It has been my observation upon viewing the iron game there are two types
of people.  First there are those who are pumpers and toners and secondly
there are those who concentrate on the brute power of heavy lifting alone.

That is until recently when we have a metamorphosis of a third type of hybrid
person who trains to combine the best of both worlds.  It involves the nice
blood choked pump of the bodybuilder yet it's got the rugged and capable
power of a strength athlete. 

When you combine these two approaches you have what is called powerbuilding
or powerbodybuilding.

Powerbodybuilding can be used by competitive bodybuilders as well.  It's great
for the early cycle in which a bodybuilder is embarked on the critical muscle mass
building phase.  For the contest entering and winning bodybuilder it is important for
him to be perceived as someone who doesn't just have herculean size which is
ALL SHOW and NO GO. 

Likewise a strength athlete or powerlifter would like for the public to perceive
them as not just someone that lifts heavy iron, but also has the rugged, solid and
capable look of a finely tuned athlete.

Many of them possess tremendous tendon and ligament strength but yet as far as
overall behemoth muscular bulk they just don't have it. And when you throw a
long sleeved shirt and tie on them they pretty much blend with the masses of the
general public.

Personally, that bothers me. Granted, tendon and ligament strength is important
I admit to that. But I've observed lifters with larger physiques than mine that
move much less heavy iron that I do. I feel that they're more into a pump phase
of training, which is fine, but deep down I know they desperately want to
possess more superhuman strength and power. Enter POWERBODYBUILDING.

 

If I am not mistaken POWERBODYBUILDING may have achieved its zenith
when one of the criteria's for entering an AAU sanctioned physique event required
athletic events such as Olympic & Powerlifting to help secure additional points in
the physique contest itself. Sad to say that's not the case today.

All of the guys I have just mentioned have been great assets to the physique
game because for them to get the size they possessed they had to do some
heavy, heavy lifting and if you looked at their workout programs you could
see that they combined heavy tendon and ligament building movements with
the muscle sculpting movements of the cosmetic bodybuilder.

And who can forget Chuck Sipes who could squat 6 to 700 pounds and bench
nearly 600 pounds, when nobody else near his bodyweight was even close. 
Plus he was an IFBB super-star bodybuilder to boot.

It's not by accident that all of the names I have mentioned have ended up at the
top in the iron game. They not only looked the part (cosmetic bodybuilder) but
they all could push the heavy iron that the general public perceived of them.

Now some people still might not know the difference between muscle
bulk training and pump training so let me elaborate.

When a bodybuilder or a powelifter bulk train they use heavy, heavy weights
to tear down deep muscle tissue membranes. The muscle rebounds (recovers)
and grows abundantly. This is what is called ultimate hypertrophy.

Now on the other hand if a bodybuilder or powerlifter subjects themselves
to light pumping movements you'll gorge the muscle with blood literally.
I call this a flush pump. Granted this type of training will shape and bring up the
muscularity of the muscle bellies but it lacks the integrity of bulk training.

If you want to retain the transitory muscle thickness that you experienced
with the flush pump training then you will have to include the deep tearing
down of the heavy weight training. This is one of the best ways to retain
muscle thickness (density) where in the morning you wake up and you still
look pretty big.

 

What I am trying to gear this article towards is for you bodybuilders and powerlifters
who desire total development and total strength while being less concerned about
specialization in one area. Your overall strength and muscular size will definitely
increase using a POWERBODYBUILDING program.

This is because the program is physiologically construed to provide heavy high
intensity work (muscle bulk training) for size and strength and volume high rep work
(flush pump training) and to add fullness and vascularity to the muscle.

It has been my aspiration for quite a while now to introduce a powerbodybuilding
system of training that can be used by beginners, intermediates and advanced men. 

Check out my brand new resource below for more information on exactly how
to structure your training with a powerbodybuilding approach.