Powerbuilding

[swoleramon]

What exactly is powerbuilding? I saw it in another thread and want to know what a power building routine looks like.

[strkout35]

it's a combination of powerlifting and bodybuilding. basically using heavy compound movements and building up strength and at the same size gaining mass. I'm sure someone could give a more in depth response but thats a short summary haha

[sneezingstardust]

Powerbuilding, like strkout said, is a combination of bodybuilding and powerlifting, and the accessory work is geared toward hypertrophy. So you get the good of both worlds.

I may be going into powerbuilding in my off-season, since I want to do some sort of powerlifting routine, but at the same time keep symmetry as much as possible (to compete in figure competitions in the future). I'm still not 100% sure yet what I want to do though.

Perhaps Steve (Bendthebar) or Bodybygamma could chime in with their more thorough knowledge on the subject

[BendtheBar]

Powerbuilding is a general term that is kind of thrown around to encompass anything where you are training for both size and strength. Generally it will focus strictly on compound lifts, and of course progression. Many of the old school lifters trained for both size (bulk - brawn) and strength. Doug Hepburn was a good example.

I have been pretty much a powerbuilder my whole life. I love getting big, but I also love strength.

[kman025]

IMO, the best way to powerbuild is focus on strenth with the compounds and then do high rep assistance work. also keep a more bb style diet.

[BendtheBar]

I would also add that I believe a powerbuilder should stick with sets of 4+ reps until they have gained quite a bit of mass. Strength gains will come with effort at any rep range, so it is good to keep them more towards the hypertrophy end of the spectrum. This isn't an absolute, of course. If you have a good base of assistance work with plenty of reps for each muscle group, then it's personal preference.

Still, muscle gains come rather quickly the first two years, as do strength gains, so there is really no urgent need to hit lower rep sets and hammer your body.

Again, each trainee is different, so I hate to generalize.

[kman025]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I would also add that I believe a powerbuilder should stick with sets of 4+ reps until they have gained quite a bit of mass. Strength gains will come with effort at any rep range, so it is good to keep them more towards the hypertrophy end of the spectrum. This isn't an absolute, of course. If you have a good base of assistance work with plenty of reps for each muscle group, then it's personal preference.

Still, muscle gains come rather quickly the first two years, as do strength gains, so there is really no urgent need to hit lower rep sets and hammer your body.

Again, each trainee is different, so I hate to generalize.

Max-Ot is a good way of powerbuilding. Or at least taking some of the principles of it and making it a FBW