eli5: Why do people who are actually strong look different than bodybuilders who train all week?
In: Biology
Competing bodybuilders are usually strong as fuck. Not as strong as powerlifters/strongmen whose whole sport is being absurdly strong, but they move a lot of weight.
The main difference is the layer of fat. Look at a bodybuilder in the offseason when they’re bulking up and they can be hard to tell apart from the heavyweight strength guys. The other difference is in what muscles they prioritise – bodybuilders emphasise the stuff that makes them look even bigger than they already are (so lots of lats and shoulders to make themselves look wider, not so much abs and obliques because that would take away from that appearance of wideness), strongmen emphasise the ones that help them move heavy weight (so lots of ab/oblique work because a thicker, stronger midsection helps if you want to have 1000lbs on your back and not break) but there’s a hell of an overlap between the two.
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