly, weights do generally enhance athletic performance. But in terms of health, do weights have any advantage over bodyweight training? Not that I know of. There is obviously more of an injury risk with weights as well.