Thread: Bodybuilding vs. Powerlifting

theyre probably both not eating enough

I think ronnie coleman said that good bodybuilders train like powerlifters and good powerlifters eat like bodybuilders

Ironic that Ronnie Coleman himself trains using the Westside Barbell powerlifting routine, I always say.

all of the great heavyweight bodybuilders use a lot of powerlifting in their routines...you can get big from doing bb routines but you don't build true thickness over the entire body with out power lifting...

Originally Posted by Saturday Fever

Ironic that Ronnie Coleman himself trains using the Westside Barbell powerlifting routine, I always say.

Ronnie is a genetic freak loaded up on enough drugs to kill a horse, using him in this equation makes no sense.

As far as the original question, a bodybuilder needs to attack muscles from many different angles for continued progression, and use a variety of rep ranges, everything from 4 to 20 reps.

And we can all still agree that without the proper diet, you're not getting big regardless.

Originally Posted by Saturday Fever

And we can all still agree that without the proper diet, you're not getting big regardless.

absolutely.

I have always put diet and nutrition ahead of training.

Originally Posted by Robert DiMaggio

I have always put diet and nutrition ahead of training.

it's a shame that most people do not do the same.

95% of the people at my gym look exactly the same as they did over a year ago when I joined. if your body does not make any noticeable changes over the course of a year your diet needs some serious work...

Granted, diet is truly the most important part of a bodybuilder's lifestyle. However, I don't understand why it isn't conceivable that certain routines are better at promoting hypertrophy. There are certainly routines that are better at promoting strength (Westside, for example), so conversely there should be routines that are more focused on gaining mass (HST). All the training in the world isn't going to make you grow without the necessary caloric intake, but still...

Personally I've always believed that diet & getting enough good food is almost more important than training itself.

When I used to play football at 227lbs I was eating 8 meals a day just to keep my natural size to play running back.

I know there are some football players here & you know that many football strength & conditioning routines are similar to powerlifting routines.

With the weights we need a lot of food but with the off season & in-season conditioning part we need even more food. With the plyometrics with & without the plyometric shoes, wind sprints with & without plyometric shoes, sprints with parachutes attached to you, climbing walls, & sprinting & jumping over those wooden walls used in obstacle courses, & even taking a training routine out of the big Tampa Bay Buccaneer full back Mike Alstott who used to get 3 of his friends to sit in a Lincoln Navigator while one guy would push it in an empty parking lot as fast as he could for 100 yards at a time causes you to burn a shit load of calories therefor needing a sh!tload of food.

& get this, some guys on our team were only eating 3 times a day & a lot of the food they were eating was junk & grease. They ended up getting kicked off the team b/c they weren't performing to their peak or big enough as they got older.

Why b/c they weren't getting enough good food for growth, recovery & fuel.

The more physical you get whether it's with weights or a conditioning routine, you're going to need. Bodybuilder, powerlifter, football player, hockey player, you name it each one of these ppl needs alot of calories & protein to supply their body.

Simple fact, no food, no growth/recovery.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Granted, diet is truly the most important part of a bodybuilder's lifestyle. However, I don't understand why it isn't conceivable that certain routines are better at promoting hypertrophy. There are certainly routines that are better at promoting strength (Westside, for example), so conversely there should be routines that are more focused on gaining mass (HST). All the training in the world isn't going to make you grow without the necessary caloric intake, but still...

I generally agree. I agree that with regards to strength training, the routine has to be geared for proper stimulation and adaptation of the CNS. But from a size standpoint, I don't really feel it matters. Have you seen the top level powerlifters these days? They're massive! The variable is that, in general, a lot of powerlifters don't eat real clean or have to worry about things like being bloated like bodybuilders do because they aren't judged on the definition of their abs, they're judged on what they can lift.

(note before this potentially gets out of hand: I'm not dogging bodybuilders or routines, simply dogging the old myth that there are "this routine is better for size")

Originally Posted by Saturday Fever

Have you seen the top level powerlifters these days? They're massive! The variable is that, in general, a lot of powerlifters don't eat real clean or have to worry about things like being bloated like bodybuilders do because they aren't judged on the definition of their abs, they're judged on what they can lift.

This is certainly true. I do feel that the best bodybuilder routines still incorporate powerlifting techniques into them, hence Gopro's routine which includes one week of every three going heavy. I usually recommend bodybuilding newbies start at higher reps, but eventually incorporate lower reps into their routines. Of course, I went pretty heavy from the start.