Bodybuilders versus Strongmen

soseg

soseg

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I'm just wondering, what exactly are the main clear differences in the workouts between bodybuilders (ie Schwarznegger types) and Strongmen (ie Pudzianowski types).

Does it come down to the sets/reps numbers etc?

I'm more after the look of a bodybuilder, but at the same time I'de want to be liter like a bodybuilder. I may be wrong but from what I've seen in stats etc the strongmen tend to be quite a bit heavier - even the lean ones. And with the recent death of yet another strongman, Jesse Marunde I was reading posts in other places and people were going on about just the size of the guy... ie he was pretty tall, but at the same time pretty lean but 300lbs... all this size and stress, regardless whether its muscle or fat places the body under stress and with the combination of the workouts lifting weights this guy just gave out and collapsed, as have a few other strongmen in the past. I haven't really heard much on bodybuilders collapsing and dying, and they kinda seem to be living long, Arnie's still around, and i think most of the other guys from his era are and they're probably well into their 60s I would be guessing.

Example...

Mariusz Pudzianowski ...
Height 186 cm (6'1")
Weight 132 kg (291 lb)

and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Height 6'2" (tiny bit taller)
and
# Off Season Weight: Around 235 lbs.
# Competition Weight: Around 260 lbs.


Just want to know what I should focus on in order to achieve more of the physique of Arnie etc rather than the strongmen.

Thanks!
 
nycste

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I'm just wondering, what exactly are the main clear differences in the workouts between bodybuilders (ie Schwarznegger types) and Strongmen (ie Pudzianowski types).

Does it come down to the sets/reps numbers etc?

I'm more after the look of a bodybuilder, but at the same time I'de want to be liter like a bodybuilder. I may be wrong but from what I've seen in stats etc the strongmen tend to be quite a bit heavier - even the lean ones. And with the recent death of yet another strongman, Jesse Marunde I was reading posts in other places and people were going on about just the size of the guy... ie he was pretty tall, but at the same time pretty lean but 300lbs... all this size and stress, regardless whether its muscle or fat places the body under stress and with the combination of the workouts lifting weights this guy just gave out and collapsed, as have a few other strongmen in the past. I haven't really heard much on bodybuilders collapsing and dying, and they kinda seem to be living long, Arnie's still around, and i think most of the other guys from his era are and they're probably well into their 60s I would be guessing.

Example...

Mariusz Pudzianowski ...
Height 186 cm (6'1")
Weight 132 kg (291 lb)

and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Height 6'2" (tiny bit taller)
and
# Off Season Weight: Around 235 lbs.
# Competition Weight: Around 260 lbs.


Just want to know what I should focus on in order to achieve more of the physique of Arnie etc rather than the strongmen.

Thanks!

you wnana look like arnold yet compare him to the most ripped up strength athelete i know of. thats a bad bad comparison. most powerlifters aka strongmen are fat guys and i hate to say that cuz they got lots of muscle underneath but arent eating for keeping fat low they eat to eat and grow and get stronger. which is why when you find a powerlifter who is a big guy start cutting hes huge and ripped up.

dave tate i think do a google search i wont post the link.

he was strong during his reign and now is a so called bodybuilder oor just more health conscious. having that extra weight for most people allows them to lift heavier weights. never fully understood this but in most cases its true.

wow ok im gonna shuhs up now
 
soseg

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yeah I understand what you're saying, but go look at Mariusz Pudzianowski hes ripped to hell unlike any of the other strongmen. Go google him hes got no fat on him at all hes a walking wall of bricks
 
nycste

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yeah I understand what you're saying, but go look at Mariusz Pudzianowski hes ripped to hell unlike any of the other strongmen. Go google him hes got no fat on him at all hes a walking wall of bricks


he is no doubt one of my idols and has been since the beginning of his career. no idea how he does it compared ot most other strongmen. very few are ripped up most USA guys are but are also rather young too. genetics has a lot to do with it as well. some bodybuilders in offseason put on 50lbs. some put on 20. everyones diff.
 
soseg

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Yea... I just wana get big without any health consequences. Am having another boring sunday morning spent my time looking thru some bs youtube videos, some claiming roids is dangerous as hell and another interesting one claiming theres NO scientific study ever done saying theyre linked to any health issues or heart, kindey, liver problems etc.

Ide have to read up on it etc but basically they were interviewing heaps of bodybuilders even ones who have bene roiding for like 30 or 40 years and claim no health side effects on them. The only possible ones could be back acne, possibly testicular shrinkage or hair loss...

That aside im not planning to hit roids unless some how in 10 years theyre proven to be 111% safe etc

Im only 6', I think if i made it to 220lbs being very lean its not even that heavy. Most of my adult mates are 220lbs or so, shorter than me and its all just the adult beer gut life style. So if they're doing half alright I got nothing to worry about.
 
nycste

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Yea... I just wana get big without any health consequences. Am having another boring sunday morning spent my time looking thru some bs youtube videos, some claiming roids is dangerous as hell and another interesting one claiming theres NO scientific study ever done saying theyre linked to any health issues or heart, kindey, liver problems etc.

Ide have to read up on it etc but basically they were interviewing heaps of bodybuilders even ones who have bene roiding for like 30 or 40 years and claim no health side effects on them. The only possible ones could be back acne, possibly testicular shrinkage or hair loss...

That aside im not planning to hit roids unless some how in 10 years theyre proven to be 111% safe etc

Im only 6', I think if i made it to 220lbs being very lean its not even that heavy. Most of my adult mates are 220lbs or so, shorter than me and its all just the adult beer gut life style. So if they're doing half alright I got nothing to worry about.
roids are something new to me as well. however most claim designer supplements like superdrol, pheraplex. epistane etc are all steroids. just as strong just diff dosages. designers are proven to be more harmfull to ur liver in general. but all roids are diff there are lots of diff types. anyways lets not talk about roids. im heading to bed haha
 
soseg

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lol yea no roid talk - just wondering about big sized guys in general and any heart problems etc

thanks :)
 

Beige

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it's a well known fact that he's an anomaly in the strongman world. However if you really put him next to a top level pro, you can see major differences. He IS ripped, but definitely NOT IFBB ripped. Anyways strength athletes work in lower rep ranges. I only ever knew one pro and he worked in the under 6 rep range after he was warm. As far as bodybuilders go, most of us like to stay in the 10 to 12 rep range. Another key difference I noticed is that strength athletes tend to take more time in between sets.
 
soseg

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10-12.... 12 seems so much. I was thinking of keeping my workouts at 5-8 or so, maybe 10 sometimes but no more than that
 
getswole

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Bodybuilding/Strongmen= 2 Dif things

Bodybuilders don't lift for just strength gains,they want to fully develop each muscle head to the point of
(They just wanna look good;))
Some are crazy strong,don't get me wrong...Like Ronnie for instance...But the norm is that a Bodybuilder while being much bigger adn more developed is much,MUCH weaker than a competative strongman type,Storngman type will push the physical limits and risk possible injury to get where he needs to be...Not caring about their physical look ..Thats the Last thing a Bodybuilder wants is an injury,they train for size,not strength....Although Size can come with strength,its just two different things,Unless you want to compete in strongman,stick with bodybuilding...There are always exceptions to the norm...
 
soseg

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yeah im trying to stick to bodybuilding thats the thing - i dont know the differences in their training. is it just reps and sets differences or what? i wana be sure the training im doing is suited for bodybuilding not strongman
 
getswole

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List your stats/age/etc...diet,funds avail for buying supps and long term goals and I'll be glad to lay you out a basic 5 day split for mass that you can grow like a weed....
 
soseg

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19 years old, 87kg... 6foot (sorry i dont use pounds)
i have a bit of a gut im not solid yet but im trying to bulk up to a certain state before i cut down

my bench press is 75kg
squat 75kg
deadlift 100kg
barbell bicep curl standing 32.5kg


i have money to take supps i currently take whey pre and post workout and when i wake up on days i dont work out

i hit the gym monday - wed - fridays
mondays i do chest and shoulders, 3 exercises for each muscle group i try to aim 5-8 reps for 3 sets excluding a quick warmup before hand. i do incline benching bb, then incline db benching then flat db flyes,
followed by upright rowing, lateral extensions, shoulder press and then shrugs (4 for shoulders). i dont do flat benching atm but will restart doing it in 5-6weeks only because i used to do it A LOT back in highschool and my bottom part of my chest is massive and i used to be severely out of proportion and now im starting to fill out properly

wednesdays is back and legs (gona change it those two muscle groups dont go well its a killer)
again i do 3 exercises for each muscle group, ie squats, 45degree leg press and calf raises
followed by deadlifts, lat pulldowns and dips (back before legs)

fridays i do my arms
so i standing tricep extensions, tricep cable pulldowns then cable extensions overhead followed by bb standing bicep curls, preacher curls with a bb, then standing db curls

i also after finishing do some situps till failure with some weights on a crunch machine i find that works well gets the abs burning. nearly everything i do is freeweight ive stopped the machines. ive added 2inches to my arms since about april and im hoping to pull off another inch by the end of the year but my gains are slowing down now i havent been working out long

my diet is good, i try to get about 220-250grams of protein a day; mornings i have oates, banana, drink plenty of water throughout the day, then throughout the day i jsut eat the healthy stuff my mum makes me which thesedays daily i get some red meat ie beef, veil, kangaroo or some fish, some veggies served with that (try to get low GI). i get about 5-6meals a day, also have about 8 eggs (4 full 4 whites)


- im pretty sure im doing everything fairly well im getting results really well and catching up to my mates who have been working out for like 2 years pretty fast as i know they dont take supps n they tend to fudge around (i spent a lot of time reading a few months back). but im thinking instead of aiming 5-8reps maybe bodybuilders do the opposite... go 8-12?
 
getswole

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everything looks pretty good,I have come to prefer one body part per day,but thats me....


day1:Chest
day2:Back
day3:Shoulders
day4:Legs
day5:Arms

rest/rest
 
getswole

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aiming 5-8reps maybe bodybuilders do the opposite... go 8-12?
No,6 rep range is great for mass gains.....10+IMO is high rep and more for defenition,which is more cutting and will not produce as solid gains

Low reps is good
 
soseg

soseg

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yeah i was planning to keep 5-8reps max until i hit a certain size and maybe in like 18-24months ill cut down n start going maybe 10

3 day split doesnt suit me im definately going to do 4 but considering 5, just gotta plan it out so that one muscle group is not fatigued the next day when its due to be worked out. ur plan looks good getswole
 
getswole

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everything looks pretty good,I have come to prefer one body part per day,but thats me....


day1:Chest
day2:Back
day3:Shoulders
day4:Legs
day5:Arms

rest/rest
yeah thats your classic 5 day split,keeps all groups away from eachother as long as possible....moreso arms away from chest which is very important,as chest recruits arms regardless anyways,IMO those are the 2 you want to keep far apart
 
jas123

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I wouldn't say Marius is a complete anomoly. There have been some others that were pretty lean like Manfred Hoeberl, Curtis Lefler, Ahola, Svend Karlson (some years),.....

Strongman don't just train at low rep ranges, they do tire flips, sled/car pulls, .... things that require some serious lung power.

What other strongmen have died recently? Marunde was the only one that I can think of.
 
soseg

soseg

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well hes the second one ive heard of the last i heard was a while back i cant remember

but i was looking thru other strongman forums and everyone was discussing it how "yet another one just dropped dead" etc so i aint sure

there was one other guy maybe a year or two or three ago but i think he was like massively huge and wasnt lean forgot his name i aint been following it much lately since mariusz hasnt been winning :( im polish so hes like the only sports icon we have in poland, suck at everything else :\
 
RenegadeRows

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I've said it before, I'll say it again...

the difference between bulking and cutting is not in your training routine, but in your diet and frequency of cardio.

by the way, ronnie can deadlift 800 ... and i'm sure theres lots of pro bb'ers who are DLing upwards of 500-600lbs on a regular basis.

I say work on compounds / strength first, before you try to isolate and target muscle groups.

How many guys at my gym have I seen 150lbs doing tricep extensions and dumbell curls, when they should be squatting and deadlifting
 
jas123

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I say work on compounds / strength first, before you try to isolate and target muscle groups.

How many guys at my gym have I seen 150lbs doing tricep extensions and dumbell curls, when they should be squatting and deadlifting
Now there's some good advice.

Soseg, I'll have to look up the fallen strongmen. Marius will be back and he did get 2nd last year.
 
soseg

soseg

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lets hope he comes back again

i havent seen anyone in my gym do deadlifts or bent over rows or those other t-bar rows i think theyre called with the weight on one side of the bar etc

tho i do go in the mornings and a few of the bigger guys do come just as im about to leave, i have spent a few gym sessions with them and dont ever see them doing anything impressive except squatting - one large guy yesterday i noticed was doing something like 300lbs but half range of motion.. :\

im just wondering anyway - everyone in forums n articles says "squat and deadlift if u wana get big" ...why exactly is that? my guess is ur thigh muscles are huge if u wana add bodyweight do ur thighs and ditto for the back, broaden out ur shoulders - also if u have strong legs and a strong back im thinkin later on its easier to stand and support say a barbell when ur curling and focus all ur energy into just curling it rather than trying to balance standing with it?
 
jas123

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lets hope he comes back again

i havent seen anyone in my gym do deadlifts or bent over rows or those other t-bar rows i think theyre called with the weight on one side of the bar etc

tho i do go in the mornings and a few of the bigger guys do come just as im about to leave, i have spent a few gym sessions with them and dont ever see them doing anything impressive except squatting - one large guy yesterday i noticed was doing something like 300lbs but half range of motion.. :\

im just wondering anyway - everyone in forums n articles says "squat and deadlift if u wana get big" ...why exactly is that? my guess is ur thigh muscles are huge if u wana add bodyweight do ur thighs and ditto for the back, broaden out ur shoulders - also if u have strong legs and a strong back im thinkin later on its easier to stand and support say a barbell when ur curling and focus all ur energy into just curling it rather than trying to balance standing with it?
Deadlift and either of the rows are great for adding back mass. I had some issue with a disc in my back and couldn't do any of those lifts for a few years. I had to do machine and cable lifts like lat pulldowns. My back has gotten much bigger since I reincorporated rows and deads into my routine.

Deads and squat just hit so many muscle groups and cause you to grow fast. Always do full squats. Your hamstrings will thank you. If you aren't too familiar with how to do deads or squats truly right, check out the book Starting Strength. I've been llifting for 14 years and looked at it not so long ago only to realize that I was doing a couple minor things wrong that made a big difference.
 
soseg

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yea nearly all of the guys at my gym i see squatting dont go down to the point where you're meant too.

i go down to the point where my thighs are parallel with the ground. the only difficult thing is trying to keep my knees behind my toes to keep the pressure/stress off my joints - i was told that by a gym instructor, but i think im doing it right. im still small and am only in my 7th week of working out and ive added 44lbs to my squat so far. at first it was unco but now i like it, its a killer.

just finding my deadlifts get me really exhausted. i might have to do those different grips ive heard about ie where one palm faces backwards the other forwards. i think another 20-40lbs and my wrists will give out holding the bar
 
jas123

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yea nearly all of the guys at my gym i see squatting dont go down to the point where you're meant too.

i go down to the point where my thighs are parallel with the ground. the only difficult thing is trying to keep my knees behind my toes to keep the pressure/stress off my joints - i was told that by a gym instructor, but i think im doing it right. im still small and am only in my 7th week of working out and ive added 44lbs to my squat so far. at first it was unco but now i like it, its a killer.

just finding my deadlifts get me really exhausted. i might have to do those different grips ive heard about ie where one palm faces backwards the other forwards. i think another 20-40lbs and my wrists will give out holding the bar
It's supposed to be harder on your knees to do half squats than full ones. Keep it up with the full squats. At the bottom, you should get more of a bounce from your hamstrings being stretched. I wouldn't go too slow at the bottom or you will lose that extra bounce. Shooting my knees out wider as I go down to incorporate more adductor and holding the bar lower on my back are the two things that I've changed recently that have really helped my squat.

Deadlfit is pretty brutal. I feel beat up for a few days after doing it so it makes sense why so few people do it. I'd go with the double overhand grip for as long as you can to keep your grip strong. When you can't hold it that way any longer, switch to the over-under.
 

Tiberius

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Strongmen are NOT POWERLIFTERS


Most Strongman events require a great deal of endurance. Additionally, Strongmen events are nearly all functional strength.

Powerlifting is 3 events: bench press, squat, deadlift. Powerlifting is whatever you max lift is in each. 1 rep only is required.


Training styles for Strongmen and Powerlifters is drastically different.


Bodybuilders also train differently from either, however some bodybuidlers train like powerlifters. Bodybuilders train purely for hypertrophy. Training for powerlifting however will cause a significant amount of hypertrophy anyway, thus some powerlifters become bodybuilders, and some bodybuilders are powerlifters. JJ is an example. New IFBB Pro Ben White was purely a powerlifter until like 2005 or 2006 I think.

How you train should be based on your goals. If you want functional strength, find some strongman routines. If you want to put up the heaviest poundages you possibly can, get some powerlifting routines. If you want to be as big as possible find some hypertrophy based routines.


As for amount of fat, that's your diet, plain and simple.
 

ultra2extreme

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This thread reads like a playground fact fight! Thats not to say there aren't useful posts in here but theres a lot of vagueries being tossed about.

very basically as im no expert-

Strength comes from simoultaneous activation of muscle fibres, this is achieved by very heavy weight training where reps above about 6 are not possible. The contractions consist of primarily white muscle tissue with low blood supply, thus the muscles are smaller and denser yet less able to transport lactic acid away and thus can only work for few reps. This muscle tends to appear as a result of CNS training (central nervous system - low rep). However it is rarely the amount of it that is relevent but more the ability of the persons nervous system to contract more fibres at once, thus large quantities are not required.

Bulk Muscle mass, in the main, consists of red muscle that is permuted with many blood vessels. This muscle type has a good blood supply (hence its color) and can operate for longer, its fibres are activated sequentially to allow for recovery, thus more fibres are required. Due to its structure it is larger physically than the white muscle and the body tends to generate it in response to workouts that induce a 'pump' and ideally hypertrophy. All red muscle mass gain is driven in the main by testosterone (along with other anabolic hormones), which is why women and pre-teens can be strong but never big (without roids).

Thats all hugely simplified but the rest of the info is both on here and all over the net to be researched.
 
CDB

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Power Lifters and Strongmen are different types of events. Plus powerlifters are not all fat. That's the unlimited class. There are limited weight classes and the guys tend to be fairly lean in my experience. It's just the monsters who get the most attention because they tend to put up the most weight.

you wnana look like arnold yet compare him to the most ripped up strength athelete i know of. thats a bad bad comparison. most powerlifters aka strongmen are fat guys and i hate to say that cuz they got lots of muscle underneath but arent eating for keeping fat low they eat to eat and grow and get stronger. which is why when you find a powerlifter who is a big guy start cutting hes huge and ripped up.

dave tate i think do a google search i wont post the link.

he was strong during his reign and now is a so called bodybuilder oor just more health conscious. having that extra weight for most people allows them to lift heavier weights. never fully understood this but in most cases its true.

wow ok im gonna shuhs up now
 

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