MILO March 2001
If you are healthy and willing, you can learn to do snatches and clean and jerks – or at least some form of them and receive the great benefits from these lifts. You might say so what, who cares? Well, I do and you should; I believe doing the Olympic lifts is the absolute greatest way to train for all athletes. It’s good for you, and it’s a myth that it is difficult. Of all the progressive resistance type training programs and methods, Olympic-style weightlifting has the absolutely greatest physical and psychological carryover to other sports and physical activities, bar none!
So, why should a powerlifter or bodybuilder do the Olympic
lifts? Well, it will enhance you speed, balance, coordination, flexibility,
conditioning, concentration, and of course, your strength and power.
Bodybuilders will thicken their backs, shoulders, and traps, and develop the
bubble butt and full sweeping thighs. Also, it will give you a great variety in
your training and make you a more complete, strong, powerful, muscular athlete.
There have been many powerlifters who have switched over to Olympic lifting.
Two of the most well-known are the super heavyweights Shane Hamman and Mark
Henry. Both have been national powerlifting champions, 1000 pound squatters,
and national weightlifting champions, record holders, and Olympians, 1992 and
1996 for Mark and 2000 for Shane. Another super heavyweight who was a national
champion and record holder in both sports and an Olympian (1968) was Ernie
Picket in the 1960’s.
The most famous bodybuilder who also did Olympic lifting was
John Grimek, eighth place in the 1936 Olympics, and of course, Mr. America and
Mr. Universe, and considered by many the greatest bodybuilder of all time.
Steve Stanko, who was also a Mr. America and Mr. Universe, was the first man to
total 1000 pounds in the then three Olympic lifts: press, snatch, and clean and
jerk. Sergio Oliva totaled 1000 pounds in the 90-kilo class before he devoted
his full energy to bodybuilding and became Mr. Olympia. Dr. John Gourgott won
the 1966 Jr. National Weightlifting Championships and placed third in the Jr.
Mr. America contest that same day, behind two former weightlifters, Bob Gajda,
and Sergio Oliva. One of the greatest weightlifters of all time, two-time Olympic
champion (1952 and 1956,) Tommy Kono, was also a Mr. Universe winner (1955,
1957, and 1961.) A very famous movie star who had some success in bodybuilding
and also did some Olympic lifting as a youth was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Five national and international shot putters who had great
success in weightlifting as well are Gary Gubner, national shot put champion
and fourth at the 1964 Olympics in Weightlifting; Al Feuerbach, 1974 national
weightlifting champion and bronze medalist in the shot put at the 1976
Olympics, and world record holder (71’-7”); and Ken Patera, Bruce Wilhelm, and
Tom Stock, who were all top U.S. shot putters and U.S. national weightlifting
champions, record holders and Olympians, 1972, 1976, and 1980 respectively.
The purpose of this article is not to recruit competitive
Olympic lifters, but to have more strength athletes do the snatch and clean and
jerk as part of their training. I won’t be going into detailed explanations of
how to do the lifts; you can get that information from my previous MILO
articles or my training manual and video.
Now, remember, I said everyone can do the snatch and clean
and jerk if they are healthy and willing. I don’t necessarily mean full squat
snatches and full squat cleans and split jerks, which would be nice, but rather
the basic pulling and pushing, explosively. So, here we go.
First, if you aren’t doing a fair amount of stretching, you
really need to now, regardless of whether you decide to follow this type of
training. So, warm up with at least 10 to 15 minutes of stretching, plus
stomach work.
The following are my programs for the strength athlete who
wants the power and muscle density of an Olympic lifter, but doesn’t care to
compete or even do the complete lifts.
I would like you to do these workouts three times a week; two would be okay, but three is better. Do this program before you do any other training or on alternate days. Also, don’t be in too big a hurry to get to the big weights. It’s actually a really good idea to train quite light at first to learn the movements, gain confidence, and give the ligaments, tendon and muscles a chance to adapt. You can and should vary your weights and reps from workout to workout, depending on how you feel.
This type of training requires a little different mind set.
That means if you can deadlift 600 pounds, don’t be surprised if you have
trouble power cleaning, let alone power snatching, 200 pounds. It takes time,
practice, persistence, patience, and perseverance. Train on each program 6 to
12 workouts before going on to the next one. You will be surprised with the
stamina and condition you will need and develop from these programs.
Now, as important as good technique is, I don’t want
you to get hung up on it. I don’t want you to get paralysis due to analysis,
where you are thinking so much about how you are going to lift that you can’t
do the movement. You can’t think through a fast movement while trying to move
fast; just do it. Think about only a couple of things before you lift and then
just go for it as fast as you can. You have a better chance of success if
you move fast with poor technique than if you move slowly with good technique!
That is why these lifts develop speed and explosiveness. So, only think of
things like “pull hard, move fast,” “pull close, pull straight,” “big shrug,
fast elbow,” “back flat, chest out,” “drive and push.”
*One of my personal favorite training hall photos of all time. Just some Polish guy doing a 100kg power snatch, but every single person in the room (Polish team, Tom Stock, and the Author Jim Schmitz) are all watching intently. You can see Jim's got his belt and knee wraps on - even when coaching the US team he was getting after it in training. We should all aspire to have a 1977 Jim Schmitz neck.
The exception to focusing on just two things is when doing
high pulls. I want you to think of three things, “squeeze, accelerate, and
explode.” You may have or develop your own key words and phrases, which is
good, but keep them simple and to the point. Only think of two things when
pulling and two when pushing. Of course, above all you much concentrate on
completing the lift. That’s the bottom line: Make the lift. There are lifts I
call “-ly” lifts, that is, “ugly, wobbly, and barely,” but successful. When
developing power, we don’t score technique points, only how much weight was
lifted.
Now, don’t just kiss off technique. Develop the best
technique you can, as good technique will mean lifting more weight and having
fewer injuries. Some of the best weightlifters in the world don’t have the best
technique, but they do their technique the same way every time; they have
incredible consistency. So, that’s the next thing you want to develop,
consistency. Learn to lift as correctly as possible and then do it the same way
every time!
Let’s say you are unable to do snatches, cleans, or jerks.
What can you do as substitutes to still develop the speed and power? In both
the snatch and the clean, you substitute high pulls. That is, instead of doing
the snatch, you just pull the bar as fast and as hard as you can to about your
shoulders, and in the clean, you pull the bar as hard and as fast as you can to
about your rib cage. For push presses and push jerks, if you can’t hold a
barbell securely on your shoulders in front of your neck, ten do them on your
shoulders behind the neck and with a little wider grip.
A little note here: Many, many strength athletes are not
very strong or stable with barbell’s overhead. This is a shame for there is so
much benefit from driving and holding heavy weights overhead. So, I recommend
that on your last rep of any overhead lift, you hold it steady for about three
to five seconds. Also, to help you develop overhead stability, you should do
jerk supports in a power rack and hold the last rep three to five seconds. This
exercise is done in a power rack with the bar place one to two inches above
your head; you squat underneath, arms locked out, stand, and hold. This is a
great exercise and will surprise you at first.
Another tip on doing this explosive type of training, as
important as speed is, if you don’t have your technique somewhat together, you
don’t want to move as fast as you can until you know where you are going. The
thing that is a little tricky about these lifts is that your body changes
directions while lifting the weights up. Your upper and lower body go in
different directions, especially in the snatch, where you squat with your legs,
but at the same time you extend and reach up with your arms as you go under the
bar. So, as you are learning and developing your technique or lifting light
weights, move with controlled speed – not slowly, but not as fast as you
possibly can.
Also, you should always warm up with an empty bar, after
you’ve done your 10 to 15 minutes of stretching plus stomach work. Practice all
the lifts, including squats. Now for many, the empty bar is just too light to
develop technique; don’t worry about it, just do it for a warm-up. Technique is
best developed with about 70-80% of your best weights. Doubles and triples are
the best reps for technique work because those weights you are able to do for
one rep, no problem, but on the second and third rep, you really have to do it
right or you won’t make it. That is why I recommend doubles and triples, but
you never take your hands off the barbell so that the second and third reps are
more challenging. You can’t think or rest, you just do it.
I don’t have front squats in these three programs because I
don’t want to overwork your wrists, but you can substitute them if you don’t
like or can’t do back squats. I recommend fewer reps in the front squats to
save wear and tear on your wrists, no more than five reps.
Some more examples of incredibly muscular and explosive
weightlifters are: Norbert Schemansky, Olympic champion as a middle
heavyweight, silver medalist, and two-time bronze medalist as a super
heavyweight, who also won several bodybuilding titles. Turkey’s two-time
Olympic champion, Halil Mutlu, packs the most ripped muscle I’ve ever seen on
a4’-10”, 56-kg (123-pound) man. Greece’s three-time Olympic champion, Pirros
Dimas, looks like the Superman from the comic books, at 5’-7” to 5’-8”
and 85kg (187 pounds.) However, the most impressive physique, in my opinion, of
the entire Sydney Olympics was Iran’s Hossein Tavakoli: his body is Mr. Olympia
quality, especially his arms and shoulders, which reminded me of Phil Grippaldi
(USA), 90-kg great during the seventies.
Aforementioned Hossein Tavakoli. Indeed, jacked.
Once you feel confident with this program, start lifting as heavy as you can. Lifting big weights explosively develops big, powerful muscles and bodies. The bottom line, the big point I want to make with this article, is that everyone can and should do some Olympic-style movements in their training. Even if you only did power clean and push presses, the benefits to you will be well worth it.