Irish is right. The lighterweights all haev small joints. Look at a lifter like Tony Conyers -- he is tiny, yet he lifts huge weights. Nance Avigliano is another example. Her teen protege -- can;t rmember her name. Amy Weisberger -- this list goes on and on. Heart will take you further than any joint in your body. If you are getting injured all the time then you are doing something very wrong. I have watched guys with extra large joints get hurt so don't believe what your doc says about joint size -- anyone can get hurt along the way. However, you can work around injuries. I was told by a doc 4 years ago to stop lifting because my shoudler will be jello in 1 year -- guess what, 4 years later my bench is up 170lbs, and my shoudler hasn;t botheered me in almost 2 years. No surgeries either.