Top 5 Differences Between Powerlifting and Strongman

Strongman and powerlifting are two major sports that get compared to each other a lot! We see some commonalities as strongman and powerlifting athletes both have to do squats and deadlifts. But some of us are left wondering what are the differences between the sports. There are actually many discrepancies but this article will list out the top 5 differences so we get a basic overview of what strongman and powerlifting are in a nutshell!

1. Weight Classes

Most strongman athletes we see on World’s Strongest Man weigh over 150kg which makes them all super heavyweights in local competitions! However, in powerlifting, it is less likely to see many people that are of super heavyweights competing. As powerlifters have to get the highest DOTs to win, having a higher bodyweight does not put an athlete in an advantageous position. With a higher body weight, a lifter is expected to have a higher total. This is because ultimately, the person who lifted the most over his or her own body weight is the winner of the competition.

Powerlifting weight classes are carefully designed with men’s division start from 52 kg and going up to 140+ kg in USAPL (one of the biggest powerlifting federations). However, when we take a look at USS strongman’s male weight classes, we see that there are less weight classes with the lowest weight opening at 75kg.

2. Rules in Squats and Deadlift

Squats

For squats, powerlifting federations such as IPF and USAPL adopt specific rules about hitting depth. For a squat to “pass”, the athlete has to have his or her top part of the knee below the hip crease in the lowest point of the squat. This requires a lot of mobility in the hip and knee to achieve. For athletes that suffered bad knee injuries, they may feel scared to hit depth. It is also a common injury for powerlifters to overuse their knee which may result in chronic knee pain or fatigue!

The same depth rule does not apply to strongman athletes as sometimes, the safety bar on the squat rack can hinder the depth of a strongman! Strongman are also typically larger than powerlifters which may mean some strongman have less mobility than powerlifters to hit the same depth!

Deadlift

Deadlifting in Strongman is a display of brute force and sumo deadlift is not seen in any strongman competition! Conventional deadlift is the only acceptable way to deadlift in strongman while powerlifting competitions allow both sumo and conventional styles. You may see people that are only weighing 72kg deadlifting 300+kg in a powerlifting competition using a sumo stance.

However, while some strongman may laugh at powerlifter’s sumo deadlifts, powerlifters also ban some strongman staple in deadlifts! For one, rolling the bar in a deadlift set up is a banned move in all powerlifting federations. Secondly, hitching the bar during a lift will automatically give an athlete 3 red lights in a powerlifting competition. (Hitching the deadlift bar is like a humping motion while going up.) The last deadlift staple in strongman is dropping the bar at lockout. In a powerlifting competition, you would also get 3 red lights if you do not lower the bar until the referee gives you the signal to.

3. Movements

Strongman events are more varied than powerlifting. Powerlifters only focus on 3 numbers, which are the one rep max of their squats, bench and deadlift. That means you can see powerlifters training heavily for SBD and other movements that derive from SBD. The accessories done by powerlifters are only to strengthen muscles that could not be trained by the big 3 and its purpose is still to maximize the SBD numbers.

For Strongman competitions, you see things like atlas stones, car deadlifts, farmer walks, Hercules hold, overhead presses and keg tosses! This means that you need to train every part of the body to excel in strongman! Apart from having strength, strongman need to have good endurance to be able to finish the event in some cases!

4. Training goals

Powerlifting is a very simple sport where athletes try to max out their total in squat, bench and deadlift. A training program typically follows the idea of progressive overload, which means you add weights gradually. Powerlifters also care a lot about rest and recovery in order to not overshoot. Overshooting is “bad” because it means the lifter may feel too fatigued to train according to the program and fail to achieve progressive overload. Powerlifters are notoriously known for skipping cardio and some may mock them for having no functional fitness as well.

Strongman training regiments are more complicated as strongman athletes focus on building strength, endurance and functional strength! Strongman do not only train legs and chest, because overhead movements rely a lot on back and shoulder strength. You can see strongmen do more dynamic movements like farmer walks with a challenging weight, or sled push/pull. As strongman competitions have varied events, strongman athletes have to be more all-rounded in order to score points!

5. Equipment

In a strongman competition, it is common to see athletes in all sorts of gear! Strongman athletes can wear 2 belts for lumbar support, elbow and knee sleeves, knee wraps for squats, straps for deadlifts and they have different shoes for different events! In the raw category of powerlifting, athletes usually sport knee sleeves for squats, one belt for squats and deadlift, wrist wraps for squats and bench, and notorious lift or deadlift shoes. When it comes to suits, strongman athletes are sometimes allowed to wear deadlift suits which has stronger compression than a typical singlet.

Final Thoughts

Some people think that powerlifting can be very limiting as all athletes have to do is 3 attempts in squat, bench and deadlift. Some may think strongman is too demanding as there are many events and full body strength is emphasized to excel in the sport. We also explored that the strongman diet can be hard to maintain. There are many other differences that we can’t dive deep into. Such as how powerlifting is considered more beginner-friendly and how strongman is more expensive. However, many athletes can jump from strongman to powerlifting and vice versa. If you are now wondering if a strongman is stronger than a powerlifter, we wrote an article on that too!