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Don't Limit Yourself To A Single Strength Discipline
By
Charles Staley |
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For decades there's been a happy union between throwing and weightlifting. Each discipline promoted success in the other discipline, and when throwers are "in season," they simply throttle back on the lifting a bit to accommodate the demands of track season.
Then, when track season's over, many throwers will ramp up the weightlifting, and commonly will compete in meets (either Olympic or power, or even sometimes strongman or highland games events)
So why not take the same approach to the 3 major strength disciplines?
A lot of new members to this forum come from a specific background, and then become exposed to other members from different strength-training backgrounds, and are tempted to "jump ship." I'd like to suggest a different tack: why not practice olympic lifting, powerlifting, and strongman events all year round?
With a bit of strategic planning, it's not terribly difficult to do, and you'll find a useful synergy between the three disciplines as well.
Here's a simple weekly split incorporating this concept, just for the purpose of stimulating your imagination. On the flip side, I'll illustrate some tips and tricks to make the split work for you
Day One
Snatch (or Power Snatch, depending on your skill level)
Back Squat (or Box Squat if you're a WSB disciple)
Farmer's Walk
(To Taste): Misc core work and/or bodypart training
Day Two
Clean (or Power Clean, depending on your skill level)
Deadlift
Keg Carry/Truck Push Medley
(To Taste): Misc core work and/or bodypart training
Day Three
Log Clean & Press
Jerk (or Push Jerk, or Power Clean & Jerk)
Bench Press (or Pin Press or Floor Press)
(To Taste): Misc core work and/or bodypart training
Day Four
Snatch/Overhead Squat (or Clean/Front Squat)
Pin Pulls
Chins
Sled Drag/Stone Lift Medley
(To Taste): Misc core work and/or bodypart training
Tips & Tricks:
* In each of these training days, the session starts with an olympic lift. This is because typically, the olympic lift is lighter/faster than subsequent drills, which makes it a nice warm-up and neural primer for the rest of the session.
* If you compete in any one of these disciplines, treat lifts from the other two sports as "assistance lifts:" just scale back on the intensity and/or volume as you deem appropriate for the situation.
* Heavy full snatching combined with heavy bench pressing, in the same cycle, tend to create conflicting demands for the shoulder. Use caution.
* This cycle incorporates "exercise stacking." For example, cleans followed by deads. The cleans serve as a warm-up for the deadlifts. This is a nice time saver- if you (for example) stop your cleans at 220 pounds, your first warm-up set of deads can be with 265 or so.
* Notice (on day three) how I've placed Clean & Jerks after Log Clean & Press. After humping that log, doing Clean & jerks with a bar will feel like a vacation!
Don't Abandon Your Sport— You CAN Do It All!
Obviously it's a tall order to compete in three sports simultaneously. However in the case of the three strength disciplines discussed above, there's enough common ground to integrate all three disciplines into your training in a way that improves your "primary" focus.
Staying the course in a single strength discipline long term is hard work, and often, the grass can look greener on the other side. By allowing yourself regular, controlled exposure to related strength disciplines, you'll find it easier to stay on course, while reaping the benefits of a more comprehensive program at the same time.
Author's Bio
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
wwww.staleytraining.com
www.teamstaley.com
His colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit, with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s World Championships.
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