Training for the Clean & Jerk with Champion Jake Stefan (1973)

 Iron Man November 1973

by Bill Reynolds

For those interested in weightlifting from the 70's and 80's (particularly in the New York/New Jersey area) I'd recommend Mark Morthier's podcast.  There's other sports covered from that era, but includes some good interviews with National level weightlifters from that time. Yesterday's Sports Podcast

During the recent CBS television coverage of the Senior Nationals, American weightlifting fans were treated to a taste of the action in the super-heavyweight class. A virtually effortless 435 pound clean and jerk wrapped up the title for Jacob Stefan, a previously obscure lifter from Seattle. Perhaps not one spectator in twenty at Williamsburg expected Jake to win, as he was simply too big a mystery.

To a few iron game super fans, though, the name Stefan has a ring of familiarity, as he has cropped up on the national scene several times in the past three years. A few powerlift fans might recall 1970, a year in which Stefan placed third at both Juniors and Seniors in the heavyweight division. His 1700 total that year included a 610 pound squat and a 670 pound deadlift. During that same year, he totalled 1020 on Olympic lifts to attain his Master rating as a heavyweight. His combined 2720 total was worthy of note and possibly not approached officially by any other heavyweight that year.

By 1971, Jake’s Olympic total climbed to 1075, which was good for an easy super-heavy victory at the Junior Nationals. Jake had to eat and drink very heavily prior to the weigh-in in order to lift as a super heavy at the Juniors. The following year a broken hand kept his total from advancing as rapidly as expected and his 1080 effort was only high enough for fifth place among heavyweights at the 1972 Seniors. Then with the press eliminated from the Olympic lifts, Stefan finished first at super-heavy in the recent Senior Nationals. His 777 total was registered at a bodyweight of only 249 and Stefan was chosen for the World Championships team as a heavyweight.

Like Jon Cole, Stefan is perhaps one of the most athletic heavyweights in the United States. He has recently sprinted 60 yards in an amazing 6.5 seconds while weighting 245 pounds. As a high school athlete, his skill at both football and track attracted numerous athletic scholarship offers. These were rejected, however, in favor of weightlifting which Jacob found to be considerably less brutal and more satisfying than football. Still, the sight of a super strong 245 pounder with 6.5 speed in the sixty yard dash must set pro football scouts to drooling.

Typically, Jakes training is thrice weekly and highly variable. He seldom does the same workout twice, but keeps an accurate record of all his training poundages and attempts to slowly increase weights over the long haul. Basically, his training is peaked out only once a year from what he considers to be an important meet. Then a week or two layoff is taken and the long process of building up is repeated.

The power lifts that he once concentrated on have been sublimated in favor of those exercises that will improve performance on the two Olympic lifts. Dead lifts and bench presses have been totally abolished from his schedule and 650 pound single squats have given way to sets of five with a pause at the bottom of each and a maximum resistance of 550 pounds. On an average, Jacob squats only once a week (usually on Monday or Wednesday), as cleaning and snatching really work his legs hard on other days. He does front squats “about once a year” as they seem to hurt his wrists.

Stefan usually does some form of pulling and some type of movement to benefit his jerk during both his Monday and Wednesday sessions. Then on Saturday, he usually goes heavy on both the snatch and the clean and jerk. Pre-Williamsburg bests were 350 snatch and 450 clean and jerk, but not in the same workout. A typical weekly training schedule would shape up as follows:

Monday

1)        Cleans: 6-8 sets up to 440 or 450 x 2

2)        Jerk Drives: 3-4 sets up to 475-500 x 2

Wednesday

1)        Squats: 4-5 sets up to 550 x 5

2)        Snatch Grip Pulls: 4-5 sets up to 375-400 x 3

3)        Jerk Lockout Supports (on rack): 5-6 holds up to 650

Saturday

1)        Snatch singles up to maximum for the day

2)        Clean and Jerk: singles up to maximum for the day

Following Jake through a typical workout, one would see him first spend a couple of minutes taping his wrists and then wrapping them for maximum protection from injury. Then he spends ten or fifteen minutes stretching and warming up before the training session. All of this preparation has eliminated injuries  from training. During the past five years only one injury has resulted in lost training time, and that was a broken hand sustained while practicing karate.

Cleans might be the first exercise and he starts out low with 135 x 2. Then his series might often go 205 x 2, 275 x 2, 325 x 2, 360 x 2, 380 x 2, 400 x 2, 420 x 2, 440 x 2. All of his pulling in training is reinforced with straps to keep from yanking off patches of skin from the palms of his hands. Jake finds no difficulty in hook gripping his maximum meet poundages, so seldom pulls without straps in training.

A typical second exercise might be jerk drives in which he would do 440 x 2, 460 x 2, 480 x 2, and 500 x 2 during a particularly heavy session. Jake considers the jerk to be his weakest link at the present time and is spending plenty of time improving it. He is even experimenting with a slightly wider grip which shows promise of helping his lockout.

Following his workout with the weights, Jake occasionally runs, but usually he does this on his off days. Running is usually in the form of three mile cross country runs with gentle hills. A few wind sprints tend to give Jake the tired breathless feeling that tells him that his heart and lungs are benefitting from the exercise.

Stefan supplements his training with a positive mental outlook, a protein rich diet and plenty of rest and sleep. So far his formula has paid off, and having watched him train on numerous occasions, the author fully expects a 375 snatch and a 500 clean and jerk from him within the next two or three years.