Strength Training and Bodybuilding Have Some Differences

By Phil Sims

There is a thought out there among people that exercise that lifting weights means the same thing to anyone that you ask. In reality, this is very far from the truth. There are many different weight lifting routines that can be done. Some focus on doing more sets with fewer repetitions. These sets usually involve using more weight to build bigger muscle mass. Some other routines focus on doing fewer sets with more repetitions in each one. These sets typically use a little less weight and are more focused on building lean muscle. The two main categories that any of these exercise routines fall into are strength training, bodybuilding. To gain a better understanding of these categories, it is important to be aware of the goals that each offer.

The main goal of strength training is to get stronger. To be more specific, the goal is to increase the amount of weight that a person can lift during each different weight lifting exercise. The way this is measured is by how much a person can lift on one repetition. In order to increase this one repetition maximum, the body needs to boost the power production of the muscles. The power production is increased by training the muscle fibers to be able to lift more weight. The nervous system also plays a key role in this process by interacting with those fibers to perform the various lifts.

Bodybuilding has a slightly different goal. The thing that people are working towards in this category is increasing the amount of visible muscle on the body. This is achieved through a process called hypertrophy. In this process, the body is creating new muscle cells and/or increasing the size of existing ones. Another very important factor in this category that overlaps a bit with strength training is reducing body fat. This is achieved through other exercises combined with the bodybuilding and by maintaining a healthier diet. In both of these categories, overall strength is going to increase, and muscle mass is going to be built. There are some ways to notice the differences between these two types of training.

One of the most tell tale signs that will show some of these differences is the amount of reps that are performed during the various lifts. In order to build stronger muscles, you need to lift heavy weights that you won’t be able to do for many consecutive reps. This means that most strength training programs will have a maximum of eight reps in a set and some will even work on just one rep sets to get the most weight done possible. In hypertrophy, bodybuilders will do more than eight reps in a set. The goal of these sets is to lift the weight until failure, or until the point that you just can’t do one more rep. This is the way to build new muscle cells and increase the size of the existing ones. During this process of working out, the goal is to create muscle fatigue to build that visible mass.

Another difference is the two categories is the types of exercises that are selected. For strength training, the goal is to mimic real world actions. This involves doing many lifts that involve picking things up, pushing things around and other similar movements. Because of this, strength training involves doing exercise that work more than one muscle group at a time. Some example would be the squat, dead lift, bench press and power clean just to name a few. Bodybuilding, on the other hand, usually involves judging the competitors on their specific muscles and how well they are defined. For this reason, bodybuilders usually try to do exercises that isolate muscles to precisely train and shape those areas. Specific triceps, biceps and leg exercises are common in these programs.

Before deciding on which of these two programs is right for you, it is important to keep your goals in mind. Strength training involves more total body workouts three to four times a week. Bodybuilding involves muscle specific workouts that go anywhere from five to seven days a week. Choosing either program is a great way to get in shape and feel better.

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