why are there so many bulky weightlifters?

Do you find it hard to believe that some people train for what they can do, as opposed to what they look like?

^THIS.

people will say they dont do cardio because weightlifting is good for fat loss but i see a lot of guys who have a lot of muscle AND body fat. no muscle striations (sp?) at all
who wants to look bulky? i dont understand why the guy built like a monster truck doesnt want to do cardio to burn that excess fat
but he will lift weights day in day out

Cause they don't like cardio.... They like weights.

You can do cardio too, most of the powerlifters I know do cardio. They also eat at a surplus to build and maintain muscle mass. Big and bulky doesn't automatically mean out of shape. Look at nfl linemen.

^^^why BMI doesn't work for all of us.

people will say they dont do cardio because weightlifting is good for fat loss but i see a lot of guys who have a lot of muscle AND body fat. no muscle striations (sp?) at all
who wants to look bulky? i dont understand why the guy built like a monster truck doesnt want to do cardio to burn that excess fat
but he will lift weights day in day out

Ah young grasshopper, you believe that everyone is like you. They are not. There are roughly 6 billion people on the planet. They all have different goals, dreams, aspirations. Many of these goals are not aesthetic in nature. Perhaps one day you will come to understand....... sadly, I fear that day is far off.

Tom Hardy's a perfect example actually.

In Warrior:


In TDKR:


In one he's ripped and lean, in the other he just looks like a giant beast. I don't think Bane would've been anywhere near as intimidating if he'd had the physique from the first picture. Neither is 'better' IMO, they're different looks for different things, some may prefer to be one over the other.

people will say they dont do cardio because weightlifting is good for fat loss but i see a lot of guys who have a lot of muscle AND body fat. no muscle striations (sp?) at all
who wants to look bulky? i dont understand why the guy built like a monster truck doesnt want to do cardio to burn that excess fat
but he will lift weights day in day out

Cause they don't like cardio.... They like weights.

You can do cardio too, most of the powerlifters I know do cardio. They also eat at a surplus to build and maintain muscle mass. Big and bulky doesn't automatically mean out of shape. Look at nfl linemen.

^^^why BMI doesn't work for all of us.

Both quotes apply in my case... I powerlift, and do Cardio, but eat 3-400 Calories a day to keep\build muscle mass.

If you consider "Weightlifters" (Powerlifters\Strongman\Olympic Lifters) as "Strength Athletes" then look at the best, they all carry more body fat. Personally I have no idea why but that's just the main case.

As for BMI..... I've dropped 5% body fat since my worst days, can do 1 1/2 hours cardio twice a week after a 1 hour workout and a full days work, and I'm apparently have a WORSE BMI than I did back when I was 8Lb's lighter with the extra body fat!!?!

people will say they dont do cardio because weightlifting is good for fat loss but i see a lot of guys who have a lot of muscle AND body fat. no muscle striations (sp?) at all
who wants to look bulky? i dont understand why the guy built like a monster truck doesnt want to do cardio to burn that excess fat
but he will lift weights day in day out

They're not all fat. I don't care for the "muscle-bound" look, but some people like it and they train to get that appearance.

people will say they dont do cardio because weightlifting is good for fat loss but i see a lot of guys who have a lot of muscle AND body fat. no muscle striations (sp?) at all
who wants to look bulky? i dont understand why the guy built like a monster truck doesnt want to do cardio to burn that excess fat
but he will lift weights day in day out

You mean guys like me? I don't lift because I want to look a certain way. I worry about my health, what weight class I am in and how much I can lift on the day of the competition ONLY. People who train for aesthetics lift weights in a completely different way than people who are lifting for strength/performance. They also eat a lot differently since being lean is counterproductive for someone who wants to be strong.

To answer someone else's question about why fat makes you stronger that I saw in here: It isn't specifically fat that makes you strong, it's the girth of your appendages; however, fat will increase that girth. When you bend those appendages and the two segments smash against each other it creates a lot of pressure. This pressure helps to stabilize the joint and provide support while you are lifting. For example, I have a gut and really, really thick thighs so I can't depth on a squat unless I have about 365lbs on the bar. This means that I get 365lbs of rebound out of the hole on a squat. The same is true when I am bench pressing because of the size of my arms (I don't get that much rebound on a bench though).