lee,
numbers mean a lot to all of us. "what do you bench?" "what's your PR? 5k? 10k? half\mary?" etc.
i don't bench anymore. i can't wait to say that to the next clown who asks me.
Shameless numerologist!
I don't know if anyone has ever asked me what I bench. In fact, I almost have to apologize for lifting in my social scene. People think the barefoot running part is cool, though once again, I don't recall anyone asking me anything about PRs. For me, numbers are a way of objectifying a feeling, which makes it easier to measure, track progress, and communicate to others (on BRS). The actual numbers mean nothing in and of themselves, and I don't care who's stronger/weaker, faster/slower than me.
Anyway, the point was, that whereas an elite powerlifter might risk long-term joint health for bigger numbers, it makes no sense for someone who's lifting for health and fitness. Until recently, I didn't even realize that the wide-grip bench press I had always done was a powerlifting protocol. That was my point about needing to translate out of (adjust, modify) these elite paradigms to suit our own more modest needs and abilities. A lot of times, we don't even realize the original purpose of these protocols. To give another example, I only recently realized that the best way to do squats was ass-to-grass. Powerlifters just break parallel (and with a wider stance) because that's an easy criterion to judge, and also because you can lift more that way, but for full ROM and thus full benefits, deep or ass-to-grass squats are best for someone pursuing general fitness.
So it's useful to keep in mind that elites are pursuing numbers, whereas I, for one, am pursuing health and fitness. Therefore, while there is much to be learned from all the theory and practice that has gone into elite training protocols, it's a good idea to try to understand what the original reasoning behind them was, and whether or not this reasoning applies to my (our?) case. That's what I mean by 'translate.'
If I haven't made myself understood on this point at this point, I give up.