Reply #8: 35 year old male

[eyepaddle]

I lift 40 pounds VERY frequently--sometimes up to 150, and on rare occasions 175-200 (this would be stacking a 400 pound 55 gallon drum on top of another 55 gal. drum, with the help of a friend)

It is getting harder than it used to be, fortunately it is getting a lot less common. And now that I am in grad school, it is REALLY less common! Stil get to do it on some weekends, and we'll see about this summer, I suppose.

If you have to crank around weight like this be EXTREMELY careful about how you lift.

Oh yeah, the weight as a percent of your body weight is a lot more important than some number like 20, 40 or sixty pounds. For the record I am about 235 pounds.

Also for the record, I have worked with many women around your age and they were quite capable of lifting all but the craziest sized loads--and then a lot of the time it was the height mismatch that eliminated them. On one occasion I remember, a 140 pound male colleague and a 130 pound female colleague double stacked a 380 pound drum. It was kind of savage on them, but they got it done when needed.

So if your underlying health is good, you should be okay.

Go get 'em!