Weightlifting Versus Powerlifting

In strength sports, there are two main forms of competition, and those are weightlifting and powerlifting. Many people believe that these sports are the same thing, or at least that the sports are relatively the same, but they are not. When I began powerlifting, people would come up to me and ask me questions that pertained to weightlifting, or people would simply ask if I was a weightlifter. After a few times, explaining that I was not a weightlifter got tiring, so I would just say no and walk away. The few times I did explain the difference, however, I would describe how weightlifting and powerlifting contrast. Weightlifting and powerlifting differ in their movements, techniques, and rules.

The very basic movements involved in weightlifting and powerlifting are the most different. Now, by movements, I mean the actual lifts that are performed. When weightlifting, the lifter completes 2 lifts: the clean and jerk and the snatch. These movements use multiple muscles at once, rather than using specific groups of muscles. Snatches and clean and jerks also emphasize high force and high velocity, which is needed for weightlifting. On the other hand, powerlifting involves squat, bench, and deadlift. These three movements each focus individually on certain groups of muscles, such as how bench uses a person’s triceps, deltoids, and pectoralis major. In other terms, bench uses most of the upper body. A powerlifter focuses mainly on slow velocity when completing any of the three lifts, so that the muscles can be controlled. Muscle control however, is involved in the techniques of the two different sports.

Like the movements, weightlifters and powerlifters have very different techniques for completing a lift. Weightlifters tend to focus more on the ending of their lifts due to the fact that their weights are light enough to pull off the floor, but the weight gets heavier when it reaches the upper body. Weightlifters also want to complete the lifts at an extremely quick speed in order to actually complete a lift. Without speed, the lifter would have no momentum to get the weight up. Unlike how weightlifters focus on the end of a lift, powerlifters focus on the beginning. When it comes to powerlifting, powerlifters need every move made to be an extremely controlled one. This means that a lifter controls the lift up until the point of having to push or pull, so that the push or pull is easier. This control also means that powerlifter’s lifts are slower than the lift of a weightlifter. There is also a difference in the time limit when it comes to each lift during competition, which is all laid out in the rules.

The rules, much like movements and techniques, are different in each of the sports. Weightlifting has a set of lackadaisical rules when it comes to the equipment allowed for competition. The rules for the lifts themselves are a bit stricter than the equipment rules, but the rules overall are not as strict as the powerlifting rules. The equipment rules for powerlifting competitions range from the thickness of wrist wraps for bench, the length of the knee sleeves for squats, and the color of the shirt under a lifter’s singlet. The rules for the actual lifts are just as strict, so strict that there are color coded reasons for why lifters miss lifts. This, the movements, and the rules is what makes weightlifting and powerlifting so different.

Though weightlifting and powerlifting are seemingly similar, weightlifting, and powerlifting contrast when it comes to the movements, techniques, and rules. Both sports however, no matter the differences, are great ways to get fit and to make a change in a person’s life.