First of all, finally a well-argumented post.
I don't have injury statistics about bodybuilding and powerlifting, but I believe that both sports (please, not that BB isn't a sport discussion again) have their risks when it comes to training. We have Scott Mendelson who blew his chest and we have Branch Warren who blew... almost anything. Powerlifters are smart in a sense that they work much more together than most bodybuilders do; there's more focus on lifting techniques.
Bodybuilding is def unnatural (in multiple ways, LOL), but so is powerlifting with all those suits, drugs and obesity (translation: a limited ROM in the bench press, so more weight on the bar).
True, many guys seem to have the illusion that a machine is more safe than a free weight.
First of all, obsesity is only prevalent in superheavy weight class. With no weight limit there are no boundaries and even in weightlifting which is far more "athletic" sport than powerlifting most of the superheavies are just fat fucks. Of course, since they move most amount of weight, majority of focus goes to guys like Eric. But bear in mind that they are maybe 1% of our community.
About 50% of powerlifting community consists of delusional fat fucks who squat maybe 140kg x3, low bar, with belt, questionable depth with hoodie on and gut hanging thinking they are fucking badass. You know the type.
Rest of our community, which is competetive powerlifters in light, medium or even heavy weight classes are fairly lean. Some of powerlifters are fucking shredded year round.
I've competed two times in national level competition in powerlifting and I won't be able to send pictures but trust me, upper echelon of every weight class consisted of lean motherfuckers. In order to be competetive you just have to be around 10% bf. There are exceptions of course, but for most of us, 20% means being fucking destroyed by someone with same bodyweight and height but more muscle and less fat.
Now, you can always argue that kind of physique that powerlifting produces looks like shit even if one is lean. Yeah, strong core, arms not too big, dense and powerful look to the physique... Not everyone likes it. But hey, I always liked that look. I never wanted to look like fitness model. I remember when I went to bodybuilding show years ago and I wasn't impressed at all. Then competed in powerlifting for the first time and I was like FUCK, these guys look phenomenal! So you know, to each his own I guess.
Everything I write concerns raw powerlifting. I think suited lifts resemble modern professional bodybuilding - freak show, not a sport. Yes I admire top tier guys for their work but I cannot watch it and I cannot force myself to be impressed by it. You know, when world record in bench press in shirt is higher than deadlift record you know something is just not fucking right. There are cases where people died because of use of suits. Hopefully IPF will one day drop suits and switch to raw only and every other federation out there will follow.
