Ahh, yes.
The fabled battle of “powerlifting or bodybuilding?” is one that has raged on for years. Quite often tearing apart friendships, creating a need for safe spaces, and hitting people “right in the feels.”
Utter ridiculousness.
Even though I’m more than partial to bodybuilding, neither is truly better or worse. It simply comes down to what you enjoy doing the most (what a novel concept that is…).
Here’s the thing, though.
You can become better at whichever poison you’ve picked by paying attention to and stealing lessons from the other. That’s right. Some bodybuilding methods will help you stack more weight on the bar and bump up your 1RM, just as a number of powerlifting paradigms will help you round out your physique and pack more muscle onto your frame (I mean, powerlifters are definitely not not jacked).
To you wonderful meatheads reading this, below you’ll learn how you can build more muscle with 5 simple lessons stolen from powerlifting. Such lessons that will help you bust through a muscle building plateau, round out your physique, and hopefully pour water on the pissing match between the two tribes.
Lesson #1. Cluster Sets
In my humble (and meatheaded) opinion, cluster sets are the most underrated training technique in a physique athlete’s arsenal. I’m even guilty of overlooking them myself.
Powerlifters will use cluster sets to move heavy loads for more weight than they typically could. Which just so happens to be a form of progressive overload that will add some MASS to your physique when sprinkled into your program.
Here’s how to execute them:
Clusters are characterized by performing 1-8 (usually) reps, taking a short intra-set rest of 10-30s (depending on the setup of your cluster), and then repeating the reps and rest period 2-3 times. Truly, they’re quite straightforward.
And will leave you gassed at the end.
The goal of using cluster sets is to produce either more powerful reps, or more reps with a heavy load. Depending on how you lay out the set/rest/rep scheme, you can tailor them either way quite easily.
Some not so groundbreaking science:
The ATP-PC system is responsible for energy production in the first 10-15s of intense exercise. Making it of utmost importance for power and strength events that often involve a single maximal force or rep. Full recovery of the ATP-PC is usually around the 3 minute mark, but after 30s you’ll typically recover to 70% capacity (give or take). Throw in the intra-set rest periods and you’ll be moving heavier loads for more reps and/or more powerful reps with sub-max loads.
Clusters provide a different stimulus that you may not have experienced before. Inject a little creativity and clusters are quite a versatile training method, which can be used for strength, power, and yes…hypertrophy.
Here’re a couple examples of cluster sets in a hypertrophy context:
Note: Cluster sets work best with compound barbell movements where you can easily rack and un-rack the weight. Think front/back squats, deadlifts/rack pulls, incline/flat barbell bench, military press, and the list goes on.
Load the bar with your 8RM, perform 6 reps, rest 10-15s, perform 3 reps, rest 10-15s, perform 1-2 reps, done. Rest 2-3 minutes between the clusters themselves. When all is said and done, you’ll have knocked out 10-11 reps with your 8RM.
Although, Barbell Curls make for a pretty good hypertrophy-focused clusters.
Lesson #2. Partial Reps (overloading the strength curve)
Oh how I love the sweet, sweet feeling of thrashing muscle fibres with partial reps in the morning.
Powerlifters are all about moving big loads (ha). That being the case, as loads get heavier, it becomes blatantly clear that there’s a “piece” of each lift where most simply aren’t as strong, and often struggle to push the bar through.. It could be driving out of the bottom of a bench, pushing through the mid-point of a squat, or locking out a heavy deadlift. Few are able to maintain the same strength and force production from top to bottom of a lift. Fortunately, powerlifters figured out how to isolate and improve these weaker areas. This is where exercises such board presses, rack pulls, and deficit deadlifts come into play.
If you struggle to lockout your deadlift, rack pulls from knee height (or above) or a great “fix.” It be getting the bar off your chest that vexes you, overload the bar, and set safety bars so you can only press halfway to lockout. And if you can’t get out of the hole in your squat, adding in a quarter rep out of the bottom is a great way to build strength (and muscle).
Using these partial ranges of motion allow you to overload the exact spot on the strength curve where you’re weakest, with much more weight than you usually could.
In the interest of bodybuilding, you have two options.
- You can use exercises like above to subject yourself to more weight than you normally would.
Or…
- You can use partial reps to increase the time under tension of an exercise (1&1/4 reps of dumbbell presses), extend a set and flood a muscle with blood (partial reps of lying leg curls tacked onto the end of your full-range reps), or partial range “pulses” of the stretch position of EZ bar extensions.
When it comes to true partial reps for bodybuilding, isolation exercises typically work best and the options are endless.
Lesson #3. Analyze your weak points, then work on fixing them.
A huge part of being able to continual progress (in both powerlifting and bodybuilding) is the ability to self-assess your weak points, and actually take strides towards improving them.
When analyzing yourself, you should look at both size and strength. To some degree they feed off of one another, and to neglect one is to sell yourself short.
Most lifters have a strong propensity for training whatever their biggest and/or strongest muscle is, usually because it’s the most enjoyable (I’m guilty of always wanting to train legs for this reason). Such is human nature. But, that’s not how one improves. Improving lies in relentlessly attacking your weak points (now matter how much it may suck), and hammering away until you’ve brought it up to speed.
Chances are, your smallest muscle is also your weakest, and you can’t go wrong in working to make said muscle stronger.
You can even draw on a lesson Arnold shared in ‘Pumping Iron.’ He’d look in the mirror and literally analyze his physique, piece by piece, muscle by muscle. If he felt his forearms needed work, he’d start training them more, and upper arms less. Not enough calve size? He’d add in another 2 or two.
Much like a powerlifter will analyze their lifts to pick out flaws in form or where strength falters, you unruly meatheads can analyze your physique in much the same way.
Suit up.
Lesson #4. Powerlifters are great at busting through plateaus, physique trainees, not so much
Powerlifters live and die off of making continual progress with the load on their bar. As such, they become quite obsessed with making sure that progress keeps happening, and their loads keep rising. Stemming from this obsession, most powerlifters are excellent at assessing where in each lift they’re coming up short.
Physique athletes, in my experience, are terrible at this. Because everyone just wants to train arms every day, regardless of how their physique looks as a whole.
This mentality is one that must be stopped, and killed with a raging fire. Learning to think like a powerlifter will instead of forever having you avoid your plateaus, you’ll work like a meathead possessed to snap through them.
To feed off of lesson #3, ask yourself: Where am I weak? Which muscles can’t I target or feel very well? Which muscles fatigue very easily? Am I constantly getting injured anywhere…and the list goes on.
Lesson #5. Your lifting “posture” matters.
This may well be the lowest hanging fruit of all the lessons in this article. With that said, make sure you “pluck” this one.
Be aware that the posture in which you lift is quite different from proper exercise execution and excellent form.
When I speak of your lifting posture, I’m referring to your literal posture. You know you’d always get yelled at to not slouch or keep your head up when you’re younger?
Yeah, that all applies to lifting. And yes, it does make quite a difference.
The thing that’s often misunderstood with improving posture, is that it must be practiced. You can do all the “corrective exercises” and stretches in the world in hopes of improving you rounded shoulders and tight pecs, but if you don’t actively practice keeping good posture throughout the day or make a point of becoming aware of how you posture, you’ll be wasting a lot of time with face pulls and banded mobilization work.
Bring your head up high (chin up).
Roll your shoulders back.
Keep your glutes flexed at all times.
Lock your abs down and flex them too.
Tuck your hips “under” (even in something as simple as bicep curls).
Best of all, you can practice this constantly throughout your day, and nobody will be able to tell (except to compliment you on your excellent posture).
When in doubt, just flex your biceps.
The final reps.
I see no reason for two groups of lifters who both truly love what the gym has to offer, to squabble over infinitesimal details.
Especially since there’s so much that can be learned from one another.
In short:
- Implement cluster sets for 4-6 weeks.
- Use partial rep movements, and as a way to extend your sets.
- Analyze your weak points (in both strength and appearance), then improve them.
- Steal a page from the powerlifter’s book on breaking through plateaus.
- Work on becoming aware of your posture at all times.
You can be sure that a world of good will come to your physique if you do implement the 5 lessons above.
(Make sure to thank your powerlifting brethren once you’ve reaped the rewards).
About the Author
Alex is a short shorts enthusiast, espresso connoisseur, and budding master chef (certainly not your average meathead). When he's not training legs or learning how to better serve his clients, he can be found exploring how to further crush life, perfect his flair in the kitchen, or pull the perfect shot of espresso. He's recently polled 19 of the top muscle building minds for their best training tips. Click thru here to grab your copy of the prestigious Hypertrophy Handbook (it's free).
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