If you had the opportunity to train with Dave Tate and John Meadows, how much do you think you could learn in one session? One week? One month? A year?
What if you did it for five years?
Dave and John have now been training together at least once a week for roughly five years. In that time, they've learned a lot from each other about the overlapping disciplines of bodybuilding and powerlifting. For today's Table Talk, Dave discusses several of the most important lessons from this period of time.
Instagram user dhowes3 asks:
Dave answers the question by first making it clear that he has learned more about how to apply bodybuilding principles to powerlifting than how to apply powerlifting principles to bodybuilding. Someone who is strictly bodybuilding doesn't need much powerlifting style work; there's a risk-to-benefit ratio to these movements and it's not in a bodybuilder's favor to often do heavy singles in the squat, bench press or deadlift. For powerlifters doing bodybuilding work, this is the opposite — powerlifters can hugely benefit from doing bodybuilder-style work.
For example, a heavy dumbbell row likely won't have a direct carryover to your squat, bench, or deadlift. This means doing them heavy won't give you much benefit. However, treat it like a bodybuilder by lightening the weight and tightening the form. Increase your time under tension and peak contraction and the dumbbell row has now become a very effective muscle-builder. You can even train to or past failure, and add intensification techniques. These kinds of hypertrophy-based training methods will then carryover to your powerlifting.
Powerlifters can also learn from bodybuilders in regard to hydration and peri-workout nutrition. Bodybuilders often obsess over hydration, which many powerlifters overlook. Additionally, Dave notes that pre, intra, and post-workout carbs can have a dramatic impact on recovery.
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