Equivalent achievements, is heavy lifting appreciated?

[SpaceCalmPeace]

This morning was one rep max testing for deadlifting in the gym and I exceeded my 80kg goal and got 82.5kg. I'm delighted with myself. I'm nearly 50, started 2 years ago with no experience and I've been going 3 times a week consistently, apart from 6 months last year due to illness. I'm especially happy that I've surpassed where I was before I got sick, as it took a long time to get my strength back up.
So for me it's a huge achievement. I'm wiped today and the coach said we'll probably be more tired than usual all week and to give ourselves time to recover.

My husband took up running in Covid, and has now done a couple of marathons. People really seem to 'get' the achievement of running, and come out to support, understand the recovery, etc.
Now I'm not saying my deadlift is the same as a marathon! But I also think it's not nothing. If I had trained three times a week for a race and I completed the longest distance I'd ever done, or the fastest, other people would get the achievement.

So how would I think about my achievement compared to other types of exercise? And the recovery? Am I lounging about the house for the week, leaving my husband to look after everyone as I'm so tired, like he is after a marathon? Or is that ridiculous?

I'm slightly tongue in cheek but also reckon it's genuinely not appreciated as a physical achievement compared to other activities. What do you think?

Congratulations on your 82.5kg One Rep Max!! It's definitely not "nothing". And excellent work coming back from illness too!

I'm 54, also started strength training 2 years ago (next week!). Deadlift is my nemesis. This morning I confirmed my 1RM (95 kg, but the 100 continues to elude me! )

Like you, I've stuck with strength training consistently, 3 x weeks, for 2 years. I think that's superb commitment for both of us, and your deadlift just proves it.

I have run in the past, still do occasionally, but only ever done half marathons. I suppose marathon running needs a different type of commitment - more time as long runs increase - but not for 2 years.

I'm not sure that weight training and marathon running are comparable, but both are significant feats.

Well done on getting your PB! Thats a great achievement!

I’m a powerlifter. After comp I spend the next day mainly in bed. Then my training load is reduced for the week after but I still train. Lifting puts a big strain on your central nervous system so the need for recovery isn’t of the same nature as running a marathon. So not particularly comparable but not more or less. TBH I wouldn’t expect anyone to be lounging around for a week after a marathon either.

But yes marathons are more relatable to people than lifting. They’re also nowhere near as cool.

I have done two powerlifting competitions, and some years previously two half marathons (at different times) and a bunch of long distance outdoor swims. In my view a powerlifting competition approximates the effort of a marathon (abeit I never ran a marathon). More than a half-marathon, anyway. A powerlifting competition is testing your max in squat, bench press and deadlift over the course of a number of hours and in accordance with a bunch of rules.

The reason I think of it like this is in part to do with the amount of effort the preparation for a powerlifting competition takes in terms of training, nutrition and recovery all needing to line up, and part due to the physical and mental effort on the day.

So by my (completely devised by me) approximation, a deadlift max out could be thought of as something over one third of a marathon (because the deadlift in the competition takes up more than one third of the effort). I’m not sure I would think of a deadlift max-out in the gym as this much effort but I would certainly take care to recover after.

After my most recent powerlifting competition I took close to a month off the gym before I returned to training. That was on the longer end for time out of the gym (see @RayKray ’s response) but I felt it was only slightly too long for me, I would try for three weeks off after a future comp.

Any which way, an 82.5kg deadlift is a considerable achievement and you are wise to take a good rest after your max out especially if you have not maxed out before or recently. You might find you need to eat a lot as well, maxing out always makes me hungry.

Do you have a video of you completing your lift? Show it to friends, they’re bound to be impressed 😁 and you might inspire someone.

Thank you all. I think I was just pondering this as all my friends are runners and none of them get it. They think it's great to go to the gym, etc. but don't understand the heavy lifting part. Luckily I do small group training so there was great support between us as we all got PBs.
I really appreciate the perspectives and love to hear about the powerlifting competitions. I'm so impressed by all you can lift as I know how much effort it takes!

Congratulations! 82.5 is terrific! I remember climbing up to that amount on my way to 100k, which took about 5 years (I'm 15 years older than you) and it felt momentous. Lifting 15% more than my bodyweight!!

Like @RayKray I don't fit hitting a PB in training like running a marathon, and I go straight to work after training (after showering & eating, that is!). Although I've never run a marathon ...

I train really hard and sometimes I could do with a nap after a heavy training session, particularly as I do 30 minutes strength & 30 minutes metcon/HIIT style stuff. But as I do that 3-4 times a week, it's not practical to nap or take a week off!!

So I think that your lifting PB is equal to the achievement of a marathon, in terms of training and mental application, but I would never think of needing a week of lying around afterwards! But I think your DH is a bit of a dick doing that, frankly. Maybe what's at stake here is that you need to take up more space and do less running around after him??

As a runner and a lifter (to some extent) a marathon is objectively a long distance to anyone. People know that elites take 2 hours to complete them, and regular people upwards to 6 hours plus, plus months of time consuming long runs to train.

A pb in lifting is more relative to your build so harder to visualise the effort and training it costs. In running comparisons it's more akin to a running pb at a shorter distance. While I was very proud of my last 5k pb, my 27:xx was modest to some, appreciated by some who understand a realistic range of running times and probably wouldn't be understood in context by many. And the 2 month training block and recovery just blend into the regular running load even though pushing through loads of paced and interval sessions was mentally tough- in a way harder than relaxing into 3 hours of easy running with a good podcast.

Well done on your pb, it's a heck of a lot more than I can deadlift!