Bodybuilding Question of the Month - Ironlife Magazine Issue #19

What's the difference between a weight trainer, strength trainer or a bodybuilder? Which of the three are you and why did get involved in that area?
What was the determining factor which changed your title from being a weight trainer to either strength trainer or bodybuilder?
Was it your diet, length of training, appearance, competing, ability to lift a certain weight or something else?

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Pudgy Admin @ www.ChemicalFitness.com

Goals. All three use resistance training but the ways they use it is different depending on their goals. The bodybuilder will be more focused on his diet and getting a good pump , shocking the muscle and making it work in a different way than it has before to initiate growth. The strength trainer is going to be more of a lower rep higher weight type lifter who will concentrate on personal bests time after time and not so much getting a pump. A weight trainer is the biggest segment of the population of most gyms, someone who works out for cosmetic purposes. Middle of the road type lifter. They generally end up doing the same exercises over and over with the same weight amounts.

I would describe myself as a former weight lifter converted to bodybuilder. I got interested in bodybuilding gradually as I figured out I was just spinning my wheels in the gym. I wasn't getting stronger, my mass increase had plateaued, and I wasn't losing weight. So i looked for the most extreme example of what I wanted and it was a pro bodybuilder.

I think a plan is what makes the difference in reference to the determining factor. A well thought out (by you or someone else) program with specific reasons and specific focuses on specific goals.

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jipped genes - Mod @ www.WorldClassBodybuilding.com

I would say weight trainer, I have no aspirations of being big. I train to stay lean and around 190-200 lbs.

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badham - Admin @ www.IronLife.com

As a fighter myself...I have never considered myself a bodybuilder...BUT I do want to look like one...so I use concepts from bodybuilding as well as strength training........but I would never compete as a bodybuilder...

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bladez - Member @ www.IronLife.com

Well a "weight trainer" from my experience is someone who lifts weights for the benefit of himself (which yes we all do). But, its more specific with a weight trainer because they care about how they look and how much they lift but not so much for either cause as long as they feel better about themselves.

A "strength trainer" is more concerned about the weight and really doesn't care too much about the look they get from lifting as long as they look big and strong and can prove it.

A "bodybuilder" is solely concerned about the look of his or her muscles. Most bodybuilders IMO are not really concerned about weight as long their muscles keep getting bigger, but as we all know, lifting progressively heavier weight usually gets us bigger of course followed by the right diet.

I used to consider myself a bodybuilder till I got into martial arts. Now I'm like a strength trainer/bodybuilder. I care about how I look but would rather be stronger than I appear to be while still looking good in the mean time.

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Pancake Sprawl - Member @ www.IronLife.com

Strength trainer ...I'm all about being huge and strong. I don't care if I don't look ripped I just want to be big and powerful.

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James - Mod @ www.ProActiveHealthNet.com

I believe a weight trainer is one who loves lifting but doesn’t compete competitively. A strength trainer would defiantly be a power lifter or Olympic type lifter with the goal of competition. A bodybuilder is someone who doesn’t really care about the weights involved but instead focuses on using the weights to chisel the best body they are genetically able to build.

I feel like I’m all three so this is going to be hard. I rotate between power lifting and bodybuilding. On one hand I get a rush from the lifts, not an ego rush but more of a sense of accomplishment. I try to compete at the natural pl meets at least once a year. As far as bodybuilding goes, I do it because it’s therapeutic. I think I lean more to power lifting because I’m naturally strong.

Competitive bodybuilding has also become unattainable for natural lifters.

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SweatMachine - Mod @ www.IntenseMuscle.com

I guess I would say: In reference to power lifting -strength training is the combination of strength and technique to complete a movement using the most possible weight.

Bodybuilding is the sculpting of the human physique, adding muscle where one perceives it necessary, and reducing body fat to expose the striations and shape of the muscle.

Weight training may be using weights to add some muscle mass to increase metabolism and to create a healthier body by increasing bone density. Weight training can be beneficial to human performance and health.

I guess I'm a bodybuilder: I first began to body build when I was 13. I'm not sure what the attraction was, but I loved the feeling of my muscles being pumped after a workout, and then the soreness that followed the next day let me know I was doing something. When I started growing and getting stronger, I was addicted. I competed for my first time at 20 years old. At age 24 I began power lifting for size and strength to help me in bodybuilding. I grew to love power lifting for it's individualism and lack of politics during competition.

I never considered myself as a bodybuilder until I began to compete, same with power lifting. I just considered myself a weight trainer until that point. Technically, if you power lift, you're a power lifter. If you build your body, you're a bodybuilder.

I look at it differently though- Just because you play a little touch football with the guys on Saturday- that doesn't make you a football player.

I have a Harley, but I'm not a biker-- know what I mean? I guess it's what's in your heart that defines you, not other people's perception of you.

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luv2lft - Mod @ www.Extreme-Athlete.com

That's a very subjective question Sachet. To me, a weight trainer is someone who may train with weights for overall health. They may have no other goal in mind than that.

A strength trainer, IMO, falls into the powerlifting category. They train heavy and specifically, and are most concerned with increasing efficiency of their CNS and poundage's, for lifts, or whatever their sport may be.... i.e.: Strongman, Highland Games, etc. I think their diet is structured for increasing or maintaining mass, and it's not necessarily lean mass all the time.

A bodybuilder trains not only to increase LBM, but for symmetry, regardless of muscle size. Training goes through phases... bulking to increase muscularity and density, then perhaps more of a specific muscle 'sculpting' phase to bring out definition. Dieting is most strict for a competitive bodybuilder, as that's the mechanism that will best display all the fine tuning. Maintaining LBM while losing body fat is very tricky business involving the right mix of diet, training and cardio. I fall into the latter category of bodybuilder (amateur) and will compete for the first time in March of this year.

I started out years ago doing the cardio bunny thing to no avail. It's been a gradual evolution from 'playing around' with weights to actually knowing what I'm doing somewhat, and why. To me, it's like an art form with my body as the medium. I can make whatever I want out of it with the proper effort and determination. I also like the tight structure and discipline involved in the dieting aspect. I truly do love to lift, pun intended and bodybuilding allows me to continually be challenged unlike any other sport. In bodybuilding, one's will is often their toughest opponent, not the person standing next to them.

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Ermantroudt - Mod @ www.Anabolex.com

The difference between the three are their goals and what sacrifices they are willing to make to reach their goal.

Powerlifter - I was interested in maximizing my strength. I trained PL style for a year before my first meet, out of respect for those who had come before I me, I did not call myself a powerlifter until after I had completed my first meet.

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tight booty - Member @ www.SculptedByIron.com

Bodybuilder, because what drives me is the desire to sculpt my body. A bodybuilder is driven to continually improve their physique.........They are Physique builders.

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viking - Member @ www.SculptedByIron.com

To me a "bodybuilder" is different from the others because he is not exclusively interested in increasing only strength. Bodybuilding is much more artistic in a sense because what you are trying to do is build a "perfect" body. Symmetrical, proportionate, aesthetic, with all major muscle groups balanced. Combine this with low bodyfat and you have "it." Strength trainers, aka powerlifters on the other hand are interested in lifting the heaviest weights possible on three lifts.

I have always trained as a bodybuilder. I remember in JR. High in the late 70's when Arnold, Zane, Columbo, and Ferrigno were the big names in BB. Seeing them made me want to train. I also saw Arnold at Santa Monica Beach sometime 1978 or 79. He was coming out of the water, it was a cloudy day, hardly anyone on the beach. I was amazed at his physique. I was a scrawny 120lb 13or 14 year old at the time and it made a big impression on me.

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Shiko24 - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

When I started to workout at 16, I was just lifting weights. Just a weight lifter. I did not know that diet or supplements were needed to make gains.

When I was 18, I started to power lift and I did a pyramid workout on every thing I did even bi's ! I gained a lot of size and even more strength. I was thick but no where near 'developed' or even close to shredded.

When I was 24 I had hit a plateau at 197 lbs I was about 16-18% body fat but I thought I looked good. I wanted to be bigger! I wanted to look like a bodybuilder! At 26 I was reading every muscle magazine and fitness rag out there. I was getting my diet on track, taking protein in extra every day and switched to a 1 muscle group a day workout. 5 days on 2 days off. I really started to see a difference. I know more about diet and workouts that I ever did before.

I want to compete in a bodybuilding contest this year to make a show of all the hard work I have put into my body. So I thought ok well, when I compete I will then be a BB'er.

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pentacent - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

A bodybuilder is a larger group composed of subgroups...you can call them "competitive bodybuilder" "beginner", "intermediate"...whatever. But a bodybuilder is one who builds their body intentionally through some combination of weights, nutrition, supplementation, and perhaps cardio though you don't need all those ingredients. A bodybuilder is one who builds their body. You don't have to be a hardcore to be a bodybuilder, and you don't have to compete. When Arnold retired, he said he would always be a bodybuilder, but he just is no longer competing. I considered myself a bodybuilder when I was a college football player. Even in high school I considered it a hobby.

The end result of bodybuilding is to build the body. That differs from powerlifters, because powerlifters don't care what they look like. Sports specific training also does not make someone a bodybuilder, because the end result is performance. For me, bodybuilding is a broad category with many subcategories, and even a rookie to the gym could be considered a bodybuilder if their intent is to improve their physique.

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masswithclass2002 - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

Diet, training, appearance, competing?

My opinion is all of the above combined makes you a bodybuilder. To me you are not considered a bodybuilder until you actually do the hardcore diet and get up on stage and do good. I've seen some real scrubs onstage that probably tell people they are a bodybuilder when all actuality they get smoked and look totally stupid onstage. Another thing i can't stand are guys that lift but don't compete but they tell people they are a bodybuilder.

It takes TOTAL commitment to diet 16 weeks and get your bodyfat down under %5 and keep your head onstage also. I hate to ramble but I also hate those idiots that do nothing but upper body and have sissy legs, but still tell people they are a bodybuilder. My answer is, I am a bodybuilder. I'm done.

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boobear - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

I think it's all in what you think in your mind. Technically I suppose that if you're building your body and taking is as far as you can and have a goal set out, then yea I'd say that's a bodybuilder.

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stellar - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

I kind of agree with pentacent, but I would take it one step further. I'd say it depends on your reason for working out, or say, your ultimate goal. Some people lift weights because they want to be fit and healthy (your average gym goer).

Some people want to be strong (powerlifters) And some people are doing it primarily for the vanity of it. Bodybuilding diets and lifestyles aren't particularly good for overall health, and they are not designed to build strength.

So I guess I'm not a bodybuilder because I haven't resorted to extreme measures to get the look I want. YET!

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BALLZ - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

I kind of agree with Pentacent. Anyone who is trying to create their ideal physique through means of diet and exercise is a bodybuilder. They are not necessarily the stereotypical bodybuilder, but they are trying to build/create their body.

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midwtchamp - Mod @ www.BeyondMass.com

I totally agree I challenge anyone who says they are a bodybuilder but never stepped on stage to live my life for 16 weeks of comp prep and the endless eating in the off season...I will bet you my car they will respect me a hell of a lot more and say they aren't a true bodybuilder.....As for me I am bodybuilder through and through......I eat sleep and dream it.....Jr. Nationals here I come that is all I am going to say!

[QUOTE]pentacent - Member @ www.BeyondMass.com

(Re: midwtchamp's comment) See, mid, I would challenge that. As I said earlier, the sport/hobby/whatever of bodybuilding is the larger group whereas competitive bodybuilding is a subgroup. I would definitely say that a lot of normal in-gym non-competitive bodybuilders would never make it with those that compete. but they are still bodybuilders. By the very definition, they sculpt their bodies. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I include those that go into the gym to sculpt their bodies, yet really spend more time talking. That makes up most of them.

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These are all great replies.. thank you for participating!
Thanks to shiko24 for letting me swipe his question
Special thank you to SweatMachine for allowing me to use his picture!

Til next month, stay safe~
~lacey