I do know what I am talking about - I've been pumping iron for longer than a decade and compete at a national level in powerlifting and I benched 200kg in a shirt this morning.
There are many different training programs and ideas - for me, I use a modified Westside system which entails me doing 1 rep maximums in rotating but similar lifts, evey time I go to the gym (which is twice a day). This would not be the correct routine for a beginner to follow. I have not had any major injuries in 13 years, though like most lifters I do get minor soreness and inflammation from time to time.
Periodisation (what I think you are referring to when speaking about peaks) is popular in some Western systems, though these days Bulgarian and Russian hybrids are more talked about as those nations dominate the sport. In most of these systems you will be spending the majority of your time doing less than 5 reps, which is a heavy, taxing range to work in. Frequently you will go to the 1-3 rep range. It takes at least 3 or 4 years of relatively heavy training before you could conceiveably think of following the Bulgarian training sysem, which is all about heavy lifts several times a day. Even the guys that do this are all naturally gifted and probably on drugs to recouperate from it.
But the point is, the OL movements must be done in a fast moving throwing and catching motion with the knees and wrists at fully leveraged angles. The strain on these joints is terrific! They are loose for most of the lift, then boom! all the weight comes down at once at an awkward angle. It is just asking for trouble and you will undoubtedly get that.
By comparison, the power lifts are heavy also, but far more controlled and with safety measures (bars, spotters etc.) so if something goes wrong, you have a back up plan.
The other issue is that OL lifters have weird looking bodies - thick waists, thighs and shoulders, relatively undeveloped pecs. Sometimes it is called "The Ugly Sister of Bodybuilding".
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