Power vs. Physique

[Illuminati]

I try to lift each muscle group twice a week.

Monday Thursday- Chest and Back

Tuesday Friday- Arms

Wednesday Saturday- Legs

I have been trying to lift as much weight as possible in a effective manner.

However, I came across this question today. Is it possible to lift for both power and physique at the same time?

Say if I dedicate one half of the week to power, and the other half for more reps with less weight.

Or would this hinder my routine, and set me in a neutral deadlock between the two, rather than exceling?

just train for one or the other. it would be your best bet. it all has to do with your diet. you want a nice physique, you need to get your body fat lower, which means a calorie reduced diet, which will limit your ability to get stronger. if you want strength, you need to eat more, and train with lower reps. eating more, means your physique will suffer. UNLESS YOU ARE CHEMICALLY ENHANCED!!!

 

[Sassy69]

Just speaking from a "form" aspect - I always learned to lift "bodybuilder style" -- i.e. lift heavy, tight form, etc. The one difference I see when I spent a few months w/ some power lifters is the explosion style of training -- explode out of the negative of a rep instead of this slow & steady thing.

 

[Protobuilder]

Is it possible to lift for both power and physique at the same time?

You mean, get bigger and stronger at the same time?? Sure it's possible. Even if you follow an old-school bodybuilder workout, you should still be training progressively, which means you're "getting stronger," just not as fast as if you pursued more of a powerlifting routine. Your question sort of assumes they're distinct, opposite goals, and they're not. The typical 80s bodybuilding crap you read about in FLEX might make it seem that way, but for most natural guys, the best way to get bigger is to get stronger.

If you want to train heavy/low reps AND train w/ moderate weight/high reps, there are lots of ways to structure your training. The 5x5s laid out on madcow's site include backoff sets following your heavy sets of 5 to give you a little extra fatigue/metabolic work. Or you can have "heavy" days and "light" days, alternating between them throughout the week. It's a pretty tried and true method, actually.