Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
majutsu
Well-known member
In english, the suffix -er means one who does whatever the verb preceding the suffix is. A driver is someone who drives a vehicle, not just people who compete in NASCAR. A golfer is someone who golfs, regardless of whether or not they have competed in the masters. A powerlifter is someone who powerlifts. Period.
Similarly, a bodybuilder is someone who builds their body for aesthetic purposes with resistance training. They don't have to compete to be a bodybuilder.
A friend of mine is a personal trainer who weighs 150 lbs soaking wet at 5'11". He struggles with 185lbs for the bench. He goes to multiple meets and competes, and loses. He pays to go to every powerlifting seminar he can. I have not competed, but at 5'10" bench 315 raw, dead 405, squat 405. I train westside. To say my friend is a real powerlifter and I am not is ridiculous. I intend to compete and have picked out meets to attend in my area. I am training for those meets as best I can. I am a powerlifter now though. I have just not experienced the taste of competition. I know my nerves will get to me. I know my form will be judged very strictly. I know my lifts will drop a little under pressure. There are therefore some aspects of the "game" not yet open to me now, but I powerlift. I am a powerlifter -- one who powerlifts.
Another friend was state of texas champ with a 703 squat pr at 220lbs. A few years later he had a bad car accident and injured his c-spine. After recovery, he still powerlifts. His lifts are cut in third. He cannot compete. But he is still a powerlifter. You can't take that away from him. Did he stop being a powerlifter, although following the same routine in the gym, because he can't compete?
I used to do bodybuilding and prepping for shows. I had friends who didn't want to compete or used to compete but now don't. All my friends who cared about weight training with seriousness were my fellow bodybuilders. And I also knew losers who "competed" who never earned from me the privilege of being called a bodybuilder.
A powerlifters is one who powerlifts, or trains for strength in the three big lifts with legitimate form. A competitive powerlifter is a powerlifter who is currently competing.
A lot of these distinctions are made by people with weak egos who need artificial supports to their low self-esteem. They need to engage in this hair splitting and immature clique-forming behavior like school children, because they are not yet grown men and women. I was really enraged the other day when I read an interview with a champion in a tested, low equipment federation. He said that westside and metal militia were not real powerlifters because they were untested and used denim. The fact is that he is sad and westside would crush him like the bug he is. He made a basketball analogy and said that he was like the NBA (real basketball) and westside was like the Harlem globetrotters. Dave Tate's response (which I will paraphrase) sums it up: Weak people will always need excuses as to why others are stronger than they.
Similarly, a bodybuilder is someone who builds their body for aesthetic purposes with resistance training. They don't have to compete to be a bodybuilder.
A friend of mine is a personal trainer who weighs 150 lbs soaking wet at 5'11". He struggles with 185lbs for the bench. He goes to multiple meets and competes, and loses. He pays to go to every powerlifting seminar he can. I have not competed, but at 5'10" bench 315 raw, dead 405, squat 405. I train westside. To say my friend is a real powerlifter and I am not is ridiculous. I intend to compete and have picked out meets to attend in my area. I am training for those meets as best I can. I am a powerlifter now though. I have just not experienced the taste of competition. I know my nerves will get to me. I know my form will be judged very strictly. I know my lifts will drop a little under pressure. There are therefore some aspects of the "game" not yet open to me now, but I powerlift. I am a powerlifter -- one who powerlifts.
Another friend was state of texas champ with a 703 squat pr at 220lbs. A few years later he had a bad car accident and injured his c-spine. After recovery, he still powerlifts. His lifts are cut in third. He cannot compete. But he is still a powerlifter. You can't take that away from him. Did he stop being a powerlifter, although following the same routine in the gym, because he can't compete?
I used to do bodybuilding and prepping for shows. I had friends who didn't want to compete or used to compete but now don't. All my friends who cared about weight training with seriousness were my fellow bodybuilders. And I also knew losers who "competed" who never earned from me the privilege of being called a bodybuilder.
A powerlifters is one who powerlifts, or trains for strength in the three big lifts with legitimate form. A competitive powerlifter is a powerlifter who is currently competing.
A lot of these distinctions are made by people with weak egos who need artificial supports to their low self-esteem. They need to engage in this hair splitting and immature clique-forming behavior like school children, because they are not yet grown men and women. I was really enraged the other day when I read an interview with a champion in a tested, low equipment federation. He said that westside and metal militia were not real powerlifters because they were untested and used denim. The fact is that he is sad and westside would crush him like the bug he is. He made a basketball analogy and said that he was like the NBA (real basketball) and westside was like the Harlem globetrotters. Dave Tate's response (which I will paraphrase) sums it up: Weak people will always need excuses as to why others are stronger than they.
Last edited:
