Olympic Lifters Physiques

[DKD]

If you're a recreational lifter, training primarily to improve your physique, then you would have no doubt read all the routines out there that tell us to get adequate rest before hitting the same bodypart again.

Some guys follow a once a week per body part split. Some use an A, B split which hits the same part 3 times in a fortnight. Some do full body 3 times a week. Always the mantra is don't overtrain...you need to give the muscle time to repair, and then, through eating, to grow bigger.

I've been watching the 56kg male weightlifters in the Olympics and their physiques are mighty impressive. I'm fully jelly of these guy's delts...look like boulders.

We've read about how Olympic lifters train with high frequency...multiple times daily or whatever it is.

So my question is, if we wanna get an impressive physique, why don't we ignore all the conventional training literature aimed at the average lifter (ie 3 or 4 workouts per week) and train like these mofos (ie 12-15 workouts per week)?

 

[NightFallTech]

Potentially they built their muscle levels first and then increased training frequency to build technique?

 

[walt]

if your an athlete, train like an athlete.

If your a recreational gym go-er, im sure you will get sick of training everyday for 2-3 hours. (i know i would)

 

[NightFallTech]

if your an athlete, train like an athlete.

If your a recreational gym go-er, im sure you will get sick of training everyday for 2-3 hours. (i know i would)

However, does 'not training' even when you feel like it make sense, when training every day seems to work for athletes?

 

[Alpha Moth]

they've probably been training relentlessly since 5 years old lol

 

[DKD]

if your an athlete, train like an athlete.

If your a recreational gym go-er, im sure you will get sick of training everyday for 2-3 hours.

Yeah, most will, but if you're a recreational lifter who is still obsessive about your physique, and willing to train that often, are you likely to get very good muscle growth? Or will it backfire? Are the overtraining advocates right? This is what I'm interested in.

 

[walt]

the 56kg olympic weightlifters must be midgets?

btw there were 2 threads about this sort of topic not long ago

 

[Goosey]

DKD

This possibly the most controversial topic anyone could pick, next to steroids.
I'm not going to enter into it as the argument between bodybiulders and power lifters and the best methods will just go around in circles.

But what I did read today, makes me believe this is now of the most important messages one can give to the lifting hobbyist and the weekend warrior and in fact anyone interested in long term lifting.

I must admit it seems I really missed the boat not only on nutrition but lifting itself or more so on how to lift. Yes, I have talked about using good form and technique many times. That’s a given and also a lesson learned. What really has hit me upside the head is how to perform a movement and efficiency of performing the movement is really what I am referring to. If you heave, hump, use momentum, bounce, etc. you are making your workouts inefficient. If you lift like this in any way you’ll also be able to use more weight by default because you are using muscles other than the muscle you are targeting. Therefore, this is undo stress on the joints, tendons, ligaments, etc. that is unnecessary if the repetitions were performed in a more efficient manner. But, using more weight is not a strength increase in this fashion. There is a big difference between demonstrating strength and gaining strength through the use of efficient reps.

When you perform a rep you should be super smooth during the whole movement. No accelerating or “exploding”. When you explode given the body’s leverage system you will eventually use momentum to complete the rep. It’s a given. Pushing or pulling hard in a manner where the muscle is “full on” so to speak is how you want to perform the rep. This means squeezing as well. You should feel the full rep in the muscle the whole way and do it over the full range of motion.

“I’ll have to lower the weight!?” You bet you will. But, does that mean you are weaker? Hell no. Think about it? How can that even be true? Dumb eh to think that? As a former powerlifter, I should have trained this way most of the time and did not. I also should have shortened my rest periods but that is another post. I believe I would have ended up stronger in my max singles. I believe I would have had not had the injuries I suffered either.

After I recently posted my before and after pictures Jim Mardis asked about my strength. Well, I could not answer really because not only am I using a lot of machines I also changed HOW I lift. So, I cannot even compare. It’s apples and oranges! I can tell you one thing for sure. I will be more healthy going forward into my next half century. At this point, I have different goals as well. Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass what my “maxes” are in such lifts as the bench press (a shoulder wrecker too). I would rather look good, be healthy, and not have a gut or excess fat hanging off of my waist (or look soft) than having a 400lb bench press. I just wish I could go back in time and have a talk with that 18 year old who started powerlifting named Bill Piche….

 

[Darkoz]

Great post Andy but sadly one that many here will just not get or relate to, not that it's their fault but simply because of where the current lifting culture is.

 

[Bella]

Good post Andy.

I was made fun of by two of the mods on this very board in my training log, not that long ago, because I was commencing a higher reps/lower weight training regime after my surgery. Not only is it the only way I was able to start training again, its yielded really good results for me thus far.

Concentrating on form, muscle contraction & full range of movement, rather than just lifting the heaviest shit I could.

Darkoz is right, most won't get it, because we have the 'my way or the highway' mentality alive & well here.

DKD, in relation to your OP, try it & see? Thats the only way you'll find out a) whether you can sustain that sort of regime & b) whether there's any longevity or gains to be made, through a program like that, for someone simply trying to improve aesthetically?

I know 0ni was training in a similar fashion not that long ago, but the body suffered eventually.

 

[0ni]

In a nut shell:
They build their awesome physiques through years of lifting
You could build a similar physique in less time by training primarily for mass but you would not perform like an olympic lifter
Olympic lifting is a very inefficient way to train for that kind of physique
The asian lifters all perform hypertrophy exercises twice a week as well. Here is a sample template that the Chinese lifters all use. This was sent to me by Coach Wu via email correspondence and correspondence with a Coach Kirksman who is a coach in Singapore:

Monday
Snatch to 1RM (3×3)
CNJ to 1RM (3×2)
Back Squats (5-7 x 3-5)
Clean Pulls (5 x 3)
Behind neck push press (5 x 2-5)
Tuesday
Snatch to 1RM (5-8 x 2-3) – Overhead squat after completion of each rep)
Snatch Balance (5-8 x 1-3)
Snatch Pulls (5-6 x 2-3)
Block High Snatch Pulls with Rebend (6-8 x 2-3)
Wednesday
Clean + FS + Jerk 1RM (5-8 x 2)
Front Squats (5-8 x 1 -3)
Clean Pulls (5-6 x 3)
Behind Neck Push Jerk (8 x 1)
Push Press (5 x 3 )
Thursday
Back Squats to 1RM (6-8 x 2-5)
Snatch 85-90% (2-3 x1)
Clean and Jerk 85-90% (2-3 x1)
Strict Press (5 x 3-5)
Friday
Snatch to 1RM (3 x 1)
CNJ to 1RM (3 x 1)
Snatch Pulls (5 x 3)
Block snatch high pull with rebend (5 x 2-3)
Jerk Drives (8×3) – About the same weight as your max 1RM back squats
Saturday
Front Squats to 1RM (5-6 x 1-3)
Platform Clean Deadlifts (5-6 x 1-3)
Snatch Balance (5-6 x 1-3)
Push Jerk (5×1-3)

For the squats, just do a 1RM once a week.  It takes too much to keep going to 1RM’s and it cuts your capacity for more work.
The stronger you are, less time should be spent on strength. More time must be spent USING that strength and power.
90% of the training population won’t achieve the point above so stop worrying about it.
Unless you hold a paper with pre-calculated percentages or have a calculator, using reps to determine the weight.
Mix your rep ranges, but never stray too far off the 1RM. This is weightlifting, not crossfit or bodybuilding.
Always do unilateral movements after training, like 1 minute of walking lunges or some lateral raises. Muscular imbalances.

 

[walt]

DKD

This possibly the most controversial topic anyone could pick, next to steroids.
I'm not going to enter into it as the argument between bodybiulders and power lifters and the best methods will just go around in circles.

But what I did read today, makes me believe this is now of the most important messages one can give to the lifting hobbyist and the weekend warrior and in fact anyone interested in long term lifting.

I must admit it seems I really missed the boat not only on nutrition but lifting itself or more so on how to lift. Yes, I have talked about using good form and technique many times. That’s a given and also a lesson learned. What really has hit me upside the head is how to perform a movement and efficiency of performing the movement is really what I am referring to. If you heave, hump, use momentum, bounce, etc. you are making your workouts inefficient. If you lift like this in any way you’ll also be able to use more weight by default because you are using muscles other than the muscle you are targeting. Therefore, this is undo stress on the joints, tendons, ligaments, etc. that is unnecessary if the repetitions were performed in a more efficient manner. But, using more weight is not a strength increase in this fashion. There is a big difference between demonstrating strength and gaining strength through the use of efficient reps.

When you perform a rep you should be super smooth during the whole movement. No accelerating or “exploding”. When you explode given the body’s leverage system you will eventually use momentum to complete the rep. It’s a given. Pushing or pulling hard in a manner where the muscle is “full on” so to speak is how you want to perform the rep. This means squeezing as well. You should feel the full rep in the muscle the whole way and do it over the full range of motion.

“I’ll have to lower the weight!?” You bet you will. But, does that mean you are weaker? Hell no. Think about it? How can that even be true? Dumb eh to think that? As a former powerlifter, I should have trained this way most of the time and did not. I also should have shortened my rest periods but that is another post. I believe I would have ended up stronger in my max singles. I believe I would have had not had the injuries I suffered either.

After I recently posted my before and after pictures Jim Mardis asked about my strength. Well, I could not answer really because not only am I using a lot of machines I also changed HOW I lift. So, I cannot even compare. It’s apples and oranges! I can tell you one thing for sure. I will be more healthy going forward into my next half century. At this point, I have different goals as well. Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass what my “maxes” are in such lifts as the bench press (a shoulder wrecker too). I would rather look good, be healthy, and not have a gut or excess fat hanging off of my waist (or look soft) than having a 400lb bench press. I just wish I could go back in time and have a talk with that 18 year old who started powerlifting named Bill Piche….

goosey,
is the term "train for your own goals" acceptable?

srs question.

 

[0ni]

I know 0ni was training in a similar fashion not that long ago, but the body suffered eventually.

It took a good 5 months for my body to give in eventually and I think it was just the deadlifts that did me in. I found it very hard to not "get up" for attempts where as for max squats I can do them with no psyche without problems. I still do a similar type of training I just go easy on the max tugs.

If you look at the chinese template you will see that squats are done for a max once a week and most of the "strength building" work is between 82-87% of 1RM. Only the competition lifts are done to a 1RM but these are very dynamic lifts so it's not like a grinding deadlift in terms of recovery. You do not grind an olympic lift you either make it or you do not! So now most of my work is in the 80-85% area sometimes going up to 90% but still very frequent. I would like to do more heavy squatting but I don't think at this time it would offer any more or less benefits than what I am doing at the moment so I go for volume as it takes less time and I am out the gym faster

 

[DREADLIFT]

Oly lifters make a great case as to how fucking pointless lateral raises are.

 

[Bella]

It took a good 5 months for my body to give in eventually and I think it was just the deadlifts that did me in. I found it very hard to not "get up" for attempts where as for max squats I can do them with no psyche without problems. I still do a similar type of training I just go easy on the max tugs.

If you look at the chinese template you will see that squats are done for a max once a week and most of the "strength building" work is between 82-87% of 1RM. Only the competition lifts are done to a 1RM but these are very dynamic lifts so it's not like a grinding deadlift in terms of recovery. You do not grind an olympic lift you either make it or you do not! So now most of my work is in the 80-85% area sometimes going up to 90% but still very frequent. I would like to do more heavy squatting but I don't think at this time it would offer any more or less benefits than what I am doing at the moment so I go for volume as it takes less time and I am out the gym faster

I know, I'm always watching 0ni

lol

I admit, I was surprised at how many months you were able to sustain that kind of training. And really, you're body was merely fatigued. You didn't injure yourself, you didn't break anything & you didn't chuck it all in.

Kudos to you. I do enjoy watching your log, I appreciate that you're willing to step outside the box & try different techniques & training regimes to see what suits. Thats the only way to know!

 

[Goosey]

goosey,
is the term "train for your own goals" acceptable?

srs question.

Precisely

Keep in mind the goal constantly changes over forty years of consistent weight lifting.

I'm not one for telling people how to train, it's just *my* thoughts.

 

[walt]

ronnie coleman - "everybody wanna be a bodybuilder but nobody wanna lift heavy ass weight"

just thought id add that lols

Precisely

Keep in mind the goal constantly changes over forty years of consistent weight lifting.

I'm not one for telling people how to train, it's just *my* thoughts.

Ty

 

[Goosey]

Oly lifters make a great case as to how fucking pointless lateral raises are.

Can also make a case as to how (olympic lifting) has fucked up many athletes over a period of thirty years.

 

[0ni]

Oly lifters make a great case as to how fucking pointless lateral raises are.

The chinese lifters love lateral raises at the end of their training
I agree that they should not be the mainstay of your shoulder builders but chucking them in after a beastly session of jerks, btn push press and snatch balances will give awesome results

 

[0ni]

I know, I'm always watching 0ni

lol

I admit, I was surprised at how many months you were able to sustain that kind of training. And really, you're body was merely fatigued. You didn't injure yourself, you didn't break anything & you didn't chuck it all in.

Kudos to you. I do enjoy watching your log, I appreciate that you're willing to step outside the box & try different techniques & training regimes to see what suits. Thats the only way to know!

Thanks, the main thing that I have learned is that double sessions are awesome.
For example today in the AM I worked up to 3 singles at 90% (125kg) on the squat. These were pretty hard but nice and fast as I HATE training in the morning. But when I will go to train in the PM after work today I will do 4 sets of 4 with 80% of my max (105kg) and I will absolutely kill it.

Hitting a few fairly high intensity sets in the morning, always without exception, makes for a fucking awesome PM session. You'd think I'd be tired and worn out but the opposite is true. The Chinese olympic lifters will do a front squat and clean pull to the pocket in the morning with the same weight that they want to hit on the clean and jerk in the PM for this reason and kill the weight every time. I call this the "over warm-up" for no reason other than I can