Olympic Lifting for Powerlifters, Bodybuilders, Throwers and Other Serious Strength Athletes - Jim Schmitz (2001)

 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.