Being overweight is not an impediment to strength and my even be helpful. This is 705lb beltless for 5. Which is crazy. https://t.co/xMYMZJCmr0 pic.twitter.com/d7qxcOy6Yw

— James Marsh (@JamesMarsh79) January 18, 2019

True. It can help with some strength exercises where you have to shift a lot of weight using your own body weight. However, it is still more unhealthy than being slimmer.

I’d rather be able to deadlift 350 pounds at a weight of 165 pounds rather than 500 pounds at 200 pounds, and I’ll live longer, too. I am quite certain that if I ballooned past 200, I’d be able to deadlift and squat a whole lot more. But it’d be bad for my longevity and my joints.

I don’t need to be strongest person on earth. I just need to be healthy in the time I have, and hopefully live longer than someone who can lift a lot but is not really that healthy. Optimizing for the wrong thing is just hurting yourself, but in a different way than sitting on the couch snarfing Ho-Hos.