Bodybuilders and powerlifters both love working their muscles against resistance, but if you compare the physique or professional bodybuilders and powerlifters, you’ll see they’re different. Bodybuilders often have large, well-defined muscles and a low body fat percentage. When they flex a muscle, it pops! To all appearances, they look strong and many are, but their primary goal is to build muscle size.
In contrast, powerlifters might be large, but they lack the obvious muscle definition that a hardcore bodybuilder has. Sometimes, powerlifters have significant amounts of body fat covering their muscle, so they don’t have the same lean, sculpted physique that serious bodybuilders do.
The reason the body of a bodybuilder differs from a powerlifter is they have different approaches to training. The goal of a bodybuilder is to sculpt a defined, but lean, body with obvious muscle definition. In contrast, a power lifter’s goal is to be as strong as possible. Their end goal is to maximize strength rather than aesthetics. When they compete in powerlifting competitions, aesthetics don’t matter, it’s how much they can lift.
However, the muscle-to-fat ratio still matters since powerlifters complete within specified weight classes. Two powerlifters may weigh the same and compete in the same class, but if one has more muscle than the other, it gives the more muscle-bound individual an advantage in that weight class. Plus, if a powerlifter loses body fat, they may compete in a lower weight class. But if you look at the physiques of some powerlifters, you’ll see that many aren’t lean and sculpted like a bodybuilder.
Why Should This Matter to You?
If you’re not a professional bodybuilder or powerlifter, you might wonder why bodybuilders and powerlifters and their distinct training styles matter, but it does! Whether you’re training to become stronger or to sculpt, you can learn from their differing approaches. If your goal is to build muscle, who better to show you how to do it than a professional bodybuilder? Likewise, if you want to be stronger, learn from a powerlifter!
How Bodybuilders Train
A bodybuilder wants to gain more muscle definition and lean muscle. They also want to reduce body fat so the muscle shows. Along the way, bodybuilders gain strength, but despite how “ripped” they look, it doesn’t always translate into brute strength. You become stronger when the contractile units called actin and myosin filaments of muscle cells increase, a process called myofibrillar hypertrophy. The muscle fibers thicken and can generate more force. Therefore, you can lift a heavier weight.
However, muscles also grow because of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, an increase in the volume of a muscle. The rise in volume consists of glycogen, ATP, creatine phosphate, and water. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy makes the muscle look larger, but it doesn’t make it stronger.
To a powerlifter, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is worthless. They’re trying to lift more, so what counts for them is myofibrillar hypertrophy, an increase in the size of muscle fibers, as this creates functional strength that helps their muscles generate more force and lift more weight. Based on this, we know that large muscles aren’t always strong muscles since muscle can grow by increasing their volume through sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
Train Like a Bodybuilder or a Powerlifter?
Now that you know how the body of a powerlifter and bodybuilder differ, how should that affect your training? To improve muscle aesthetics and look lean and defined, train like a bodybuilder. If you want brute strength more than the lean, defined physique of a bodybuilder, train like a powerlifter.
If strength is your goal, more of your training should consist of heavy resistance and low reps with long rest periods between sets. For example, a powerlifter uses a resistance of around 80 to 90% of their one-rep max and does 2 to 5 repetitions. Because powerlifters lift so heavily, they rest 3-5 minutes between sets, so they can max out their lift during the next set. Powerlifters also focus on compound exercises, like squats, deadlifts, bench press, and rows that work more than one muscle group at the same time.
What if your goal is to build muscle size, irrespective of strength? Train like a bodybuilder. The formula is lighter resistance, more repetitions, and shorter rest periods between sets. Bodybuilders use a resistance of between 50 and 80% of their one-rep max and do 6 to 12 repetitions for each set. Rather than resting 3-5 minutes after a set, they reduce the rest period between sets to 2 to 3 minutes. This isn’t the best formula for strength, but it’s ideal for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Using this approach, you might see a boost in muscle size right after a workout because of a temporary swelling of the muscle that bodybuilder’s call the muscle pump.
Genetics and Nutrition Play a Role Too
Even if you want to develop large muscles or lift like a powerlifter factors like height can limit how strong or muscle-bound you become. Women have a harder time becoming muscle-bound than men since they lack the hormonal structure to do so. Height and factors like arm length and leg length affect performance for certain lifts too. For example, being of shorter stature offers an advantage for doing squats. If you’re shorter or have shorter legs, you’ll have an easier time performing this exercise and be able to handle more weight. However, taller people with longer arms have an advantage when they deadlift. The worst combination for deadlifting is a long torso and short arms.
The Bottom Line
A variety of factors affect the ability to build muscle size and strength, but if your principal goal is to get stronger, model yourself after the powerlifters. If build muscle size is your key objective, think, and train like a bodybuilder. Whichever you do, don’t forget about the importance of good nutrition! It matters too.
References:
- American Council on Exercise. “10 Things to Know About Muscle Fibers”
- Science Daily. “Why Strength Depends on More Than Muscle”
- Miller AE, MacDougall JD, Tarnopolsky MA, Sale DG (1993). “Gender differences in strength and muscle fiber characteristics”. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 66 (3): 254–62.
- Int J Exerc Sci. 2020; 13(4): 281–297.Published online 2020 May 1.
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