Bodybuilding vs Powerlifting and a Workout!

Hi friends!

When I told ya'll that I am going to be pursuing powerlifting a yesterday, I got a ton of fabulous support (and even a few I-knew-its!) and a couple of questions about what, precisely, the difference is between powerlifting and bodybuilding (or figure/fitness/bikini competitions).

Well. I can tell ya I am WAY HUNGRIER as a powerlifter than I was as a bodybuilder, simply because the training and metabolic demands are so different.

My new fave snack: a scrambled egg layered with some marinara sauce, a ton of pinto beans, and a big old dollop of mayonnaise or veganaise

Powerlifters also lift differently than bodybuilders. For example, here was today's workout:

Deadlifts

Warm up with an oly bar, 1x30
Warm up with 100#, 1x15
Working set 1: 150# x 6
Working sets 2,3: 190# x 4
Working sets 4,5,6: 205# x 3

Incline Bench Press (With Dumbbells)
3 working sets: 45# per hand x 4,4,4

Dips
3 working sets, unassisted: 9,7,7

Leg Press
3 working sets at 550#: 6,4,4

So as you can see it's a lot of really heavy lifting. I leave the gym exhausted. No way on earth could I lift or even work out 5 days a week on this program (which is a 13-week Sheiko program).


Focus/Goals

The outlook and focus of bodybuilders and powerlifters is fundamentally different. Bodybuilders may enjoy gaining strength, but their primary goal is to gain as much muscle as possible at as low a bodyfat % as possible. Most bodybuilders, as evidenced by my training page (still not updated -- sorry), try to build up each and every body part as much as possible with individual attention and lifts. Any individual attention any body part of mine gets from now on will be to help improve my bench, deadlift, or squat.

Powerlifters, on the other hand, are focused on gaining as much strength as possible, whatever the cost. That's why you see some powerlifters with huge guts: it takes a few inches off the range of motion of their bench press.

Personally? I am not trying to qualify for nationals or break any crazy records or anything like that. I want to be a strength athlete, and so I personally will not be growing a gigantic gut or arching my back ridiculously when benching. I'm going to be keeping my form clean.

Nutrition

As far as nutrition goes, David Tate, a renowned expert and guru in the powerlifting field, has been quoted as saying:
"I’d bet most of the lifters we have get less than one gram per pound of body weight of protein, and eat whatever they want. The cleanest eating people I know are also some of the weakest" (Source).
On the total opposite side of the spectrum, bodybuilders have a huge focus on nutrition, because it is incredibly difficult to force the body to build muscle.

I personally am going to keep eating the same way (2000-2200 calories, 120-140g of protein/day, and plenty of fats for those joints) because it's convenient and my body seems to like it. I am still following the LeanGains Intermittent Fasting protocol, too.

And that's that! Kinda. :) There are more differences (and similarities!) but I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with a supah dupah long post. Especially not mid-week. Is anyone else falling apart already? It must be the full moon.

The work week is almost half over, people!