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Weightlifting or Powerlifting (or Bodybuilding :P)

D

Deltaan

New member
Discuss.

I know most of the people on here are powerlifters and i guess that's because powerlifting is just more accessible to the general public. The lifts are simpler and can generally be self taught.

But here's a question. If you were given the opportunity to be coached in weightlifting by a national grade coach. What thoughts would be running through your head?
 
Haha but the lifts look so cool, i wouldn't mind doing reps again and again.

But seriously, the coach i spoke to today, said since I'm a beginner 3 times a week would be sufficient. Even the guys that have been training for 10+ years only train 5 times a week.
 
Thats probably more of a reflection of their time constraints.

Idk. if you have an opportunity to train with someone good and your interested then go for it.

If there was a world class muay thai gym only blocks away would you do BJJ?
 
Powerlifters lift competetively for decades, OL lift for minutes in comparison.

Its a very harsh sport on elbows and shoulders

To be any good at it, like Oli suggested, you need much more than 3 x week.

You can get VERY strong in PL 3 x week

What are your lifting goals?
 
Well my goals aren't specific at all. Just to get strong. Powerful. whatever. I just want to be good at whatever I do. :-\ that probably didn't explain much.

I don't go to bed one night thinking to myself, 'i want to bench this much, i want to squat this much etc'. I just want to be the best i can be.

Plus i can't imagine myself doing squats, bench, deadlift for rest of my training years. And with weightlifting being such a technical sport, I'd love to set myself the challenge of mastering such a pure lift.

I guess its just a stage i'm going through haha.

Ps. and if anything goes sour with weightlifting, i can always go back to powerlifting right? Not that I'm saying powerlifting is a second option, I've loved powerlifting the moment i started.
 
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Delt, I don't want to dominate your thread but (lol)

If you have access to a good coach/resources then give it a go. It would be silly to 'powerlift' down at the fitness first when down the road theres some world class olympic lifting going on.

My 5c.
 
I'd say go for it. If you're happy to give it a shot and you find you like it and are willing to make the commitments required then grab the oppertunity with both hands.

You can lift on your own in a world where every john and geof has an opinion on the best way to do things, or you can spend a long time researching different opinions and try to put it into practice yourself. Or you can take advantage of someones years worth of knowledge and experience in the field who will be with you every step of the way and train with other like minded people then youre bound to excel way beyond what you're likely to yourself.

Markos makes a good point about different results between disciplines, but in the end I guess its up to you whether you think you could attain better results on your current path or in the conditions you'd be lifting in with the coach. Also depending how serious you want to be or if you'd rather just keep your lifting casual.
 
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Been OL at the football camp here for about 3 weeks now (since the new coach arrived), we do 6 lifting sessions a week, some very strength based, others technique and fitness.
I've found it fun to try some of the new stuff but would be happy to either PL or OL.
The only major difference I found initially is it was killing my wrists and shoulders.
 
here is a thought - if you are really interested in it, do it. not if some random people on an internet forum tell you to.

this is a crazy concept, but if you don't like it, you can always stop and do something else!
 
janos-baranyai.jpg



Dont half arse something because even pros get it wrong.. Be prepared to cop injuries in such an explosive sport. If you cand deal with that then continue.
 
Give it a go, why not.

Sure, they get injuries and their competitive career doesn't last long. But are you even going to compete? Are you going to do it long enough to get injuries? You should be able to do it for a couple of years without trouble, if you enjoy it then keep going despite the risks, if you then don't think it's worth it set it aside.

It's good to try new sports and so on when the opportunity arises. Most people never get offers like that. Just because you do it today doesn't mean you have to do it forever or until you're injured.
 
There's nothing more satisfying than nailing a good C&J or snatch.

I might give it a shot in the second half of this year but if powerlifting is going well it would be hard to give up making progress there.

If I had the opportunity to be taught by a national grade coach I'd take it in a heartbeat.
 
gongi_meter said:
here is a thought - if you are really interested in it, do it. not if some random people on an internet forum tell you to.

this is a crazy concept, but if you don't like it, you can always stop and do something else!
Click to expand...

Stop that, I'm not use to cogent thoughts....
 
Its no big deal finding a quality coach. Most states only have 1 or 2 OL gyms.

Thats where they'll be lol

Hawthorn and Oakleigh in Victoria
 
weightlfiting is a wonderful sport. It's like pretty much every sport, in the sense that it requires a lot of dedication. If you have a good teacher and you're willing to put in the time you'll reap some great rewards.

Even with a national level coach, it realisticly could take you a few years for you to become good at it. Chances are if you come into the sport and you're already strong then you could find that an advantage as well as disadvantage. Silver medalist Robert Kabbas told me that.

You'll find it an advantage in the sense that you could easily fit into the E or D grade fairly quickly, once you pick up your technique. (look here to see what I mean).

Reading the chart is simple. If yr lifting in the 69kg class and able to do a 65kg snatch & an 85kg clean & jerk for 1 rep, you'd fit in to the D grade. That's a total of 150kg @ the 69kg class. The higher you get, the more technique (as well as strength plays a role).

One thing that Gino Fratangelo told me, was that in your second year, you can realisticly clean & jerk what you snatched last year. That's positive thinking. It still takes massive amounts of focus on technique as well as strength building.

Get in there. Have a go. Be prepared for a pretty long road. It's a rewarding journey.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmaHqrD2t1Q]YouTube - Gino Fratangelo jerks 203kg[/ame]
 
Definitely. I started with a passion for OL but after months of lurking and reading on here I'd pretty much convinced myself OL was for tossers and PL was better.

My mind is being changed back slightly after some influence from new people.

I don't think either is better, but there is no way I'd pass up the chance you are talking about and the one you seem to be implying
 
do oly lifting. keep benching once a week so that if you wanted to go into powerlifting your bench wont be 80kg will your squat is 160kg.

oly lifting will teach you some cool skills. nailing a 100kg+ snatch rock bottom is a badass thing.
 
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