Powerlifting > Bodybuilding

Firstly, for an untrained individual, both bodybuilding and power-lifting will add both size and strength to your body. Power-lifting will allow you to become stronger than bodybuilding, and bodybuilding will make you more muscular than power-lifting, but you will get bigger and stronger with both. I'm not here to berate and offend those who have chosen bodybuilding as their passion, but there are certain things people ought to be aware of when deciding which road they want to take with their weightlifting careers, and I firmly believe that, for most people, power-lifting is the superior option to bodybuilding. 1. CompetitionBodybuilding competitors are judged on vague and arbitrary standards. You could compete in a show one year and place second, then work your tail off all year, step on the very same stage again and only place 4th. This is because bodybuilders aren't judged by any objective metric; it's based on the opinion of 5 faceless nobodies who judge on unclear and wildly varying criteria. “The IFBB rulebook, section 28.2, states that competitors with a "harmonious" physique should be favored: "The judge should favor competitors with a harmonious, classical physique. The judge should look for good posture and athletic bearing, correct anatomical structure..." But what exactly does harmonious mean? What does classical mean? There are no clear guidelines, not like there are in other subjective sports. This makes the rules for the sport confusing for everybody, including the judges.”[1]In other words, even compared to other subjectively judged competitions (e.g. figure skating), bodybuilding competitions have especially convoluted judging. You never really know if you look competitively better or not, because the criteria for winning changes arbitrarily and sporadically. With power-lifting, you always know objectively how good you are. If you bench 315 in competition one year, then go back to that same competition next year and bench 365, you know exactly how much better of a powerlifter you are, because your progress is measurable in real pounds lifted. You always know exactly what you have to improve to be a better power-lifter (either improve your lifts, or drop your weight). With bodybuilding, how do you decide whether your training should prioritize your trapezius or your glutes? Your anterior deltoids or your obliques? You won't know which muscles will mean the most on stage until you ask the judges after the show why you only placed 6th, and by then it's already obsolete information, because the next competition will have different judges looking for something else entirely. Bottom line: power-lifting competitions put you in control of where you place. In bodybuilding competitions, it's a toss up, and most of the factors determining how well you do are completely out of your control. 2. DrugsThe ugly truth of professional bodybuilding is that copious amounts of steroids are necessary to succeed at it. Drugs exist in the power-lifting world too, as is true with any sport, but bodybuilding is unique in that its largest federation (IFBB) does not enforce their banned substance list. The last IFBB pro tested was Jay Cutler back in 2001, and that was for diuretics, not even steroids. Furthermore, even though Jay failed the test, the IFBB backed down from their ruling after being threatened with a lawsuit [2]. Since then, no one gets tested. The side-effects of steroid use are well enough known, but here's a short list of the most common ones:1. Shrunken testicles2. Severe acne3. Baldness4. Enlarged clitoris5. Breast development in men (gyno)6. Impotence7. InfertilityAnd those are the ones you get even if you know what you're doing. We can get into some of the more serious side effects later. [3]The problem is worse than just steroid use, though. Bodybuilding is also rife with synthol usage. Synthol is a kind of oil pumped deep into the muscle tissue in order to make the muscle look bigger. When done correctly, it can make you look much bigger than you actually are. When done incorrectly, well... you can watch at your own risk [4][11]. If your goal is to be one of the best bodybuilders in the world, these substances are mandatory. Why is bodybuilding like this, you ask? Simple, because bodybuilding prioritizes looking fit over actually being healthy. Power-lifting's largest federation, on the other hand (IPF), is very aggressive in combating steroid use. Testing is mandatory for lifters who break a record and wish to have it recognized, and lifters are also subject to random testing at the federation's discretion [5]. Final point here, there's a huge gap between drug-using bodybuilders and natural bodybuilders, as seen here: Natural bodybuilders Enhanced bodybuildersHowever, in power-lifting the top steroid-using lifters are only marginally stronger than the top drug-free lifters. The strongest non drug-tested power-lifter is Andrey Malanichev, who totalled 2468lbs. The strongest drug-tested power-lifter was Mark Henry (That's right, the famous wrestler), who totalled 2336lbs. [10]Bottom line: You can't be one of the best bodybuilders in the world without using steroids, but you absolutely can be one of the best power-lifters while remaining natural. 3. a) Why Guys Do ItLet's face it, 99.9% of the reason why guys start lifting weights is to impress women. The thing is, there's an upper-limit to how muscular you can get before women start getting grossed out by your body, and that upper-limit is surprisingly low. An article on FoxHoundStudio lays out the facts for us: “We’ve got Brad Pitt in first place with 72.5% of women finding his body the MOST attractive and 86.7% of women being attracted to his body... In last place with 1% we have three time Mr. Olympia winner Frank Zane...” [6]Brad only weighs 150lbs in this picture of him, by the way.As it happens, men grossly overestimate how muscular women want them to be, while ignoring the far more important factor; strength. As the article goes on to point out, 74.5% of women want a man that’s stronger than they are, but only 2.9% want him ripped ‘n muscular like 50 cent. Bottom line: If you want to pick up chicks, start power-lifting. Bodybuilding focuses too much on what men think women want, and not enough on what women actually want. b) Why Women DON'T Do ItThe most common reason why women don't engage in resistance training is because they're afraid of becoming too muscular and looking masculine. For these women, power-lifting is once again the better option. This is Ana Rosa Castellain. At a body-weight of about 155lbs, she squats over 400lbs [7]. She is the current IPF world record holder in her weight-class. You can watch her world-record lift here [8]. This is Iris Kyle. She's the 2013 Ms.Olympia champion. She weighs the same as Ana, yet is weaker and more masculine-looking than her. Bottom line: With power-lifting, a woman can be both the best in the world and still look feminine. With bodybuilding, there is no option. This is what you must look like to be the best, because that's what the sport is, after all.4. Powerlifting Has More Carry-OverThis one is straight-forward enough. Strength is an advantage in literally every single sport, so the skills and strength you gain in powerlifting will help you in whatever athletic endevour you wish to pursue. Bodybuilding, on the other hand, won't help you get better at anything other than bodybuilding. Learning the various bodybuilding poses will only ever come in handy on a bodybuilding stage. Yes, bodybuilding will help you get stronger, but not as much as power-lifting. So, even if you're interested in training and not competing, powerlifting is still a better option. ConclusionIf you care about competition, powerlifting offers objective judging with clear stadards -- Bodybuilding doesn't. If you want to be able to make waves in your chosen community without having to resort to drugs, you can do that in powerlifting -- You can't even get your pro-card in bodybuilding without juicing. If you just want to pick up chicks, powerlifting will give you a muscular physique and herculean-strength without making you so big you disgust the women you're trying to attract -- bodybuilding is all about getting as big and vascular as possible, which is a turn-off for most women. If you're a woman and you like the idea of working out, but you're afraid of looking too bulky, powerlifting allows you to become stronger than most men without having to look like one -- with bodybuilding, the goal is to look as muscular as possible, which is exactly what you're trying to avoid. If you don't care about competing and are looking to train (perhaps for another sport you play), what you gain in powerlifting will carry over and make you more competitive -- bodybuilding will make you good at posing in a speedo.It's clear that power-lifting is the superior discipline.VOTE PROSources:1. http://www.t-nation.com...2. http://www.ironmanmagazine.com...3. http://www.webmd.com...4. [Video 1]5. http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com...6. http://foxhoundstudio.com...7. http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com...8. [Video 2]9. http://en.wikipedia.org...10. http://www.powerliftingwatch.com...11. [Video 3]