# COMPETITIVE BODYBUILDING - POWERLIFTING - ATHLETICS & SPORTS > POWERLIFTING FORUM >  Powerlifting VS Bodybuilding

## Kärnfysikern

What made you decide that you wanted to PL and not BB??

I feel that PL is a little bit more fun because of the chalaging(sp?) workouts. I though I trained hard when I was bbing but damn was I wrong the intensity of PL'ing is insane.

But bodybuilding has the advantage of feeling the pump in every muscle and that is pure enjoyment.

PL'ers also have the advantage that they can bulk year round  :LOL: 

I think I will continue to do both in periods depending on how I feel because both have there downsides and uppsides.

I mean when I am on the beach I am rather a cut bodybuilder then a chubby powerlifter, but when I am in the gym I am rather a powerlifter so I can humiliate all the bodybuilders  :Wink/Grin:

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## Ermantroudt

I made the swtich to PL routines when I was not getting the results I wanted from BB routines, that led to know some other powerlifters, then to cometing in PL. I do not think I would ever go back to BB based routine, my physique is about 100 times better than it was on a BB routine too.

Ermantroudt

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## testprop

I actually like BB more, but I like to be strong too 
BIG and strong  :Big Grin:

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## FREAK2

cause there are no egotistical powerlifters like there are bodybuilders. You will never see a powerlifter at a meet walk around like he is all that and a bag of chips. but when you go to a bodybuilding show everybody walks around with toothpick legs and short ripped up shorts that women should be wearing. that think they are bad ass.

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## jbrand

I'm with these guys as far as my physique looking much better as a "powerlifter" per se as to when I was mindlessly following high volume bodybuilding routines.

I also find it easier to stay motivated and headstrong as a PLer. Bodybuilders seem to only be interested in how they look and their measurements as a means of tracking progress. My goal is solely progressive overload everytime I hit the gym, it helps me set short-term realistic goals as well as keep interest in the sport. I also realized after years of training that it was much more important to be a product of functional strength and in turn a better athlete than to simply look good.

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## superbeast

> _Originally posted by johan_ 
> *I mean when I am on the beach I am rather a cut bodybuilder then a chubby powerlifter, but when I am in the gym I am rather a powerlifter so I can humiliate all the bodybuilders *


That's funny. I don't think I've ever been humiliated by a powerlifter. Usually they are the ones that are all covered in sweatshirts and baggy pants hiding their physiques.  :Big Grin:  

Honestly though, I don't think there is that much of a difference. Somebody said they didn't grow from a high volume routine. Who said bodybuilders only use high volume? I do powerlifting movements, I just don't use singles. My rep schemes vary all the time. The key is a combination of exercises and sets and reps and everything else. It just takes time to figure out what works fo you.

I'm more about my physique than how much I can lift, even though, I am pretty strong. That is the only difference between BB & PL. What matters more?

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## Kärnfysikern

> _Originally posted by superbeast_ 
> *
> 
> That's funny. I don't think I've ever been humiliated by a powerlifter. Usually they are the ones that are all covered in sweatshirts and baggy pants hiding their physiques.  
> 
> Honestly though, I don't think there is that much of a difference. Somebody said they didn't grow from a high volume routine. Who said bodybuilders only use high volume? I do powerlifting movements, I just don't use singles. My rep schemes vary all the time. The key is a combination of exercises and sets and reps and everything else. It just takes time to figure out what works fo you.
> 
> I'm more about my physique than how much I can lift, even though, I am pretty strong. That is the only difference between BB & PL. What matters more?*


Good point, I categorised a little bit to much, sure there are ripped powerlifters and super strong bodybuilders, all a question of the persons prioritys and genetics. The way of training just reflects the goals of that person.

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## powerlifterjay

Freak and I train togther and both attended a Bodybuilding show Yesterday. We both compete regularly. I think there is a differnce in opinion when gym people who dont actually compete at a stae or national level like we do understand what the real difference is.

Freak i feel ya on the little legs and gay ass shorts! Jeez, some of the ego's on the little bodybuilders at that show was crazy. Its like what mirror were they lookin in when they left the house. 

I think its only fair when comparing a certain Bodybuilder to a certain powerlifter , Make sure their equals in their sport. No one cares about a local gym hero who has done one level 1 or 2 show, comparing himself to what he thinks is a bad physique on a guy who totals 2300lbs and has sponsers out the ass. Get real. Apples and oranges. 

Until you actually diet, compete, and have some gym time under your belt you are a body shaper. You may be building your body, but your not techniqualy a bodybuilder. Yet! Right? Same with powerlifting, if you train for power , it doesnt make you a powerlifter till you compete and lay it on the line. My opinion.

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## xxxl83

I think we should all support each other, everyone can learn something from each of the 3 sports. 
Yes 3 sports don't forget the olymplic lifters.

xxxl83

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## FREAK2

xx183 one of the greatest junior powerlifters is now a olympic lifter and 
he is amazing. 

In my opinion is that all the bodybuilder guys with the egos that wear the shorts with the ripples and half shirts those are the ones that dont compete or do compete but compete in a mom and pop show. 

ive trained with a IFBB pro bodybuilder and i met alot of IFBB pro's also, including the #1 BB Ronnie Coleman. And none of them have egos like these guys. and yes some have helped me, with bodybuilding and powerlifting. 

PLJAY for example: look at Byron English, hes big, ripped and just plain freaky.....he wore a damn suit all covered up. he wasnt wearing his wifes shorts and his sons t-shirt. And most of the little punks aint got no legs. JAY how many people do u think that were there that just looked so damn stupid.

another thing alot of people and powerlifters kinda call out bodybuilders as being weak. well i hope you are talking about the same ones that i mentioned about with the wifes shorts and there sons tshirt. Just to clear things up. im a big bodybuilding fan and ive seen alot of training tapes and stuff. and the guys who compete on a Pro level (IFBB) these guys are strong mo fo's. some are even stronger then most powerlifters.
how many pler's can incline 455 for reps, or deadlift 805x2, or barbell row 500x10, or leg press with close to 2000, or do 100lb db curls, or shrug 600 for reps,i can just go on. i just think that some people need to read up on these pro's and not worry about these little no legged jackasses. sorry if im coming off like a dick, but im still kinda pissed off about the show me and JAY witnessed sat. night and to see our good friend get screwed. so i will apologize ahead of time if i came off to strong.

FREAK

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## Kärnfysikern

> _Originally posted by FREAK_ 
> *xx183 one of the greatest junior powerlifters is now a olympic lifter and 
> he is amazing. 
> 
> In my opinion is that all the bodybuilder guys with the egos that wear the shorts with the ripples and half shirts those are the ones that dont compete or do compete but compete in a mom and pop show. 
> 
> ive trained with a IFBB pro bodybuilder and i met alot of IFBB pro's also, including the #1 BB Ronnie Coleman. And none of them have egos like these guys. and yes some have helped me, with bodybuilding and powerlifting. 
> 
> PLJAY for example: look at Byron English, hes big, ripped and just plain freaky.....he wore a damn suit all covered up. he wasnt wearing his wifes shorts and his sons t-shirt. And most of the little punks aint got no legs. JAY how many people do u think that were there that just looked so damn stupid.
> ...


This got a little heated  :LOL:  , again I must say I didnt try to make one sport look better then another or anything and I aggre there is way to many jackasses that think they are all that in bodybuilding. Just at my gym I almost where in fights with like 4 or 5 of those 16-18 years olds that had done one cycle and thought they where all that and a little more. Powerlifting makes people humble IMO because we realise how weak we realy are hehe  :LOL:  (not you guys thou you are stong mofos but I guess the humbleness has folowed you since the time you to where weak  :Don't know:  ). In powerlifting you cant cheat upp extra weight in the squat, DL or bench so that breaks all the wanabe strong mutherfuckers egos. The ones that curl 176 pounds with 15 inch arms cheating like hell thinking they are huge. And even using straps while dumbel curling because they can hardly keep a grip on the damn dumbells because they swing them so hard  :LOL:  

xxxl83 I aggre that we all should learn from each sport, I just started doing clean and press and damn those motherfuckers feels good Im eager to try other olympic lifting lifts. I guess arnold knew what he was talking about when he recomended the basic lifts for bodybuilders like bench, dl, squat, clean and press and so on.

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## Mr. Nobody

A lot of things bother me about where bodybuilding shows are going nowadays:
The inclusion of fitness contests:
which basically is a beauty pagent. Why should I have to sit through 5 hours of women prancing around on stage? If I wanna see that I'll go to the beach and get a nice tan on top of that.
The smell of that artificial tanner:
that permiats the whole theatre. Without putting on a layer of chocolate you will never win, no matter how big you are, cause we dont want to see "normal" tan on stage.
The politics:
No comments.....its who you know a lot of times
The audience show offs:
My most favourite group. Guys with Invisable Lat Syndrome walking around as if they were lost, when all they want is being noticed: pathetic.
Then we have the drug monkeys:
that resemble Neanderthals in the off season. They will never compete, cause losing 1 lb of bloat would impete their transition to another species.

The perverse thing is that even though I absolutely hate all that, I want to compete again soon, there is nothing more exciting then to be on stage and "feel" the energy of the audience. Nothing more exciting then posing to your music, having fun, being in the centre of it all and giving the spectators what they want. Nothong more exciting then to hit special poses to the chear of the audience. I myself never care for what judges think of me, all I care about is to give a good show, be mu best and have fun on stage. Face it, the trophies are mostly cheap pieces of plastic that will dessintegrate as soon as you go home. Pictures and memories dont.

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## Pete235

> _Originally posted by powerlifterjay_ 
> [BUntil you actually diet, compete, and have some gym time under your belt you are a body shaper. You may be building your body, but your not techniqualy a bodybuilder. Yet! Right? Same with powerlifting, if you train for power , it doesnt make you a powerlifter till you compete and lay it on the line. My opinion. [/B]


Excellent point!!!

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## xxxl83

Freak I feel ya, with the little leg thing it's sad.
My point of view is this. If you divide the sports up people loose alot of info. look at some of the bullshit BB mags. they have all the young guys in the gym fucked up, they run BB routines of the pros that don't work or end up having the guys overtrain. The little legs on the guys you're talking about is because they Need powerlifting guidance. They don't do heavy basic movements, they eat like birds, then cry I'm a hardgainer I can't put on weight or get any stronger.
Go into some of the gyms around your way watch how many guys spend an hour on Chest or Bi's then come in and spend 20 mins. on a leg workout and don't even squat!
I foremost train for strength but I am a fan of Bodybuilding and Olympic lifters I think in order for all of the sports to grow we need to help each other.
Freak don't get me wrong you and PLjay make some great points and I couldn't agree more I just think we're better off not letting the little leg people destroy our views of real bbers.


xxxl83

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## Kärnfysikern

Talking about skinny legs, do you feel that you get any quad development at all from powerlifting??

I am thinking about adding some leg extensions or front squats to my PL routine.

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## FREAK2

Johan i do leg ext for powerlifting so it will get the muscles and joints strong around your knees. front squats dont really do anything for powerlifting, instead of front squats do some hack's or leg presses. quad's are very important in powerliftins and so are hams, so make sure you hit your hams HARD! 

xxx183, dude i dont have to go anywhere to see these idiots train me and pljay see these kinds of people in our gym. ive seen these people do like 100sets of bi's. GYM STORY: PLJAY might remember this. this one kid came in walking around in a t-top and pants cause of course he had no legs. he was flexing, you know doing the normal pretty boy shit. and he started to do cambared bar curls with like 25's on it and struggling, when he was done he was like whoever said that bodybuilders are weak. 
He made himself look like a jackass so i decided to do some straightbar curls with 45's and 10's for reps. just to piss him off. and i did cause i made a comment about powerlifting to him.

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## xxxl83

Freak, how many BBers do you think know the difference between being
skinny and being cut up?
To be honest with you it's guys like this that make BBer look bad and they don't even realize it!!!

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## Pete235

FREAK...you have a lot of hostility bro. I know there are piss ants who act like idiots in the gym but there are more good people than bad. Just relax bro, you're among friends here. I'm a bodybuilder (well bodyshaper until next March  :Wink: ) and I have massive respect for powerlifters and strongman competitors. I'm a huge fan of all kinds of wieght lifting. I guess I'm saying no need to be on the defensive bro, we're all brothers of the iron game.

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## superbeast

> _Originally posted by Pete235_ 
> *FREAK...you have a lot of hostility bro. I know there are piss ants who act like idiots in the gym but there are more good people than bad. Just relax bro, you're among friends here. I'm a bodybuilder (well bodyshaper until next March ) and I have massive respect for powerlifters and strongman competitors. I'm a huge fan of all kinds of wieght lifting. I guess I'm saying no need to be on the defensive bro, we're all brothers of the iron game.*


Pete is right!

This is nothing but bashing of bodybuilders. "Real" bodybuilders have legs, anyway. You haven't heard anybody bash powerlifters about their gut or about their small biceps. Just relax and enjoy the board.

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## Parker

I agree with superbeast that this is all bashing bodybuilders. I don't have anything against powerlifting, but if I let bad influences of the wannabes in the gym(like the bbders everyone speaks of) I probably would. Alot of people are arguing about how many bodybuilders are egotistical, but I would argue powerlifting is no different if not more so because throwing around massive amounts of weight satisifies the male ego. I have a powerlifting friend that always stereotypes bodybuilders as "pretty boys" and "weak," and never stops ragging on bodybuilding like powerlifting is superior or something and they have to be in conflict. IMO there is no PL vs. BB just as there is no Football vs. Soccer. They are just two different sports with different objectives. I remember watching an old World's Strongest Man with Franco Columbo and Lou Ferrigno competing in it and the big fat doughboy that won it was on t.v. at the end ranting "once again this proves the superiority of powerlifting over bodybuilding!" even though Franco and Lou won a couple events and scored higher than many other competitors in the overall. I remember thinking "this guy is a complete stupid jackass and a horrible representation for his sport. That's equivalent to a bodybuilder beating a powerlifter or strongman in a bodybuilding competition and getting on t.v. and ranting on about how bb is superior to pl or a football player saying the same for beating a soccer player in a football game.

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## FREAK2

the only kind of bber's i complain about are the ones that walk around wearing clothes that look like they went to baby gap to get it. or i dont mean to say bber's ill call them weightlifters people who just train. i hate to see people who brag about how strong they think they are and i hate to see these people walk around with there arms 5feet away from there body like they should work at delta as a luggage carrier. and they have the nerve to turn around like they are in a body cast. untill these peopl compete on any level of bodybuilding or powerlifting or even olympic lifting they are gonna be a no body in my book. i know it might sound stupid but thats how i feel.

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## superbeast

> _Originally posted by FREAK_ 
> *the only kind of bber's i complain about are the ones that walk around wearing clothes that look like they went to baby gap to get it. or i dont mean to say bber's ill call them weightlifters people who just train. i hate to see people who brag about how strong they think they are and i hate to see these people walk around with there arms 5feet away from there body like they should work at delta as a luggage carrier. and they have the nerve to turn around like they are in a body cast. untill these peopl compete on any level of bodybuilding or powerlifting or even olympic lifting they are gonna be a no body in my book. i know it might sound stupid but thats how i feel.*


I agree, it just sounds bad when you categorize all bodybuilders as being that way. Also, you can't categorize everybody who goes to the gym as a bodybuilder or powerlifter. Most people are neither. I wouldn't get on here and say all powerlifters are fat and have big guts. Simply because it isn't true. No harm, though.

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## powerlifterjay

Hey keep in mind one thing about powerlifting and fat guys. Unless you get subscriptions to any PL mags you only read about the super heavyweight powerlifters. You have no clue that there are in my opinion better physiques in powerlifting then off season Bodybuilder. Meaning you might not see a guy lift with 3% BF but there are a ton with 10 and 15% but have size and mass that most BB would dream of. I have cashed a WPO check that officially makes me a professional bencher. At that meet it was Bench Bash for cash and a level 4 bodybuilding show. A mini Arnold Classic! IT was so clear who was the bigger of the two groups. Ya the bodybuilders looked better for whatthey were there to do. But you take an off season Bodybuider and a powerlifter they are the same. Powerlifting has some 14 weight classes. I my self have to diet to make weight. Not all of us our slobs. Hell i shave and Tan and if you came into my gym and i was just walkin around you wouldnt even know iam a powerlifter. I am 5'9 1/2 and 250plus lbs and body fat was 16% 2 months ago so after my cardio for the last month or two it is in the 15% range for sure. 

I look at it like this i dont compare the two. I enjoyed the show last weekend. It was really fun. Hell i would not even rule out the idea of trying it myself one day. BUt i could easily diet down to 5% WAY before a guy 5% could reach my 800 squat and 600 plus bench! Powerlifters arent lazy, in fact My opinion we train harder Much! Now one thing i will say is Bodybuilders dont train for strength and the ones that have developed freaky size , my hats off cause i have accses to all the shit in the world and dont know if i could EVER be 5% at 270lbs. Its apples and oranges. I have no hostelity towards that sport. I just hate when i hear powerlifters are fat and have guts. NO the fat asses that way 350lbs on tv do, not the 13 other classes. 

Two sports. I watched my buddy who did a show last week really show alot of dicipline with his diet and training. Training wasnt intense, but he trained hard. Dieted harder. SO dont think i am bashin BB. Iam not it is just two very differen tthings. Last thing on my mind is how good and shredded i look in a mirror or to a judge, last thing BB'S think is dam i wonder what i can lift for a max. LIft hard!

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## Kärnfysikern

Hum this got alot more negative then I thought. I didnt mean any offense at all to any of the sports because I love both, and if you guys look closely I had a smily after this




> I mean when I am on the beach I am rather a cut bodybuilder then a chubby powerlifter, but when I am in the gym I am rather a powerlifter so I can humiliate all the bodybuilders


That means it was a half joke and nothing to be taken to seriously  :LOL:  

So everyone relax this is not a war betwen sports here. 

My question only was why you guys prefer one over the other?  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  

I dont prefer one over the other because I like both as much. I could easly se myself compete in both sports in the future(if I get good in any of them that is hehe  :Wink/Grin:  ).

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## musclehed275

I came out of college and began powerlifting to take up the place of football..I competed from 86-92...went to the seniors and jr nationals...got as high as a second..posted a best total of 2015..and this was in the 80's and 90's...well, i started having nagging injuries, so began bb...I hit a show in 95, and kept hitting shows every year til 2000...placed in all of them..even level 5 shows amd even managed to win an overall in a level 3 early in my bb career...Then i tore my patella, One year and 5 months ago...had it surgically repair,,I kept on training, even with the brace on...Ryan Kennelly moved to my town here in Fl...I watched him train., then eventually started to train with him...he lit a fire under my ass and i wanted to compete in bench press meets! Well, im still training for bench meets..but as far as bb...I still train everything like a bb, with the exception of my bench workouts... a lot of people ask if i still do shows..ilike to keep that hard, but bulky, offseason bb look, and like someone else said..be strong!! I weigh in at 246...and look at my pics..i still resemble a bb somewhat..lol

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## musclehed275

here are some pics of the Arnold classic too guys..enjoy!

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