r/powerlifting • u/AutoModerator • 9d ago

No Q's too Dumb Weekly Dumb/Newb Question Thread

Do you have a question and are:

  • A novice and basically clueless by default?
  • Completely incapable of using google?
  • Just feeling plain stupid today and need shit explained like you're 5?

Then this is the thread FOR YOU! Don't take up valuable space on the front page and annoy the mods, ASK IT HERE and one of our resident "experts" will try and answer it. As long as it's somehow related to powerlifting then nothing is too generic, too stupid, too awful, too obvious or too repetitive. And don't be shy, we don't bite (unless we're hungry), and no one will judge you because everyone had to start somewhere and we're more than happy to help newbie lifters out.

SO FIRE AWAY WITH YOUR DUMBNESS!!!

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u/keborb 8d ago

Here's a stupid question. Why don't we see guys in the lighter weight classes (66-83kg) reaching the same levels of adiposity as in the heavier weight classes (105-120kg)? The lighter weight classes are always shredded. Does the additional mass not improve their leverages to the same extent as a taller lifter?

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u/jakeisalwaysright 7d ago

Purely a hypothesis on my part, but since lower weight classes are closer together, a few pounds of chub is more likely to bump you out of your competitive weight class at, say, 148 than at 242. So the pro/con ratio is more skewed toward the negative.

Also since they're all short, gaining fat is less a matter of "carrying some extra mass" and more likely to be a matter of "becoming a sphere."

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u/Gfurious 7d ago

Because it's always better to have more muscle and less fat. The problem is that in the heavier weight classes it's almost impossible to fill them out while being shredded unless you're ridiculously tall. This is not a problem in the lighter weight classes, so lifters get lean as hell.

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u/Arteam90 8d ago

I guess because if you train and want to be not lean you need to be 3'5 at most.