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Small Joints and Heavyweight?

fruitpunch24

New member
I have small joints, people say i have more of a bodybuilder type body. But I'm not really into posing in front of people in my undies. Kodos to people who compete in bodybuilding tho. Me personally,i love breaking PR's and being under heavyweight. Im wondering if my small joints will be a disadvantage if i decide to compete in a meet. Any info would help...Thank you
 
You will be fine. Train and do what you like. A large portion of the structure support for joints is the muscles that surround and cross the joint. Thus, as you get stronger your increased strength will help with joint stability, provided you don't have some sort of other injury or instability in the joint. Like anyone else, make sure your technique is good and make sure the musculature around each joint is balanced (for example do enough upper back pulling movements to balance the pressing you do to keep the shoulders healthy).
 
Thank You for the info man. I jus look at these top lifters and i would say 98% of them have large wrists, ankles, etc.
 
You may be right, but 98% of us don't have the genetics to be world championship level lifters anyway. That doesn't mean we shouldn't train and compete. Plus you never really know what your potential is until you really try. I would also argue that joint size is pretty far down the list of things required to be a good powerlifter. I've never come across anyone where I would consider joint size the rate-limiting factor in their strength. Injuries maybe, but that is often due to accidents, poor technique, or not resting and letting minor injuries turn into major injuries. Again, I think if you use good technique and train intelligently you can reach your potential, whatever that is.
 
You are right, technique helps tremendously with strength. Ive made some major changes to my squat, like keeping my upper back tight when i first get under the bar and through out the lift. I kept on smashing my personal bests each week. Now im stuck at my current weight. Gotta find something else to fine tune my squat.
 
u gotta know what works for u and stick with it and it will take a while to find out. Hell i use to deadlift 2 x a week now i do once every 10 days or so. u gotta make **** work for u
 
I'll tell you right now, the size of your wrists/ankles has about as much to do with your powerlifting potential as the length of your fingers or feet. Sure, there is *some* kind of effect, but having a less than neanderthal bone-structure wont keep a dedicated, intelligent, driven and skilled lifter out of the record books. Yes, Ed Coan had a distinct advantage from the start, but had he not the same drive or attitude we would have never heard of him.

I never had a terribly thick bone-structure, but I've done okay. If I had more patience for using gear than I do, more money to buy gear and perhaps a little er, 'ergogenic aid' I would be making a run for the IPF record books right now.

Besides, if you train seriously, and seriously hard for a few years, by that I mean years and years of heavy squats and deadlifts, you will most certainly increase your own bone density. It's not just muscle you build when you jump 3 or more weight classes in years of training and competing, it's your whole structure. I have gained over 50lbs of solid LBM in years of training hard, but I can guarantee you that if I stopped training tomorrow and never lifted a weight again I would never ever be as light or as small as I was before I found powerlifting. You cannot build wrist size up with exercise, yet, my wrists are measurably thicker than they were 5 years ago.
 
You will be fine. I have small joints for a big guy and have never been seriously injured. I have also been able to attain a decent level of strength so there is no reason you should have any problems. Look at guys like shawn frankl, he is a 198 and squats over 1000 lbs, he doesnt have massive joints. So get in there and kick ass.
 
Even if you are genetically disadvantaged, look at the strongest guys around you at the next meet you go to. Maybe one or two of them will be genetically perfect for powerlifting. Most guys who are champions got there because they have godly levels of perseverance and dedication, not good genes.
 
Also consider this. This is the sport of powerlifting. The sad state of the sport is that equipment has become the great equalizer. I don't like it any more than the next guy, in fact, I think bench shirts and squat suits/wraps, etc. have destroyed the sport. I used gear because I needed to to be competitive, and I'll admit I never really did give it the time of day many other lifters do. I know of many very average people with decidedly very average genetics who have embraced the gear, wrapped their head around the problem and now compete with the incredibly strong beasts of Eastern Europe head to head. It is not uncommon to see two 198lb guys at world level meets, one who looks like a competitive bodybuilder, with the impressive raw bench to compliment, the other looks like the guy who mows your lawn, and benches over 100lbs less raw. Both will lift 525lbs on meet day.

I hate to endorse it, but if genetics have failed you, there is always Metal, Titan, Inzer, APT, etc.
 
Brainsmasher said:
Also consider this. This is the sport of powerlifting. The sad state of the sport is that equipment has become the great equalizer. I don't like it any more than the next guy, in fact, I think bench shirts and squat suits/wraps, etc. have destroyed the sport. I used gear because I needed to to be competitive, and I'll admit I never really did give it the time of day many other lifters do. I know of many very average people with decidedly very average genetics who have embraced the gear, wrapped their head around the problem and now compete with the incredibly strong beasts of Eastern Europe head to head. It is not uncommon to see two 198lb guys at world level meets, one who looks like a competitive bodybuilder, with the impressive raw bench to compliment, the other looks like the guy who mows your lawn, and benches over 100lbs less raw. Both will lift 525lbs on meet day.

I hate to endorse it, but if genetics have failed you, there is always Metal, Titan, Inzer, APT, etc.
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This has some truth to it, but only to a point. For instance, if you have long arms you can't wear a bench shirt as tight as someone with shorter arms since the bar has to come down much farther. Thus the person with shorter arms can get more out of bench shirt (assuming everything else is equal). The equipment favors people with certain proportions so you can't argue that it levels the playing field for everyone. More people are getting proficient in equipment, thus it is more likely the stronger lifter will win since they all know how to use the equipment well. Plus there are some people with great genetics who have also figured out the equipment and they end up putting up astronomical totals.
 
Compete raw if you don't like equipment. I have and do compete both ways. Joint size doesn't matter, make it work for you.
 
Sweekaters said:
Even if you are genetically disadvantaged, look at the strongest guys around you at the next meet you go to. Maybe one or two of them will be genetically perfect for powerlifting. Most guys who are champions got there because they have godly levels of perseverance and dedication, not good genes.
Click to expand...

100% correct, well said.
 
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