Find out why bodybuilders are so much more lean than strength athletes and how you need to train to get big. Everyone knows that the coolest powerlifter has less muscle size than a builder of the same level of training. At first glance, it is quite obvious that regular strength training leads not only to a set of muscle mass, but also to an increase in strength parameters. However, the question of why the pitching is more than the lifters remains open.
These differences are difficult to explain in terms of genetic characteristics or the use of a sports farm. There are also many genetically gifted athletes in powerlifting, as well as in bodybuilding. Steroids are used extensively in each of these sports disciplines. But then why are pitching more than lifters? The answer suggests itself - different training programs are used.
Let's take a closer look at the main differences in training programs used by lifters and builders.
Pumping
At the end of the last century, most domestic builders disdained the pumping effect. In the nineties, a lot of literature written by Western specialists appeared in our country. In these books, the main emphasis was on the progression of the load. It is quite obvious that against this background, pumping seemed to be something completely insignificant.
But time has passed, and in the course of research it has been proven that pumping can significantly speed up the process of gaining muscle mass. Let's take a closer look at what this is connected with. During strength training, the body uses the mechanism of anaerobic glycolysis to provide the muscles with energy.
The metabolite of these reactions is lactate, and the more repetitions you do, the stronger the burning sensation in your muscles. At the same time, the athlete's strength parameters decrease, because lactic acid prevents the active use of ATP. Lactate is converted into hydrogen ions in the course of several chemical reactions, after which the real magic begins.
Due to the high concentration of hydrogen ions, the release of carbon dioxide is accelerated, which leads to vasodilation. This in turn allows blood to flow quickly to the muscles, and you begin to feel the pumping effect. The more blood is in the muscle tissue, the more actively the capillaries are squeezed and, as a result, the pumping becomes even stronger.
Do not forget that with weak blood flow, oxygen supply also becomes limited. When the builder works at a slow pace with a low weight of weights (this is exactly what must be done to create a pumping effect), then the main load falls on the fibers of the slow type, not fast.
The peculiarity of slow fibers is that they do not use anaerobic glycolysis, but the oxidation process with the help of oxygen. Since during pumping, oxygen is practically not supplied to the tissues, growth factors accumulate in them, stimulating the development of slow fibers.
Note that this topic is very extensive and may even require a separate article. Now you need to remember that high repetition training with a low working weight helps to fill the muscles with blood and the subsequent appearance of a burning sensation. By developing slow fibers, you increase muscle endurance. However, excessive dumping can lead to tissue destruction.
Multi-repetition training mode
You should know that the main difference between working on mass and increasing strength parameters is the number of repetitions in the set. It is this fact that immediately catches the eye when comparing the training program for triathletes and builders. Lifters prefer to train with low reps and high weights. But many builders don't even know their one-rep max. They can tell right away with what weight they are capable of doing 6 to 12 reps in any movement, but they pass to the one-rep maximum.
We can say for sure that low-rep training is not as effective in terms of gaining muscle mass. To solve this problem, it is necessary to perform from 6 to 12, and sometimes 15 repetitions in each movement. The exact numbers depend on the pace of the exercise. We will not go into the intricacies of biochemistry, but simply inform that two or three repetitions do not allow creating the conditions necessary for the activation of hypertrophy processes.
When an athlete performs from one to three repetitions, then the body does not make sense to activate the processes of anaerobic glycolysis, because the set ends very quickly. In such a situation, ATP reserves are sufficient for the muscles. Since it is not beneficial for the body to build up muscle mass in such conditions, this does not happen.
It should be noted that powerlifters create powerful stress with their mode of work and the body reacts to this with a strong release of anabolic hormones. But since there is no lactate in the muscle tissues, hormones cannot increase the anabolic background to the desired level. All of the above applies only to straight people, since “chemists” do not need stress for the synthesis of hormones, there are already a lot of them in the blood.
Refusal training
This is a very interesting topic that is actively discussed by athletes and specialists. Recall that refusal is a state in which the athlete cannot continue the set. This tells us that the maximum stress level has been reached and that this fact is the most important.
We have already said that the higher the stress, the more powerful the body's anabolic response will be. To put it simply, a lot of growth hormone and testosterone are synthesized. And again, we note that refusal training is necessary for natural athletes and is absolutely not needed for "chemical" ones. We also note that builders have a significantly higher stress index compared to lifters, because they fully use all their energy reserves.
Time under load
Another factor that predetermines serious differences in the training programs of representatives of powerlifting and bodybuilding. You must understand that only what trains will develop. The builders keep the muscles under the load for a longer period of time. This applies not only to an individual set, but also to the entire lesson.
The more time the muscles are in tension, the more resources they need to complete the task. This is another answer to the question of why there are more pitching lifters. In representatives of these sports, the reserves of glycogen, water, and the number of mitochondria differ significantly. All these factors have a direct impact on the size of the muscle fibers.
If we take a standard builder program, for example, for the development of back muscles, then when all the sets and exercises are summed up, the number of repetitions in one session can reach 200 or more. Multiply this by the weight of the weights and find out what the total weight the lifter lifts in training. Probably, after these simple mathematical calculations, you will no longer have a question, why are pitching more than lifters?
Isolated training
Builders try to work every muscle as deeply as possible. For powerlifters, basic movements are sufficient, although they sometimes have to focus on biceps and triceps. However, this isolated work is nothing like what bodybuilders do.
In bodybuilding, it is customary to first drain the muscles with the base, and then finish them off with isolation. Professional bodybuilders can, say, perform up to five isolated movements for the biceps with 4 or 5 sets each. The result of this work is the accumulation of a large number of metabolites of energy processes in the muscle tissues. The bodybuilder's main goal is to create as much stress as possible.
Length of pauses between sets
In order to have time to complete a huge amount of work in training, builders reduce the pause time between sets. It is normal for lifters to rest for two or three minutes between sets. This allows the body to utilize lactate and in the next set, the muscles are again able to show maximum contractile ability.
In bodybuilding, the task of lifting the maximum weight is not solved, but a large amount of work needs to be done. Therefore, the duration of pauses between sets is reduced to an average of one minute. Although in the most difficult movements, for example, squats, the pause can be increased to two minutes. All this leads to an increase in the reserves of "fuel" and, accordingly, an increase in the volume of muscles.
Neuro-muscular connection
Since bodybuilders need to maximize muscle depletion, they must have a developed connection between the brain and muscles. You have probably heard of such a concept as "the ability to feel the muscles." This is possible over time, when a strong muscle-brain connection is established.
The essence of this skill is that you can feel the contraction of any muscle during training. Moreover, thanks to the brain, you can increase its contraction. In powerlifting, this skill is not in demand. Some pro-builders are known for the fact that even with the help of dumbbells weighing about 15 kilos, they can "work" the muscles to failure.
Complicating work
Since the lifter needs to lift the maximum possible weight, he tries with all his might to make his work easier. In turn, in bodybuilding, for maximum muscle development, you must act in a completely different way. To make it easier for you to understand the essence, consider such a popular movement as the bench press.
The powerlifter strives to reduce the vector of movement and use the maximum number of muscles and joints for this - he performs a "bridge", uses a wide grip, etc. A builder needs to complicate his work and most often a narrow grip is used, and there can be no talk of "bridges". As a result, lifters' personal records are significantly higher than bodybuilders.
Increased training intensity
Bodybuilders actively use various methods of increasing the intensity of the exercise, for example, supersets, forced repetitions, dropsets, etc. All these methods are used only in order to maximize muscle depletion. Powerlifting representatives do not need this.
Using a split system
You probably know what a split is. Note that this is a relatively new training system. For example, Iron Arnie at the dawn of his career did not even know about split and at every lesson he trained all the muscles of the body. At the same time, the full body system is actively used today, for example, in weightlifting.
Thanks to the split, the athlete has the opportunity to perform a large amount of work on a specific muscle. Many bodybuilders work out one large and one small muscle group in each session.
10 reasons why pitching is more than lifters in the following story:
