Strength Junkie Bodybuilders?

Training Bodybuilding
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I always wanted to bench 315 squat 405 and dead lift 495. It took me about two years of good training and recovery to reach those goals and in the process I gained forty pounds and transformed my body into one that women admire and men respect.

I have never competed in power lifting or found the sport very interesting. I pick variations of major lifts to focus on for purely functional and aesthetic reasons. I train strictly for strength, vanity, and fun.

I have maintained this level for about 9 years with two or three workouts a week for about two or three total hours. I could get bigger but the effort required to do so isn’t worth it for me.

I have beaten all these original goals but never by much. I have added new ones too like a 90 lb chin for 4 reps, or 135 lb dip for 4 reps and most recently I just started a goal to ass to grass front squat 315 for 2 rep with only knee sleeves and wrist wraps.

I used strength goals to reach my aesthetic and size goals and I am completely satisfied with my results.

Low reps on big lifts is basically all I do. Eight reps is a high rep set for me. Occasionally I mix it up and do some pumping sets or high rep leg sets but over my eleven years my training is probably 85% or more low rep compound movements.

Most of my workouts have been full body. A fairly close second has been upper lower split very similar to West Side and Defranco style training.

A distant third is complex splits. I don’t like these because they take more dedication than I am willing to commit as a busy person that only trains for recreation and vanity/health.

I like this style of training because it is simple and easy although it does require consistency and intense heavy lifting. I also have an expensive high quality diet and get 9 hours of sleep regularly.

Strength focus is a great way to train minimally and get good results in bodybuilding. It won’t make you a pro but being a pro or champion level amateur requires serious sacrifice and a genetic lottery ticket. It can make you a strong respectable man with a body your girl will appreciate.

So hey, who else is a strength junkie bodybuilder?

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[quote]Heliotrope wrote:

So hey, who else is a strength junkie bodybuilder?

[/quote]

Me, idk if i’d call myself a strength junkie bodybuilder but i am definitely for a great physique with great strength. I like powerbuilder, it sounds better to me.

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Me. I originally was lifting for looks, but the more weight i put up the less I care about looks and the more i care about the amount of weight.

I’d say I lift more like a power lifter these days than a bodybuilder.

Of course the bonus is that the power lifting actually was better at building a body :wink:

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I have those exact same weight lifting goals, except I’d really like to hit the 500lb mark on DLs. I figure I have a year or two of training before I reach those goals but I’m off to a good start. What did you do to reach those goals and what would you change in retrospect.

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[quote]ReklaW wrote:
Of course the bonus is that the power lifting actually was better at building a body ;)[/quote]

Yeah, I think the two are more connected than most people oftentimes give them credit for.

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[quote]ReklaW wrote:
Me. I originally was lifting for looks, but the more weight i put up the less I care about looks and the more i care about the amount of weight.

I’d say I lift more like a power lifter these days than a bodybuilder.

Of course the bonus is that the power lifting actually was better at building a body ;)[/quote]

Exactly what I found. I tried more bodybuilding style routines and my progress slowed drastically.

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[quote]joburnet wrote:
I have those exact same weight lifting goals, except I’d really like to hit the 500lb mark on DLs. I figure I have a year or two of training before I reach those goals but I’m off to a good start. What did you do to reach those goals and what would you change in retrospect.[/quote]

Five hundred is a great goal and it will be a good day when you smash it! The reason I started with 495 is that is the weight with five big plates a side.

My basic training style was always work squats or dead lifts first and hard in my workouts and add weight as often as possible.

Before I found Tmag the two biggest influence I had were my high school gym coach and the old writings of Stuart McRobert and his hardgainer training style. The biggest difference I had from the hardgainer style of training was he mostly advocated higher rep squats and deads and I was already in love with low reps.

I first learned low rep training in high school from my coach. We did squats, power cleans, bench press, and incline bench three times a week for low reps. The gains were great and I was hooked. Stuart McRoberts ideas helped me refine my goals and become a bit more bodybuilding minded.

Once I found Tmag I knew I had the only place I needed to refine my methods from then on. I found this site in its very beginning and have read it like my religion ever since. While it has added tremendously to my overall training ideas it has also reinforced the basic ideas I started with.

That said the diet and supplement knowledge that I have gained from Tmag is incredible and I am very grateful. For me training has always seemed simple. Dialing in the diet and forcing my thin genetic appetite to eat enough calories was very important.

If I had to it it all again with what I know now I would have definitely ate more and better quality sooner in my training career and also used the upper lower split style of West Side and Defranco as my main variation to basic full body workouts.

I tried lots of routines as a variation from the full body strength routines I started with but once I tried the West Side template I rarely use other styles for when I need variety. I use the Defranco more mass building style sometimes and other times I use the more strength based and assistance exercise style of more traditional West Side. Both are highly recommended.

Their is a bit of an art to taking all the training and dietary science and turning it into a lifestyle that is right for you. My best advice is to learn as much as you can and then simplify it as much as possible in a way that suits your life. All the info you need is right here in one place. I really do love this site.

Good luck !

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Lifting heavy weight is addictive, many bodybuilders train like this-ronnie coleman- it’s an addiction-A great one at that :)-

People react differently to different training though, some make great results not training heavy you just got to see what works for you.

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Hi Heliotrope. Congratulations on your success.

Could you post a few sample weeks so we can see your routine - frequency, movements, weights, sets, reps, etc.?

Also, how developed is your physique from this style of training? Have you been only interested in maintaining since you reached your strength goals, or have you tried to work on detail/balance? If so, how has that gone?

Last, any cardio?

Thanks for sharing!

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I would certainely call myself a strength training bodybuilder. Using strength gains(although I use moderate reps) for the purpose of size gains.

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[quote]fairbairn wrote:
Hi Heliotrope. Congratulations on your success.

Could you post a few sample weeks so we can see your routine - frequency, movements, weights, sets, reps, etc.?

Also, how developed is your physique from this style of training? Have you been only interested in maintaining since you reached your strength goals, or have you tried to work on detail/balance? If so, how has that gone?

Last, any cardio?

Thanks for sharing!
[/quote]

Yeah man post up a pic!

I gotta agree though. I’ve found the same thing myself.