STRENGTH TRAINING/POWERLIFTING/ BODYBUILDING: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

In order for us to communicate our training goals in the most efficient way, a definition of terminology is essential. This provides clarity and ensures that we are on the same page when it comes to understanding the different types of training and competitions we can get involved in.

Strength training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding may sound similar to a degree. But they are not the same.

So, where do the differences lie? Are bodybuilders not automatically training for strength? Is powerlifting not the same as strength training? And does getting stronger mean you will look like a bodybuilder?

The following article sheds some light on the above.

STRENGTH TRAINING

The process of getting stronger places its main focus on adding incremental weight to the bar over time. In simple terms: someone squatting 200kg is stronger than someone squatting 150kg. It is as straightforward as that, because strength is, after all, a number. The more weight on the bar, the more force you are producing, the stronger you are.

One of the key features of getting stronger is that it is best done incrementally. You deadlift 70kg on day one, 72kg on day two, 74kg on day three, 76kg on day four – and so on. You keep this pattern until it stops working. Then you implement a new loading scheme for you to keep making progress.

Strength is best developed through what we call compound barbell lifts. These are movements which include a higher number of muscles and joints when being executed. For example, a deadlift involves all of your muscles in the body which perform the movement of standing the bar up from the floor to the top. The action of holding a bar in your hands, extending your knees/hips/back on the way up, while keeping your spine rigid, places a demand on those muscles involved to get the job of ‘deadlifting’ done. For example, you cannot keep the bar close on your shins without your triceps aiding in a movement called shoulder extension. You cannot break the bar off the floor without your calves contracting hard – because the calves extend the ankles, and ankle extension is the movement we are attempting to perform into the floor. As another example, you cannot lock the bar out on top without your glutes shoving your hips forward. These muscles all contribute to the deadlift. Because if they didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to…deadlift.

Compare this, for example, to performing a leg extension on a machine: the quads are involved – but what about the rest of your leg and hip musculature? Most of it does not contribute to the movement, and some of it you are using to sit on your ass while you are wiggling your legs around. Less muscle mass involved – less force generated – less strength produced. So barbells with always beat machines when it comes to getting stronger.

In strength training, we are also primarily concerned with training movement patterns (compared to bodybuilding, where the main focus is on training muscles): squatting down and standing back up, bending over to lift something off the floor, putting things overhead, and pushing things into a forward direction. These are basic movement patterns which we apply in everyday activities as well as sports. And they are best trained under conditions of stability, symmetry, as well as fractional loading. The tool to best fulfill these criteria is the barbell: bipedal stances and double-handed gripping such as in the press, bench press, deadlift, and squat provide symmetry in the movements. This means that we are using both sides of the body in equal ways to move a given load through space. Standing on a flat, hard surface provides stability. And stability is the foundation for producing force. Fractional loading is possible in barbell training to all but infinite levels, because truth be told, the sleeves on a barbell are long enough to carry plates which most of us can only dream about lifting.

Compare the barbell to equipment such as resistance bands or dumbbells where you always have a degree of instability involved due to the unilateral nature of the movements, and where incremental loading is finite as the weight these pieces of equipment go up to have a much lower limit compared to a barbell.

POWERLIFTING

In this sport (something which strength training is not), we focus on moving a maximum weight for one rep in the squat, deadlift, and bench press. It just so happens that these three movements are a part of an effective strength training program too - though they are not the same for various reasons:

Training for powerlifting usually omits the barbell overhead press, which is an important movement in a well-rounded strength program. Powerlifting focuses on maximising performance in the bench press. In strength training, the bench press is indeed an integral movement. However, to preserve shoulder health and making the movement more real-world ‘applicable’, the overhead press serves as the 'preferable' option in the long run because we are involving elements of balance and control in it. We basically never perform a horizontal pressing movement while laying on a bench in real life – while on the other hand, in everyday activity, our feet are in contact with the ground – just like it is mimicked in training the overhead press.

Powerlifters may choose to take a sumo stance for deadlifting in competition. This is usually done with the rationale that it shortens the bar path from the floor to lockout. However, since the trunk is more vertical in the sumo deadlift, and the knees and hips are bent to a higher degree than in the conventional deadlift, the question has to be asked whether this is a trade-off worth making as this kind of stance does not allow for full access to the powerful hip extensor muscles (i.e. glutes and hamstrings) which are the strongest muscles in the lower body. As such, if the goal is to train for strength in the most efficient way, we want to involve the back musculature (through a more horizontal back angle) as well as hip extensors to the highest extent possible in the deadlift – in which case the conventional deadlift is the preferred option to the sumo deadlift.

Training for powerlifting involves so-called ‘tapering’ phases in which the overall training volume is dropped on purpose in order to dissipate fatigue before a competition. This usually lasts over a period of several weeks, with the aim of allowing the lifter to ‘peak’ on his day of competition. Strength training does not involve any planned ‘tapering’ or ‘back-off’ phases most of the time as in reality, these are built into our lifestyle in the form of holidays and work trips. For those of us who train for strength, ‘competition’ comes in the form of hitting regular PB’s in our training. And if you plan it well and turn up to the gym regularly, you will be hitting higher numbers on your lifts more often than not.

BODYBUILDING

A beauty contest rather than a sport, bodybuilding is about maximising muscle mass while minimising body fat. This is what is required in order for you to have the aesthetics of a potential Mr Olympia.

Training for bodybuilding has a few distinct characteristics which makes it different from strength training and powerlifting:

As the goal is to maximise muscle mass, training volume is an important feature. This means that a rather high number of exercises are performed with rep ranges that go all the way up to 30+ (whereas strength is best developed in lower rep ranges up to about 5). The goal is to ‘hit’ a muscle from various angles and in different positions to get a ‘well-rounded’ development of its fibers. For example, body builders will do calf raises by placing their feet into different positions depending on which part of this muscle they want to develop. Turning toes out will develop more the lateral aspect of the gastrocnemius, while turning toes in will develop more the medial aspect of it. Keeping your knees slightly bent while going onto the balls of your feet will develop more the soleus aspect of the calves. In the field of strength training and powerlifting, we are not concerned with hitting different ‘aspects’ of a muscle as the goal is to lift the highest weight possible in a given exercise, while all muscles involved in the most ‘appropriate’ way to complete the movement. Adding to the above, for example, the calves are highly active in the squat, as when you bend your knees and ankles and get to the bottom of the squat range, they prevent your knees from sliding forward and are therefore anchoring their position.

Minimising body fat for bodybuilding competitions becomes a matter of diet as well as periods of controlled ‘starvation’ in which the body torches the last remaining bits of fat. The peculiar part about this is that the diet will guide the bodybuilder’s training. In training for strength, on the other hand, the training guides the diet – as getting stronger requires a surplus of calories in order for your body to recover and muscles to grow between workouts. During periods of concentrated fat loss, bodybuilders will not expect to see big increases in strength (if any at all), as a drop in body weight means that also some muscle mass is being lost – which impacts the ability to produce force and therefore the ability to get stronger.

WHERE IS THE OVERLAP?

There is one common theme which unites all of the three: an increase in strength is beneficial. It is either the main goal in strength training and powerlifting, or the foundation for getting bigger muscles in the case of bodybuilding.

An increase in strength leads to an increase in muscle size. This is the number one biological principle of how we are able to lift heavier weights over time. For the strength trainee as well as powerlifter, getting bigger muscles is a side effect of getting stronger. For the bodybuilder, getting stronger feeds into his main goal which is to maximise muscle mass. In other words: a stronger bodybuilder is more likely to excel on the stage than a weaker one. The biggest bodybuilders of all time, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman, have all been very strong on compound lifts such as the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Arnold’s highest deadlift is quoted as 322.4kg done in 1964, while Coleman’s squat PB for two reps was reportedly 363kg. These guys did not just train high reps to chase the ‘pump’, but their ability to push heavy weights around the gym gave them the incredible physique they developed over many years.

Whether you are training for strength, powerlifting, or bodybuilding, the message is clear: lift heavier weights over time, and see the results coming. If you want to have a stronger body, train for strength (what?!). If you want to win in powerlifting – you guessed right - train for strength. If you want to make it as a pro bodybuilder, guess what?

More reasons to drop under the bar today.

#strengthtraining #powerlifting #barbells #getstronger #hamptonwick #teddington