Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding Program | Diet, Training, and More

Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – Both share similarities but serve different goals as part of a fitness program.

Well, both these indicate a lot by their names alone.

One is lifting, another is building. Lifting, for instance, can signify adding strength by enduring heavyweights. 

On the other hand, bodybuilding is about physical tactics to build muscles that glaze inside out.

It includes bulking, cutting, and other strength training methods which we’re sure to discuss in the forthcoming section.

So yes, there ARE differences related to Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding. 

Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – How to Compare?

Are you confused about where to specialize? Will it be powerlifting or bodybuilding?

Stay right here as we’ve got everything covered for you. And to do the same, we’ve decided on a few factors for the comparison of both physical pursuits. 

So, are powerlifters stronger than bodybuilders?

Evaluation of some determining factors will help understand which of these will be suitable for you. 

First comes the nutrition factor.

#1. Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding- Diet and Nutrition

What you eat has a lot to do with whether you’ll attain your fitness goals. Be it powerlifting or bodybuilding. 

To be more specific, your diet has to be customized accordingly to get 100% nutritional support.

Powerlifting Diet

Well, it doesn’t differ a lot from bodybuilding in terms of nutrition. In fact, they share similarities. For instance, both require you to eat every couple of hours. 

A powerlifter’s diet often consists of long-lasting carbs for energy along with high-fat and high-protein foods. The focus here is to sustain energy rather than maintain or tone muscles.

In terms of similarities, with powerlifting and bodybuilding, you’ve got to remember to include supplements like creatine, collagen, and omega3 to overcome dietary lack of nutrients. 

However, in the case of powerlifting, more stimulants are required than bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding Diet

The plates of bodybuilders are mostly loaded with:

• High-fibre 

• Protein

• Low carbs 

• Low-fat food

Bodybuilders rely heavily on proteins to maintain lean muscle gains.

For this, they can choose to eat from protein-abundant animal meat, dairy, veggies, and even dry fruits for lean muscle building.

Additionally, they also limit calorie intake during the cutting phase. Now, the term dieting is a highly misunderstood word, just like feminism.

Many associate dieting with starvation. However, in reality, it’s only about choosing the correct intake of different nutrients. Nothing less, nothing more. 

#2. Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – Training Cycle

There’s a reason for placing this factor after nutrition. This is because it’s only after following a specific diet for a while that you can endure the training required for powerlifting and bodybuilding physique. 

Now, let’s not also undermine the fact that the training cycle is the most important factor in powerlifting vs bodybuilding for weight loss. 

Powerlifting Training Cycle

Like bodybuilding, the prep starts 8-12 weeks before the show. This period is often known as the training cycle period. 

In the case of powerlifters, it’s all about reps and sets. Now, this poses a question, how many reps and how many sets?

Powerlifters can be seen practicing the notion of the progressive pyramid-type method. 

The initial week of training involves more reps than sets and that’s vice-versa in the last week. 

Moreover, the 1st phase of the training largely involves conditioning.

Now, this means you, as a powerlifter, gotta pump up your endurance by doing medium-heavy weight training in repetitions.

Bodybuilding Training Cycle

We know that bodybuilding is more about bulking and cutting. 

So, when to bulk and when to cut?   

Well, bodybuilders for their bulking phase, mostly choose the off-season. 

During this process, their sole goal is to gain as much bulk muscle as possible. Now, talking about cutting…

It starts prior to a show, generally 8-12 weeks before the commencement. 

Metamorphosis comes into the picture during this phase.

In simple words, cutting changes the physique. Sometimes, it’s so intense that bodybuilders don’t resemble at all in the before and after show pictures. 

#3. Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – Exercises

When comparing powerlifting vs bodybuilding, it’s important to take note of the similarities as well. 

So, one common practice in these two is improving the performance with weight training. 

However, the exercises in both do vary to a great extent. Moreover, differences also exist in powerlifting vs bodybuilding reps. 

Powerlifting Exercise Program

This consists mainly of exercises like squats, bench press, and deadlift to improve muscle mass, strength, mobility/flexibility, and overall performance. 

Listed below are some of the typical exercises associated with powerlifting:

1. Squat: Front squat, pause squat, tempo squats.
2. Bench Press: Incline bench press, narrow grip bench press, long pause bench press.
3. Deadlift: Deficit deadlifts, snatch grip deadlifts, stiff leg deadlifts.

Bodybuilding Exercise Program

Now, just because we’re talking about powerlifting vs bodybuilding, it doesn’t mean we can’t substitute one for the other where effective. 

In fact, some exercises for powerlifting don’t prove any less effective in bodybuilding. 

However, there are a lot of other exercises one can choose from when training for bodybuilding. The program involves exercises for bulking and cutting.

An isolation exercise is one such specialized exercise for bodybuilding. 

These sets of exercises focus on specific muscle groups. It majorly includes: 

• Back: Seated row, wide grip pulldowns.
• Shoulders: Machine shoulder press, lateral dumbbell raises.
• Biceps: Dumbbell preacher curls, cable bicep curls.
• Triceps: Rope tricep press down, dumbbell skull crushers.
• Glutes: Barbell hip thrusts, glute kickbacks.
• Hamstrings: Machine leg curl, swiss ball leg curl.

What if you had an insight about a sample training set? 

Well, we have something that can help. Below is the powerlifting vs bodybuilding 4-day exercise plan discussed.

4 Days Sample Powerlifting Training Plan

1st Day: Squat Day + Deadlift Accessories

2nd Day: Bench Day + Upper Back Accessories

3rd Day: Deadlift Day + Squat Accessories

4th Day: Bench Day + Shoulder & Tricep Accessories

4 Days Sample Bodybuilding Training Plan

1st Day: Lower Body Day for Quads and Calves

2nd Day: Upper Body Day for Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders

3rd Day: Lower Body Day for Glutes and Hamstrings

4th Day: Upper Body Day for Back, Biceps, and Forearms

#4. Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – Rest Period

Rest is important, be it any activity. The intense training in powerlifting and bodybuilding damages the tissues, sometimes severely. 

Hence, to give their level best in the contest, practitioners should be taking adequate rest to replenish, rejuvenate, and reinvigorate their inner and outer selves.

Powerlifting

Well, resting is quite subjective, and there is no specific recommendation that can point towards what’s best. 

Like bodybuilders, powerlifters can also get rest twice or thrice a day or can adjust the cycle accordingly. 

The ultimate goal is to get plenty of rest to perform the best in any tournament/show. 

Bodybuilding

The bodybuilding process isn’t limited to the training session or only when the body is in motion.    

The training also shelters the recovery and rest period as an important phase of the process.

To become a professional bodybuilder, one needs to follow a scheduled sleep cycle before the contest. 

One should, moreover, know how to adjust the same.

A typical bodybuilder sleeps like 2-3 times a day. An adequate rest accompanied by energizing foods can spur your energy levels exponentially. 

Hence, don’t assume you’re not under training while resting. 

#5. Powerlifting vs Bodybuilding – Prep Program

And here comes the DAY! 

The day that will make every training worth and every pain a gain; the performance/contest period.

Powerlifting 

Unlike bodybuilding, this training doesn’t require much additional body showcasing.

Here, the showcasing and show-off are primarily limited to the extent of weight and their ability to swiftly lift it. 

However, it doesn’t undermine the fact that they too need contestant preparation. 

For instance, the condition of the equipment should be looked into to make sure the grip is adequate. 

Plus, it includes equipment like squats suits, bench shirts, and knee wraps. 

Bodybuilding 

You’ve fueled in enough protein, you’ve gained a lot. In short, you’ve prepped up to show off your blazing muscles and are pretty thrilled to get the titles like the best jaw-dropping muscles, roaring muscles…

However, that’s not all. You need more prep. This is the phase to beautify your muscles. This includes:

• Practicing Posing
• Posing suits 
• Tanning
• Music

Apart from this, bodybuilders often go for bronze or copper-colored skin tone as they’re associated with masculinity. You can easily achieve this with artificial tanning products. 

Some bodybuilders also hire a gymnast or take dance classes for a better balance in posing. 

Key Takeaways

Analyzing the factors and being thorough when it comes to choosing one from powerlifting vs bodybuilding is definitely important. 

However, what’s even more important is if your body is suited enough to get trained for these training sessions. 

How do you know if you’re ready?

Well, not everything can be scribed or typed. Some answers do require a premium expert opinion. 

Thus, being honest, we suggest you consult a well-known fitness coach or experts concerned with your chosen training before devoting yourselves to either of them.

Moreover, we advise you to talk to real-time trainers concerned with these training sessions.

Ask them to share their experience, how challenging it was for them? And how did they overcome the same? 

Furthermore, observe them while they train as they can help you out in the best ways possible. This will also help you get a better understanding of powerlifting vs bodybuilding.

Nonetheless, if you still have doubts, feel free to leave a comment. Stay tuned for more such blogs on weight training. 

Before leaving, have a look over these most searched questions and answers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Those aspiring to become a powerlifter or bodybuilder or are in the process ask a few highly common questions. 

Hence, below are some of the FAQs and their detailed answers explained for your convenience. 

#1. Is powerlifting harder than bodybuilding?

Well, the term “harder” is almost equally distributed to both these types of training. 

In the case of powerlifting, the challenging part is carrying bulky weights, and the powerlifter’s physique is often bulky. 

On the other hand, bodybuilding requires intense workout training to get blazing and ripped muscles. 

However, powerlifting becomes slightly more challenging as there are some risks associated. 

For instance, committing a slight error while lifting can sometimes lead to severe bone injury. 

#2. Why are powerlifters stronger than bodybuilders?

This is mostly because of the way they train. They condition their bodies and make them adapt to different factors. 

For instance, they minimize the range of motion, make use of grips, perfect the bar path, and optimize the limited time under tension. 

#3. Does powerlifting build a good physique?

Well, the definition of a ‘good physique’ becomes subjective. 

We know that bodybuilding gives you a ripped and lean physique. So, it would be unrealistic to expect the same kind of body from powerlifting. This is because of the weights bodybuilders lift along with the nutrition and training. 

Powerlifters are mostly associated with a bulky physique. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s not a good physique. 

Hence, powerlifting vs bodybuilding physique and appearance highly depends on the exercises you choose.

#4. Will powerlifting get you big?

For sure! It’s a 100% yes if you’re training consistently and following the key principles of powerlifting. 

The training involved in this activity exerts a certain pressure on your body. This pressure, as a result, helps you develop a bulked-up physique. 

However, bulking depends on several factors. While some can be changed or altered, some remain constant.

#5. Do bodybuilders have shorter lifespans?

No way! 

Bodybuilding doesn’t increase the mortality rate or shorten life spans in any way. 

In fact, it carries A LOT of health benefits. These theories, sometimes, seem true because people think it can lead to a heart attack. 

Well, it’s all about doing it right. And if you do it right, you only are left with long-term health benefits and no adversities. 

#6. Why are powerlifters not muscular?

It’s simple. 

Powerlifters, unlike bodybuilders, are mainly concerned with strength and not muscle size or girth. 

Moreover, their protein intake isn’t marked up to the level of bodybuilders who basically live on protein! 

This is because muscle mass isn’t their primary goal, though it is an additional benefit.

#7. Are powerlifters healthier than bodybuilders?

Well, when comparing bodybuilder vs powerlifter physique, take note that both are prepared to afford tensions and stress from the equipment.

Although both sports have their pros and cons, bodybuilding is slightly healthier than powerlifting. 

Now, this should only be the case when the bodybuilders do not rely on any steroid or any other performance-enhancing drugs. 

Powerlifting strains on lifting super heavyweights. 

This subsequently may cast chronic stress and severely damage tendons, joints, and ligaments. 

Moreover, the slightest error can cause lumbar disc injury. Now, bodybuilding is healthy because it involves sessions like cardio, the one associated with a healthy heart. 

#8. Should I do powerlifting or bodybuilding?

Well, this depends on what you are looking for. 

Powerlifting is concerned with increasing body strength by carrying super bulked loads. Henceforth, giving you a bulked body. 

On the contrary, bodybuilding focuses on maximizing muscle size and girth for getting a muscled-up-ripped body.

In other words, you can say that a bodybuilder’s physique is way more sculpted than powerlifters. 

If you choose powerlifting, make sure your body can afford to lift the humongous weights without getting injured. And if you wanna get into bodybuilding, improve your metabolism.