

Written by Brandon Lilly

So many people will probably skip right over this article because it is suggesting that something besides a “powerlifting routine” will make them a better powerlifter. Welcome to why you suck. Powerlifters have dug themselves into this one-size fits all “trench” of training methods, and they refuse to back off from their beliefs. How do I know? Try getting a geared lifter to go raw for 20 weeks, even if the result could be 100 lbs. on their gear total they won’t do it. Try getting some raw lifters into gear, won’t happen. So, lets start with an idea we all began with most likely anyway.

Bodybuilding was my first love in the iron game. Mainly, because I trained at a great little hardcore gym, with tons of blue collar guys that trained super hard, and were jacked. Really jacked. So in an attempt to look like them I bought “Musclemag”, “Flex”, and “Muscular Development”, and read every article learning as much as I could. My training partner, and best friend, Brad Webb, used to go to the gym and do an all-out assault on our bodies. Every day. We pushed ourselves hard. And, as a result we both put on a load of muscle, but the best part, without even focusing directly on strength we became very strong. I remember clearly Brad, being 5’5 or 5’6 weighing a little over 200 lbs. doing 405 on the bench with his feet resting on the pad. I happened to enter a powerlifting meet in which I squatted 660 lbs. with a belt, and knee wraps, benched 440 lbs., and pulled 670 lbs. I was 219 lbs., at 19 years old. Those numbers stack up pretty well with some competitive 220’s even today.

But there is some relief. I am not encouraging you to drop your powerlifting routine all together. But rather, blend ideas. At Berea Barbell our philosophy on training is this “train like a strongman, eat like a bodybuilder, and you’ll be a kickass powerlifter.” Well, to us that means we go into the gym, we attack our first exercise (either squat, bench, or deadlift depending on the day), and we train it for the competition platform. After we get done with that we move directly into accessory mode and that’s where the fun begins. Guys too often think the only lift that matters is the main lift, how do you really improve weakpoints in a lift, if you don’t do various other lifts to support it? We each have different weaknesses, but many are the same, so we attack our mutual weaknesses together, then splinter off and hit our own weak point training. Now what do I mean train like a bodybuilder?

Things we do to Train Like a Bodybuilder

We usually pick 4-5 exercises per day (one of those is always for the lats/back), and if it is a heavy day on our main movement on accessories our weights are lighter with reps in the 10-15 range. On rep days where weight is moderate our accessory weights are moderate with reps in the 8-10 range. On our explosive days when the main movement weight is the lightest our accessory weight is the heaviest in the rep range of 5-8.

1.Use Progressive Overload

This is the most basic and one of the most important principles. Muscles grow bigger and stronger as they adapt to stress. Therefore, you need to progressively overload your muscles each week either by lifting moderately more weight, exerting more force, or performing more repetitions with the same weight. This is why it is so important to record your progress and write down your training goals.

2. Use Compound, Multi-Joint, Free Weight Exercises

Squats, power cleans, dumbbell press, deadlifts, etc.

3. Use Ground-Based Exercises

Movements that will get you doing full body movement, and you can free stand vs. sitting. Think seated military vs. standing military. The more movements you do on your feet, the more the entire body will be worked.

A High Volume Day, like this one with Brandon Lilly and the crew at Berea Barbell, will help pack on muscle and improve your total…