I see a lot of postings on here where people say,
"I've been lifting weights for 5 years, but only have been body building for a year."
Lifting weights IS bodybuilding, correct? So, these people have been bodybuilding for 5 years, not 1. The question is, what differentiates the weight lifter and the body builder? Diet? Routine? Knowledge?
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08-12-2005, 09:07 PM #1
difference between weight lifter and body builder
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08-12-2005, 09:10 PM #2
Weightlifter is a broader term. It usually means training for strength, or maximum lifts, but technically, an athlete who wants to run faster, pitch harder, or jump higher, etc., and lifts towards that end is also a weightlifter.
Bodybuilder, on the other hand, lifts weights, but for the purposes of mainly appearance of size, symmetry, and definition.Time To Re-Schedule
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08-12-2005, 09:30 PM #3
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the theoretical difference is that a bodybuilder is SOLELY interested in muscle develop for public EXHIBITION purposes.
so if you never plan on competing, you arn't really a bodybuilder. But i say **** it, i call myself whatever I want.
but in the context you used it, it usually means the person lifted weights every now and then over a 5yr span, then got serious about it for a year.<->
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08-12-2005, 09:31 PM #4
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08-12-2005, 09:35 PM #5
case in point..
Originally Posted by DiamondDelts
Weightlifting, by definition, is just about lifting a lot of weight. They usually don't care about looking "cut" or eating 100% clean like a bodybuilder necessarily (that's not to say that they don't eat clean, but they don't normally worry about gaining lean muscle mass, weightlifting has nothing to do with how you look, but what you can lift. I mean, for example, weightlifters or powerlifters may eat thousands and thousands and thousands of calories of food a day...and they need to cuz they lift such heavy weights that burns so many calories. So diet is one difference yea, BBers still eat more than the average person, but not as much as say, a powerlifter.
As for routine...BBers lift lighter weights and do higher reps than weightlifters. BBers, you could say, use a lot of tricks or "gimmicks" such as drop sets, supersets, negatives, TUT etc. These techniques do little to nothing for strength, but are great for muscle growth. Basically, BBing is just about how big you can get, not how strong. I mean, look at Ronnie Coleman. He's one BIG mofo haha, but there are guys half his size that are stronger than him (look at the Olympic weightlifters, a lot of them are under 6 feet and under 200 pounds).
And in explaining all this I realize that I kinda lumped powerlifters and weightlifters together, even though they are different...it was just to make a point.
But even so, I don't walk around saying "I'm a bodybuilder" to me that just sounds strange and you'd probably get weird looks from people. "I lift weights" or "I work out" is a much more reasonable response where people won't think you're some wacko haha.
Hope this helped.The complete shoulder and RC injury thread, written by myself:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=529968 (MASSIVE NEW UPDATE AS OF 10/6/05)
Form is paramount.
Focus, focus, focus.
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08-12-2005, 09:44 PM #6
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*stomps around* the difference isn't that 1 lifts more/less weight, does more/less types of lifts, it's that, by d-e-f-i-n-i-t-i-o-n, a bodybuilder plans to compete on stage. if you have no aspirations of competing, technically you're just a weight lifter
if you want to argue with that, go argue w/ whoever invented the english language.<->
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08-12-2005, 09:50 PM #7
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08-12-2005, 10:06 PM #8Originally Posted by animal2b
So when those guys finish football they could say they've been weight training for a long time but are new to bodybuilding when they begin concentrating on lifting weights for non-functional reasons like size, proportion, definition, etc.
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08-12-2005, 10:12 PM #9
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08-12-2005, 10:14 PM #10
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08-12-2005, 10:15 PM #11
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08-12-2005, 10:19 PM #12
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08-12-2005, 10:31 PM #13
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08-12-2005, 10:42 PM #14
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08-12-2005, 11:17 PM #15
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08-13-2005, 12:46 AM #16
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Originally Posted by animal2b
I don't know why people have it twisted now where they believe you have to be injecting all kinds of **** in you in order to compete with other behemoths to be considered a bodybuilder. All they are doing is building the their muscles up in an alll or nothing endeavor where the internal organs usually suffer from extended combos of chemicals placed in the body over long span of time. Basically sacrificing the internal for the external. I don't know what you want to call that, but I certainly don't call it bodybuilding.
I was raised to believe that bodybuilding was about building ones muscles, health, strength(to some extent), and overall well being. I believe this idea has become PERVERSED with competitive bodybuilding and the "get big at all costs" mentalilty it creates. The health part has basically been thrown to the wind. I don't call that bodybuilding. Maybe massbuilding would be a better term for it.Last edited by DiamondDelts; 08-13-2005 at 01:05 AM.
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08-13-2005, 01:12 AM #17
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08-13-2005, 09:38 AM #18
a weightlifter competes in the sport of olympic weightlifting, and tries to do the highest weight he can in the clean and jerk and snatch.
a bodybuilder trains to become more asthetically pleasing (bigger muscles, less bodyfat).
a powerlifter competes in the sport of powerlifting where he tries to lift as much weight as possible in the bench, squat, and deadlift. some people specialize in a lift.
a weight trainer is a person who lifts to have good physical health.Stats
Bench: 225
Safety Squat: 430*10 ~ 550
Power Clean:225
Push Press: 205
Body Weight: ~220
Height: 6' 2"
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08-13-2005, 10:24 AM #19
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If you want to get technical about it:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=weightlifter
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bodybuilder
A bodybuilder is just a sub-category. As in, all bodybuilders are weightlifters, but not all weightlifters are bodybuilders.Speller Extraordinaire. Don't believe the lies.
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08-13-2005, 10:25 AM #20
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08-13-2005, 10:26 AM #21Originally Posted by DiamondDelts
The "get big at any cost" approach simply isn't promoting a healthy image. The distended gut thing is issue #1 and time will tell if the new rule is for real. Whether it's hgh, eating too much, whatever, is irrelevant... it just needs to be sorted out for the sake of the sport. I've said it before, they're building amazing mass all over, especially their backs which are phenomenal, but I can't get past mid sections that stick out as much as the chest. It's strange how you'd never place in a contest let alone win one without massive legs, something not everyone out there would perceive as a flaw, yet you can win with a gut.
But like you summed up, bodybuilding doesn't necessarily have to be about contests. It's about building muscles and creating a physique that looks impressive. You don't need to take steroids or be standing on a stage next to guys in a contest to be a bodybuilder--you're absolutely right.
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08-15-2005, 05:47 AM #22
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08-15-2005, 07:13 AM #23
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08-15-2005, 09:07 AM #24
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08-15-2005, 09:23 AM #25
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08-15-2005, 10:05 AM #26
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08-15-2005, 10:10 AM #27
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08-15-2005, 10:15 AM #28
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08-15-2005, 10:23 AM #29
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08-15-2005, 10:26 AM #30
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Originally Posted by DiamondDelts
And the arguement concerning "functional strength"... well, if you're a bodybuilder you're not exactly a weakling compared to the majority of the people that don't exercise, but I also haven't had the need yet to push 400lbs off my chest in my daily life.
I guess the bottom line is whatever you're into. I work on perfect form, slow controlled reps while feeling the contraction, and short rest periods. Not to conducive to big strength gains but sure works well for me for hypertrophy.
I love it when people ask me how much I bench and I say "I don't""Franco is pretty smart, but Franco's a child, and when it comes to the day of the contest, I am his father. He comes to me for advices. So it's not that hard for me to give him the wrong advices." - Arnold Schwarzenegger - Pumping Iron
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