Fadi
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We've all seen some crazy weights been lifted by some very strong Olympic weightlifters; I'm referring to squatting here.
You see a middleweight (75kg) weightlifter back squatting something like 290kg the way he just squatted 150 or 200kg.
Great so where is this post heading?
The point here is that when the lifter, (be he that Olympic weightlifter or powerlifter), when he's driving up with that squat, or pushing the bar off his chest in the bench press, his line of power is almost always perfect, hence he's able to direct maximum energy / maximum force genertaion along the most perfect path. We take that for granted and assume that our complete lift (say a snatch or a clean) is going to reflect this power we have demonstrated whilst performing assistance lifts such as the squat or the pull off the platform for example. Yet (and that's what this post is about), even a slight deviation off of that line of power, where the bar is travelling in its most energy efficient path, we find that lifter struggling to push through or complete a given lift.
That is why I am in favour of the controversial Bulgarian system of training (designed by coach Ivan Abadjiev), where the main focus is on the main two lifts, with only the front squat as an assistance exercise. The wisdom behind this approach to strength/power training is that you want your lifter to become proficient in what counts; the two main lifts (or three as is the case in powerlifting). Not only that, but by avoiding all assistance work (like pulls etc.), you eliminate any potential weakness that has at its very core, the reinforcement of misdirected energy.
You see a middleweight (75kg) weightlifter back squatting something like 290kg the way he just squatted 150 or 200kg.
Great so where is this post heading?
The point here is that when the lifter, (be he that Olympic weightlifter or powerlifter), when he's driving up with that squat, or pushing the bar off his chest in the bench press, his line of power is almost always perfect, hence he's able to direct maximum energy / maximum force genertaion along the most perfect path. We take that for granted and assume that our complete lift (say a snatch or a clean) is going to reflect this power we have demonstrated whilst performing assistance lifts such as the squat or the pull off the platform for example. Yet (and that's what this post is about), even a slight deviation off of that line of power, where the bar is travelling in its most energy efficient path, we find that lifter struggling to push through or complete a given lift.
That is why I am in favour of the controversial Bulgarian system of training (designed by coach Ivan Abadjiev), where the main focus is on the main two lifts, with only the front squat as an assistance exercise. The wisdom behind this approach to strength/power training is that you want your lifter to become proficient in what counts; the two main lifts (or three as is the case in powerlifting). Not only that, but by avoiding all assistance work (like pulls etc.), you eliminate any potential weakness that has at its very core, the reinforcement of misdirected energy.