Around March, I started watching a lot of fitness YouTubers. Mostly female power lifters and girls who compete in bikini competitions. That’s when I started getting interested in weight training myself.
I started to notice a difference in physique between the two. Power lifters focusing more on how much they can lift, while also trying to stay within their desired weight class and bikini competitors having a larger focus on cutting to show more muscle, tracking calories and exercising to target muscle growth or burn calories to shred those last few lbs before show day.
So when MaxiNutrition supplied me with this study about how the classic physique of a competitor at bodybuilding events such as Mr Olympica compares to that of a competitor taking part in the World’s Strongest Man competition vs the average body, I was more than happy to write a bit about it.
There are many amazing men and women who push their bodies to the limits. I’ve seen this documented in YouTube videos of people prepping for these competitions, the training, the diet and tracking macros.
It’s interesting to see in this research the difference between the three.
The world’s greatest bodybuilders.
The winners of Mr. Olympia are ranked by the number of times they’ve won the overall category, showing how dominant they are in their respective weight class.
The average age of the contestants when first winning Mr Olmypica was 31 and the most common country of origin was the USA.
The average weight of the contestants was 105kg with a height of 5ft 9.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was the youngest Mr. Olmypia winner at 23! He was also the tallest at 6ft 2.
The oldest was Christ Dickerson at 43 and the shortest was Franco Columbu at 5ft 5.
The heaviest contest weight of a competitor was Ronnie Coleman at 136kg and the lightest was Frank Zane at 84kg.
The world’s strongest men.
The World’s Strongest Man is a mixed event strongman competition and there are large varieties in body shape and size. Some of the average stats are interesting!
The most common country of origin was again the USA but closely followed by the UK.
The average age when first winning was 30 with an average weight of 150.5kg and height of 6ft 3.
The youngest ever winner was Jón Páll Sigmarsson at 24. The oldest and also tallest was Ted van der Parre at 37 and 6ft 9. The shortest was Gary Taylor at 6ft.
The heaviest was Brian Shaw at 195kg and the lightest was Jouko Ahola, who weighed 125kg.
Strong vs. shredded
As you can see, according to the average, the World’s Strongest Man wins a year earlier than Mr. Olympia. The World’s Strongest Man is also 45.5kg heavier than Mr. Olympia and 5 inches taller and most winners from both come from the US.
Versus the average man
This data is taken from the Office for National Statistics.
It states that the average UK male weighs 83.6kg and is 5ft 9.
Now check those averages against the ones above. Especially the weight averages!
