Building Strength and Body Power for Weightlifting - Morris Weissbrot (1966)

This is Part Two of a series titled "Polish Training Methods."

I hope I don't disappoint any of my readers with this article, since much of what I have to say has already been said many times before by many men who are experts in the field. There are no secret exercises, boys -- just a lot of hard work. 

But maybe I can help you organize your training a little, so that you'll be getting the most out of all the work you're putting into it. 

In my previous article, I told you that the top lifters in Poland do power work the first four or five months each year. Let's take a look at some of the exercises they use: 

Power-building exercises can be divided into four broad categories, to wit . . . 

I. Pulling movements

II. Pushing movements

III. Supporting movements

IV. Half movements

Let's take these one at a time: 

I. Pulling movements: 

1) Power snatches, or flip snatches, if you prefer. 

2) Power cleans, with a little knee-dip

3) Pulls

    (a) wide grip, narrow grip

    (b) from the floor or from boxes of different heights

4) Deadlifts, again, using various grips

    (a) from boxes of different heights

    (b) on the Isometric rack

5) Rowing motions

II. Pushing movements: 

1) Pressing, seated, incline, bench, standing, on the rack, etc. 

2) Push press or press-jerk

3) Squats, front, back, lunges, on the rack, different foot spacings, from the bottom up, etc.

III. Supporting movements: 

1) Overhead supports, lunges, and different heights on the rack.

IV. Half movements: 

1) Lockouts on the bench, on the rack. 

2) Half-squats, quarter-squats, 1/8 squats. 

3) Isometric rack work, pulling or pushing at different heights.

Now, since we're going to use these movements to build maximum strength, it's necessary to use the principle of heavy weights and low reps. Three repetitions per set seems to work about the best, although in the squat, five reps are better for the average man.

But NOTHING IS HARD AND FAST . . . and you can vary your workouts by using sets of twos from time to time, and even heavy single attempts. But for Pete's sake, don't try to do all these exercises every single workout! 

It's like ordering dinner in a Chinese restaurant . . . take one from column A, one from Column B, or in this case, one or two movements from group I, one or two from group II, and so on. This will give you plenty of variety, so you won't get bored . . . and you'll be able to cover dozens of different exercises during the course of each month.

The drawings accompanying this article show most of the movements used to build strength and body power. And please, fellas . . . STAY LOOSE! 

Click Pic to ENLARGE

Don't neglect your stretching and limbering exercises during this power phase of your training. Too many of our power lifters have sacrificed speed and flexibility in their quest for heavier bench presses, squats, and deadlifts. 

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record with all this harping on speed and flexibility . . . but believe me, it's important. Fellows like Baszanowski and Ozimek, who are World champions in the Olympic lifts could also erase all the existing power lift records from the books. 

To quote the Rheingold beer commercials . . . 

They Must Be Doing Something Right!  

Enjoy Your Lifting!