For the past few months my regular training partner has been George Popplewell, the 181 lb. Olympic lifter.
The Reg Park Olympic Courses, One and Two, by George Popplewell:
It may seem strange to you that an Olympic lifter and a bodybuilder should train together, but when you consider that the world's best weightlifters such as Davis, Schemansky, Vinci, Sheppard, Stogov, Kono and Vorobyev practice power-bodybuilding movements and also have excellent physiques it is not so surprising. Bryan Marsden wrote shortly after the 1956 Olympic Games, in the Australian Weightlifter which is published by our Australian correspondent, Joe Hensel, the following:
"Not only did Kono have everyone covered in lifting ability on this occasion, but also in physique . . .
. . . the type of physique just made for the sands of Bondi Beach, a sort of balance between a lifter and a bodybuilder. The next physique here was Stepanov. I had a further opportunity to observe this lifter in Sydney and he is all muscle and tendon, sporting calves like a real road-work fighter. He was in very good condition, carrying no weight on the sides or abdomen, a real athlete's physique.
"An interesting point here is that excepting for Claes of Belgium, Kono was the lightest man in the division. He was weighed in just in front of Jack Powell. With both men stripped one could make a comparison of their physiques. Powell is very husky and thick set, but he would fit inside of Kono. Whilst on physiques it was noticeable that although nearly every contestant was generously endowed with muscles, the winners and top place getters in each division had the best physiques. This would also apply to the heavies. Out of all the monsters Anderson did look to be the trimmest and best built heavyweight."
By the same rule, the really great bodybuilders of the caliber of Grimek, Eder, Pearl, Lacy and Hilligen, have also been power bodybuilders and have trained on the three Olympic lifts -- registering totals of 850 lb. or more at an average bodyweight of 190 lb.
At one time I was apt to scorn the (what appeared to me) "over emphasis" of training for technique for Olympic lifters but training with George and also being desirous of setting up a total myself on the three Olympic lifts has made me appreciate how important technique really is. It takes a great deal of time and patience to obtain correct technique on the clean & press, snatch, and clean & jerk, to get your performances to the position whereby, you are utilizing your maximum body power to the highest degree of technical efficiency to ensure your best personal possibilities. Some lifters have perfected their styles to such a high degree that they are able to get each attempt "right in the groove" and thereby get the most out of their abilities and power.
It may well be, however, that in training on and for the three Olympic lifts only, they have not build up on their overall potential body power. Many lifters today do not train on any lifts other than the three Olympics -- but it is interesting to note that the real top men all practice power bodybuilding movements over and above their training on the Olympic lifts. I cannot speak with any authority on the Russian lifters but in the few Russian books on Olympic training which I have seen, it is evident that squat stands, flat and incline benches and in particular kettlebell handles are clearly utilized to the full by Olympic lifters.
Once technique has been successfully mastered, the only way an Olympic lifter will continue to make gains is by increasing his overall body power on such movements as the front and rear full squats, incline and flat bench presses, regular and high deadlifts and one of the most important of all, prone hyperextensions. These are but a few of the power bodybuilding movements which top lifters use to ensure continual progress -- and an interesting point is that they are for the most part movements which are easy to master but at the same time enable you to handle poundages which exceed your best clean, press, and jerk.
So much for lifters making use of bodybuilding exercises. Now on to the matter of bodybuilders using weightlifting movements.
For the most part bodybuilders who turn to weightlifting find the squat style the most suitable. There are of course others who are split lifters. I do not propose to become involved in the merits and demerits of whether one should use the squat or split style of lifting as this is more capably dealt with by George Popplewell, but for the bodybuilders who feel they would like to do some lifting, I will outline my own experiences in the hope that they may assist you.
Firstly, I have always been fond of the regular squat and therefore, being good at it, I felt the squat style of lifting would best suit me. I had never done much front squatting since it always hurt my fingers and wrists and it never felt comfortable. I experienced these same discomforts when I started to front squat seriously but after a a couple of months I have at last begun to get the feel of it. I no longer experience any discomforts and am now able to do the movement quite smoothly.
The points are to take a wider grip than your press grip, rest the bar on the sternum and also behind the deltoids . . . this is achieved by holding the elbows high and in to each other. Keep your heels down and in my own case, I found that looking upwards helped my balance and recovery considerably.
Once I feel I can perform front squats in really good style, I shall start cleaning and then squatting with the bar overhead to help recovery for the squat snatch. As you can see, I am using the front squat as an introduction to squat cleans and squat snatches.
From a physique point of view I think the front squat has advantages over the regular movement in that more effort is thrown on to the thighs and less on the glutes as in the regular squat. It also builds up the thighs just over the knee and so gives them a fuller look.
I perform high and regular deadlifts to improve my grip and pulling power and these movements are great for developing the traps. I also do a high pull to the chest, using a wide snatch grip which I have found greatly affects the lats.
Of course I still do regular squats, bench presses, cleans and presses, and presses behind the neck as I feel these will help my lifting and they also help me to look good from a physique point of view, but they are all performed to eventually benefit my performances on the three Olympics. For instance, I press from behind the neck, and when I do overhead triceps curls I snatch the weight overhead to help my snatching. Chuck Ahrens is reported to have flipped 300 overhead in this movement for triceps curls and it is reckoned he could snatch 330 lb. without ever having trained on the snatch which isn't bad when you consider the world heavyweight snatch record is 340 lb.
Similarly, I preform bentover rowing with a wide snatch grip and I was interested to see this listed as an aid to the snatch in one of the Russian books.
It is my sincere belief that power bodybuilding movements will benefit bodybuilders . . . so why not put the points mentioned into practice?
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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