During a recent session in the gym and through a couple of conversations on Twitter, I posed a question to my friend Greg. Now I consider Greg one of the more astute observers of bodybuilding. He enjoys the sport while not being a competitor. Greg is also a semi-retired powerlifter. I posed the quandary of,
"With the advent of Mountain Dog Training and raw lifting becoming more and more popular and guys on the platform looking more and more like bodybuilders or just Hoss in general, is the line between bodybuilding and powerlifting blurred."
His answer is one that got me to thinking. Both sides have been guilty of going to extremes and putting people in a box. Training wise and diet wise. Now while I will say both have their own set of nuances that make them unique, there is more in common and in myself and Greg's opinions (as fans of both sports) there is a tremendous crossover there that is being missed by both sides.
What has powerlifting learned from bodybuilding
Here is something to think about. Raw lifting is coming on strong. Lets just cut the bullshit and admit it. It's going to take up a large part of powerlifting now and with raw lifting your muscles are your suit. It's what protects you. So what is happening? Guys are putting more hypertrophy based training in with their "power" training and becoming more muscular. And guess what? People are kicking ass. Brandon Lilly, Dan Green, Eric and Ernie Lillibridge are examples of what extra muscle can do for lifts. And none of these guys are fat. especially green.
What are powerlifters learning from bodybuilders? How important it is to have some variety so you aren't beat to shit. Yes, the main lifts are important and you do have to do them, but theres nothing with doing variations of lifts to get the desired effect, a bigger total.
Lots of lifters are doing sets of 10 and 20 plus. Brandon Lilly posted a video of him not to long ago handling 405 for 20. On of his trainees just hit a squat at 25 plus pounds above her bodyweight for 30 reps. When you do things like that, you aren't fat. I myself have used FST-7 when I want to get a bit more blood in the muscle. I've also used it as an active recovery tool.
For years lifters have been eating ho-ho's and other bullshit in an effort to get bigger for competing. Lo and behold that approach came with a myriad of health problems down the line. So what are lifters doing now? They are eating pretty big whole food meals and cutting down on their intake of crap. Nutritional ratios are not as strict as bodybuilding, but some structure is there now
Why bodybuilding is a bit behind in the learning curve
Now what can bodybuilders learn from powerlifters. For one, theres an opportunity to learn how to periodize your training. Why cant you have a block of time where you throw in power cleans or speed squats? Will that hurt you if NEVER TRIED IT? No one is asking you to have a high level of ability with the shit, but it never hurts to try.
I also think that most bodybuilders have missed the boat in trying lower rep ranges with a higher load but for more sets. Whats wrong with doing 80% of your one rep max for sets of 3 or 5? Is there a rule that says there won't be any growth from that. We all know that 8-12 reps seems to work best sometimes, but put some weight on the bar and do those low rep sets. Everywhere I go, I keep hearing "I don't train heavy. This is bodybuilding, not powerlifting."
That may be true, but most who train like shit in the gym, look like shit on stage.
Do some heavy pulling, and quit bouncing your rack pulls and deadlifts. Put a pause on it. Pull it from a dead stop. Thats how it's supposed to be done and if you load up the bar with a bunch of weight and it's at knee level, then you really should just drop the weight, quit being a pansy and pull from the floor for reps. Because you're getting nothing out of your "rack bounces"
I look at guys like Antoine Valliant and see the crossover. Besides Johnny Jackson (who I think is just a dead lift specialist) Valliant is paving the way for a guy who can get onstage and on a platform. He squats, benches and deadlifts. Uses bands and chains and has a killer physique that recently won him a pro card. So don't give me the line that you cant do this or that. If you're not injured, then learn how to warm up and pre-habilitate so you can do the things others aren't doing.
Closing.
For years its been this dumb ass divide and people have profited off of it. Magazines have, supplement companies have and even to a point some coaches who will not have their clients do basic exercises and instead have them perform mostly machine training. Don't be stupid. Weed through the bull.
I have to hand it to guys like John Meadows who is bridging the gap between powerlfiting and bodybuilding. Just because we have different goals, doesn't mean we can't drink from the same water fountain.
So stop being elitest.
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