I had this conversation with myself as I got older and injuries began to pile up.
I think the equation is life/job applicability of the strength/type of lift weighed against the risk of injury. I used to train to move a lot of weight but my shoulders always seemed to be hurting (could not bench with a bar anymore) and I had a few bad injuries requiring surgery (both a hip and a knee, separately) that were directly related to the amount of weight I was lifting and the movements I was doing.
Anyway, I came across Brute Force sandbags at a Tactical Games and my eyes were opened to the more functional side. I do all my workouts with a combination of a PC, sandbags (usually 58#), pull-up bar, drag sled, TRX, 35# KB, jump box and adjustable DBs to 52.5# (I think that's the weight). I'm infinitely more functional for my job (LE patrol/SWAT) while being also infinitely more available due to zero time out due to big injuries. BF, Street Parking and companies like them have great programs (BF is currently free) that send you daily workouts.
Being able to do a sub 50:00 Murph is way more important/relevant to my work and lifestyle than when I would pull 545#x2 in a DL.
To put it even more into perspective, I have to take a PT test twice a year for my unit at work and I went from huffing and puffing through the obstacle course (though I could pick up the obstacles and throw them, which was almost irrelevant) to now dusting guys 15 years younger than me.
EDIT: I also do mobility-specific workouts sometimes that are mostly bodyweight that I would have been completely disinterested in when I was benching 415#... and I was wrong for thinking that way.
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