When I stopped playing sports, I tried powerlifting, trying to find a sport with black/white rules on winning/losing.
Now I don't care how strong I am. Really...how much more useful is a 450lb bench versus a 380lb bench in my everyday life? When would those extra 70lbs really be worth it for me?
I do know the amount of risk I have to entertain to get those extra 50lbs. Hurt shoulder, bad elbows, bad neck from driving into the bench...lots of fun. For 70lbs on the bench.
I just don't care anymore.
I'd rather be able to move, be somewhat strong, be able to workout when I want because I'm not hurt. If I train with girl weights, I don't care anymore.
I like slow reps, controlled contractions on positive and negative, and a big stretch and squeeze with full range of motion. I do at least 15 reps per set, but often go up to 25 or even 50 reps per set. Once I started training like that, I didn't need to do stretches or mobility work anymore. All my aches and pains and tightness vanished. I stopped focusing on moving a weight from point A to point B, and focused on making my muscle work over as far a ROM as possible, over as long a period of time as possible. It made a difference in how I look for the better...I know that. Muscles look rounder and fuller. Each little bodypart gets attention so the proportions of the body look smoother and flow better. And fewer injuries mean less atrophying of hurt muscles that I have to work my ass off on to build back up.
No more 585lb squats for 4 reps anymore. But, I'm not hurt anymore either. And I still LOOK like I can squat it (even though I probably couldn't squat 405 for 4 reps now). When I was at my powerlifting/football biggest, my quads measured 29.5 inches at 5'9" at 275lbs and I could squat 585 for 4 reps, and did my best squat of 630lbs. At the same weight now, my quads still measure 29.5 inches, but I don't squat above 225lbs now on any set. And I'm leaner. So I don't buy this whole "you have to get stronger on your 1RM to get bigger", at least when it applies to me.