Why Bodybuilders Are More Muscular Than Powerlifters

                                                 


More power-more muscle-right? If that's true then how do you explain weightlifters and powerlifters that lift enormous amounts of weight, yet barely look more muscular than the average Joe? And why do professional bodybuilders look much more muscular than top powerlifters?

There are a number of reasons for this. First off, the training styles of bodybuilders and powerlifters differ greatly. Bodybuilders perform exercises with a rep range of 6-12 for most sets, while powerlifters use 1-5. The goal of powerlifters is the development of explosive power and strength with a lesser concern over the addition of muscle mass. Bodybuilders, on the other hand, are principally concerned with the addition of muscle mass and less with the development of strength.

Training protocols are practiced by each to reach their respective goals. For powerlifters, this means using low rep ranges, which have been shown to develop maximum strength with less muscle mass. Bodybuilders use moderate rep counts , which have been shown to develop strength but yield more muscle mass. There are several reasons for this. A muscle grows by muscle cell damage being repaired with the use of raw materials, i.e. nutrients such as protein,vitamins,etc. The blood pump that results from higher rep training is great for bringing blood into the muscle due to occlusion that occurs with each rep. This blood is full of the nutrients needed for growth and repair. Some studies show that the added blood volume exerts a hydraulic pressure on the muscle, stimulating it to grow larger and increases protein synthesis.

Higher reps stimulate growth of tendons and other tissue surrounding muscles, adding a little size. Slow-twitch fibers in the muscle, while responsible for less than half of a muscle's size, are stimulated to grow by higher reps. These fibers use oxygen as fuel and are geared for endurance so the longer time under tension of bodybuilding training is ideal  for them. Low rep sets offer no stimulation for these fibers to grow because of short set duration.

Getting back to a previous point, when a routine is done where the muscles burn and are fatigued, there is a condition called muscle swelling. The fibers in the muscle being trained are exposed to sufficient stress to cause them to become inflamed due to small micro tears in the muscle. This stress causes the body to call for new muscle growth to combat the onslaught. Routines with minimal rest, common among bodybuilders, cause this. Longer rest periods between sets, such as done by powerlifters, doesn't exert enough trauma to elicit this reaction.

So, if you are looking to increase your strength with less of a focus on hypertrophy, train like a powerlifter, using sets of 1-5 reps with maximum weights. If you are aiming for larger muscles and a bodybuilders physique, train like a bodybuilder, using higher rep counts and more varied exercises with a shorter rest period between sets.

Dave