Why do you go to the gym? Is it purely for aesthetic purposes (bodybuilding), do you want to become as strong as possible (powerlifting) or both at the same time? The latter is also called powerbuilding: your training is aimed at becoming both more muscular and stronger. In this article we explain how to put together a powerbuilding program.
WHAT IS POWERBUILDING?
While bodybuilders focus on muscle growth and aesthetics, with a wide variety of exercises, powerlifters focus on maximum strength in three fundamental exercises (The Big Three): the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Powerlifting combines these two disciplines, which go well together: you strive for the best of both worlds.
ADVANATAGES
The big advantage of powerbuilding is that you look as strong as you are. A pure bodybuilder is often a lot less strong than he or she looks.
Another advantage is that you can easily challenge yourself. You have an interesting goal every training, such as pressing heavier with the bench press or lifting heavier with the deadlift. Powerbuilding makes training challenging and exciting.
EXERCISE SELECTION
The training of powerlifters is, as mentioned, based on the big, compound exercises, namely The Big Three. As a powerbuilder, you add at least one isolating exercise for each muscle group.
ORDER OF EXERCISES
Whether you are training for strength, muscle growth or both, it is always wise to do the compound exercises first and then the isolation exercises. After all, the compounds require the most strength and provide the greatest muscle growth stimulus. This is also shown by research.
FREQUENCY
Higher training frequencies are beneficial for strength development. Therefore, do the big lifts two to four times a week. Training frequency is less important for muscle growth. You are already good if you train each muscle group twice a week.
Lifting heavy three times a week does mean that you are working through small volumes per workout (see next point), otherwise you will not recover sufficiently from the accumulated fatigue. See also the example below.
VOLUME
Training volume is the weekly number of sets per muscle group. For pure strength gains, a relatively low volume is enough, as research shows: you already make progress with 5 to 10 sets per exercise per week, while for muscle growth you end up somewhere between 10 and 20 sets per week, depending on your training status.
For muscle growth and strength gain, choose the golden mean: 5 to 10 sets for compound exercises, supplemented with around 15 sets specifically for muscle growth (the isolation exercises). See also the example below.
REPRANGE
To get stronger you need to lift heavy weights. That is, you use a weight with which you can do at most 5 repetitions. For muscle growth the weight is less important, but for practical reasons it is best to choose a weight with which you can do 5 to 10 repetitions.
REST TIMES
For optimal muscle growth, rest one to two minutes between sets (isolation exercises). For maximum strength gains, rest longer: 3-5 minutes (compound exercises).
RELATIVE INSTENSITY
To get strong, you should not train your sets to failure. That will probably only result in extra, unnecessary fatigue. So you always leave a few reps ‘in the tank’, or Reps In Reserve (RIR). A meta-analysis shows that for strength, it is best to keep 4 to 2 reps in the tank (4-2 RIR).
Muscle growth does benefit from short training to muscle failure. Therefore, train the exercises for muscle growth with 2 to 1 RIR.
EXAMPLE
An example of a leg training program for an average strength athlete:
Monday
barbell squat 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
barbell deadlift 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
leg press 2 x 8 reps (2 RIR) (2 minutes rest)
Wednesday
barbell squat 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
barbell deadlift 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
leg extension 3 x 10 reps (1 RIR) (1.5 minutes rest)
Friday
barbell squat 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
barbell deadlift 2 x 4 reps (3 RIR) (3 minutes rest)
leg curl 3 x 10 reps (1 RIR) (1.5 minutes rest)
CONCLUSION
Training for strength and muscle growth do not have to be each other’s opponents. You can easily do both at the same time so that you become both strong and muscular. You will only achieve the separate goals, muscle strength and muscle growth, somewhat less quickly than if you train specifically for one of them.
A powerbuilder’s training is built around The Big Three, in low rep ranges, supplemented by isolating muscle growth exercises in slightly higher rep ranges.