1. The “heavy” day should be the day after a game…actually, right after a game works well, too, especially for underclassmen who play on the day before the Varsity, having them train on the Friday, for example, helps a lot.

2. The “other” day should be stuff that doesn’t take a lot of nerve. Don’t Snatch and Clean and Jerk, so to speak. Box Squats, Straight Leg Deadlifts, some dumbbell work and a few machines would work well, but don’t have the athlete tax his nervous system. If you have kettlebells, of course, you can do Goblet Squats, the Get Ups, and the Swing as restoratives, too.

3. Don’t be surprised if he gets really stronger, maintains, or drops way down. Any reaction to the training program is normal. We used to find a lot of kids improved their cleans a lot in the football season. My idea then was that they were finally cleaning once a week with supervision. Now, I have another idea: sled work, driving the legs, sprints and the games were all training the system to clean better. Benching and squatting tend to drop, but that seems normal vis-a-vis the work load of football.

4. Don’t be afraid to cut the volume, but strive to keep the intensity up. 5 x 5 just isn’t going to work, but 2 x 5 would be fine. Pyramids would be 2-2-1, that kind of thing. If you read my 40 Day Workout stuff, you see where I developed the ideas.

5. Watch the acne. If he starts breaking out, getting colds, that kind of thing…he is really overtraining. HS kids can handle a ton of volume, then seem to crash.

From the July 1964 “Lifters Corner,” by John Terpak, in Strength and Health:

“One of our bright hopes in the forthcoming Olympic Games will be Bill March, the sensational 26 year old middleheavyweight and world record holder. He has the ability, courage, determination and strength to come home with a Gold Medal.”

The following are March’s responses to questions:

“How do you develop strength?”

‘The March overload power system.’

‘My workouts are Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday s, and Thursdays. On Fridays, I rest. Then on Saturdays I workout as if I am in a contest. Whether you do the power lifts or Olympic lifts, go for the maximum. If doing this every Saturday is too much do limit poundages on every other Saturday.’

‘I find that Saturday workouts really feel lighter and you suffer fewer mental blocks. I usually use 100 to 300 pounds less in the Olympic lifts than on the other days when working on the racks. It is an asset to the lifter. I know of men who are strong but when the weight gets to 300, 350 or 400 pounds, they become afraid and cannot handle this poundage. It is not because they lack strength but because of their mental attitude.’

‘My routine is broken down into what I call low position and high position days. This I have done because as I progress and use increasingly heavier weight, the combining of the high and low positions places too much work on the muscles and fatigue sets in. I try to stay away from this problem. You want to work the muscles to get maximum effort from them but still not overwork or fatigue them. This system uses only one set of three repetitions in each position.’

First thing that has to be done is to find the individual sticking points. You have done enough lifting to know where you push or pull hard. Work on this point. Do not try to imitate me. Find your own sticking point. You might be interested in knowing that one inch up or down on the power rack can mean using 100 pounds more or less.

‘Saturdays I go all out on the three Olympic lifts. Each Saturday, I try to do better than the week before.’ ‘I feel the trouble with most lifters is that they overtrain. They spend too much time doing endless sets and reps with weight they know they can handle. Take for instance the clean and jerk. There are many men who are good enough to do 380 pounds or 400 pounds, but they will never get there. The best exercise for the clean is high pulls, either on the rack or regular. If their best is 360, they never use that much weight or more or they should do so just to get the feel of heavier weights. When contest time rolls around, and they should reach 360, they have a mental block. With the rack, you are always using 300 or 400 pounds more than is necessary for your best Olympic lift.’

‘I eat lots of meats, salads, milk, whole wheat bread, vegetables, and plenty of fruit. I eat quite a bit of dry fruit. I also take-with meals- Vitamin B and C and Energol (Hoffman’s wheat germ oil). I am a strong believer in Vitamin C.

Best official lifts: Press 355, Snatch 315, Clean and Jerk 405, Total 1065. In training, he pressed 370.

March’s measurements: Weight 200, Height 5-7, neck 17, arm 17 and three quarters, forearm 15 and three quarters, wrist 7 and a half, chest 46, expanded 48 and a half, waist 33, hips 42, thigh 29, and calf 17 and a half.

Monday and Wednesday

Deadlifts: “On the third rep, when the weight gets two inches off the pins, I hold it at that spot for 12 seconds, then put the bar down and move on to the next position.”

Low Pull (clean grip?)

Low Squat

Low Press

Tuesday and Thursday

Deadlift (every day)

High Pull (Note: “Here I use the snatch grip . . .” It seems that in the Sixties, racks were wider. I used a York rack in 1976, and I could use my normal snatch grip. This was a sturdy machine and it was very safe. As I understand, they were fairly inexpensive. Hmmm… Well made, sturdy, efficient, and cheap? No wonder fern bar gyms don’t use them!)

Middle Press

Top Press

Quarter Squat

‘I use the same poundage for one week then increase it 10 or 20 pounds the next, always trying to use more and more. In this I am using more and more each week. This builds a good mental attitude as well as overwhelming power.’

‘If you are wondering about hitting a limit poundage-don’t. I do not believe there is one! Each time I have taken a layoff from Power Rack training (about every two months) I always surpass my previous high poundages in each position.’

Just for the record and perhaps as a guide for other power lifters, here are the highest poundages I have used for each position:

Deadlift 575

Low Pull 700

Low Squat 430

Low Press 525

High Pull 475

Middle Press 380

Top Press 825

Quarter Squat 1,425

‘There it is. For real power and a great bodybuilding workout you can’t beat it. This system can be use on the Power Lifts or any bodybuilding movement. If you do try it, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me and fellow who train with me.”

Fridays: Rest

Saturdays: Attempts record Olympic lifts

From “Power Rack Training for the Beginner”

Sam Bigler shows all the positions including the Middle Pull. This article seems to contradict itself in a few places. However, these points seem valid:

“Power rack training is one of the best methods of training you will use during your lifting career. But, it is only as good as you make it. You must believe in it. You must give it a fair trial. You must be willing to do what the routine calls for and then stop, even though your workouts seem short compared to the routines followed by some of your friends. Concentrate so you can support the weight for the 12 second hold. Train, don’t strain. If you come to a weight you can’t handle, don’t pass out trying to lift it, but instead drop the poundage back and stay with the lighter weight for a few days until you are strong enough to increase the poundage and still perform the exercise properly.’

‘You may feel as though nothing is happening, but stay with this routine. As the weeks pass you will take great pleasure in the improvement you are making in both your strength and physique. Scientists and researchers have proven this system of training. It will work.’

From “Behind the Scenes” Sept 64 by Tommy Suggs

“The matter of overtraining is of the utmost importance. Bill March’s favorite example on this point is one of the best I have heard. A lifter trains only irregularly and upon entering a contest finds that he may do some of the best lifting of his life. He then says to himself that if he could do this well with so little training, just think what he could do with a little extra work. He then increases his training due to his increased enthusiasm and number of weeks later enters a contest. To his dismay, he finds he does poorly. The reason-OVERTRAINING!”

‘A good example of this point is Bill March. When he was training under the supervision of Dr. Ziegler, a director of the Hoffman Foundation, they were able to measure the amount of fatigue that existed in the individual muscles. Very often Doc would tell Bill to lay off for three or four days at a time and Bill’s progress was nothing but up at this time. However, a lifter must be careful and distinguish between laziness and actual fatigue. One final thing, keep a record of the poundages and exercises you use at every workout.”

From “Behind the Scenes” Oct 64 by Tommy Suggs

“After all, you can’t argue with success (a Bill March quote).”

In “Making Weight for a Contest” by Bob Hoffman

A nice pictorial study of March dropping weight to break the American Record

Final summary:

“To summarize: live as normally as possible as the big contest approaches but reduce your sugar and starches to a minimum. Eat lots of protein and use germ oil concentrate as this has a tendency to reduce excess weight. Drink normally until a day or two before the contest. If necessary, take off what weight must be lost the day before and the day of the competition. Bill March took off 12 pounds in two days before the recent Region 1 contest and was still strong enough to make a new American total record of 1040. And finally, don’t reduce too soon or you will be weak. What you want to do is have the strength of the class above and the bodyweight of the class below.”

I had a request for some information about Bill March’s training. He was an outstanding O lifter in the early 1960′s. Although he gets a bad reputation today because of one of the reasons for his rapid increases, I worry we are “throwing the baby out with the bath water” by ignoring some of his insights into training. I called some people who worked with York Barbell at this time and got some insights about March. First, isometric contractions were designed to be “without movement,” but March liked to see the weights moved which developed into the system I copy below. Also, for an o lifter, this program would only work with someone with good motor pathways, that is, a good athlete. Finally, in my calls, one man, whose name I forgot (sorry!), really emphasized the importance of choosing the right bar position and holding the body in proper positions and not cheating to get the lift.

In my opinion, March has some great insights on two things: first, arguing against multiple sets and reps with weights you can handle. Brian Oldfield, the 75 foot shot putter, told me his best year was the year he only did three exercises: partial pulls, partial squats and partial presses (his terms) in the racks twice a week always trying to go heavier. He could never clean, he said, the weights he was crashing in the racks. This is overload. Second, March’s insights on overtraining is right on. I “could have been a contender” if I hadn’t overtrained.

Best lifts at the time: 402, 352, 446 (Press, Snatch and Clean and Jerk)
Monday
Noon workout
Squat: 305 for 5, 355 for 5, 405 for 5, 455 for 5, 505 for 3

Afternoon
Military Press: 132 for 5, 220 for 5, 264 for 3 (for five sets of 3)

Tuesday
Isometric Work: 3 pulls, bottom, midway, top, 1 squat midway, 3 presses, start, middle, finish

Wednesday
Noon
Squat: Same as Monday

Afternoon
Snatch 132 for 5, 220 for 3, 264 for 2, 286 for 1, 308 for five singles

Thursday
Power Cleans
132 for 5, 220 for 3, 264 for 3, 286 for 3, 308 for 3 sets of 3

Saturday
Work up to three Olympic Lifts to 90-95 percent of limit.
Two weeks before a contest he goes up to starting attempts.
He gets at least three days’ rest before a meet.

The roots of this training for Bednarski came from the time he went from a 950 total to 1100 in four months. He moved up a weight class and focused on weak points, especially his legs.

A typical week:
Monday Morning:
Squats: 325 for 5, 375 for 5, 425 for 5, 475 for 5, 500 for 2, 525 for 1

Evening
Press: 225 for 5, 255 for 3, 285 for 3, 305 for 2, 325 for 1, 340 for 1
Clean and Jerk : 355 for 2, 375 for 1, 400 for 1, 400 for 1, 415 for 1, 400 for 1

Wednesday Morning
Squats: 305 for 5, 350 for 5, 400 for 5, 450 for 3, 475 for 2, 500 for 1

Evening
Snatch : 225 for 5, 255 for 3, 285 for 2, 305 for 1, 315 for 1, 325 for 1
Clean and Jerk : 355 for 2, 375 for 1, 400 for 1, 400 for 1, 415 for 1, 415 for 1

Saturday
Squats: 350 for 5, 375 for 5, 400 for 5, 450 for 3, 475 for 2, 500 for 1, 525 for 1
Snatch : 225 for 5, 255 for 3, 285 for 2, 305 for 1, 315 for 1, 315 for 1, 315 for 1

Sunday
Try limit on three Olympic Lifts

“As a contest gets closer, I eliminate more and more power and substitute it with more and more Olympic lifting. Approximately eight to ten days before the meet I eliminate all power exercises. During the last two or three weeks I concentrate entirely on lifts,” Skee answered.

When Schemansky totaled 1,200 pounds, he had a 400 press, 355 snatch and a 445 clean and jerk.

The outstanding heavy weight weights 270 pounds, stands just one-half inch shy of six feet, and was born on May 30, 1924. His measurements: Neck, 18 1/2 inches; arm 19 1/2; forearm 15 1/2 ; wrist , 8 1/2 / chest, normal ,52, expanded, 53; waist, 40, hips, 44; thigh, 30 and calves, 18 1/2.

Besides the Olympic lifts, he does a 600 squat, 630 deadlift, 440 bench press and 225 curl.

His Olympic record is enviable. In 1948 he was second, first in 1952 and third in 1960. He has been national titlist in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957 and 1962.

In 1953 he was named Mr. Michigan. He was All-Detroit shotput high school champion.

(Note: Back surgery in 1955 nearly ended his career, missed 1956 Olympics.)

Schemansky’s Training Schedule
(Average Week)
Mondays
Low Snatch Pulls (from rack) 3 by 315, 3 by 365, 3 by 400
Low clean Pulls (from rack) 3 by 375, 3 by 450, 3 by 525
High Snatch Pulls (from rack) 3 by 315, 3 by 365, 3 by 400
High clean pulls (from rack) 3 by 400, 3 by 475, 3 by 550
Press 3 by 250, 3 by 275, 3 by 300, 3 by 325

Tuesday
Press 3 by 250, 3 by 275, 3 by 300
Squats 3 by 315, 3 by 405, 3 by 455, 3 by 505
One quarter squats up to 700 or 800
Sometimes he does press lockouts

Wednesday
No work outs

Thursday
Power Snatch 2 reps of 205, 225, 245, and 265
Power Clean 2 reps of 300, 320, 340, and 360
Press 5 reps of 205, 225, 250, and 275

Friday
No workouts

Saturdays
Olympic lifts up to 90 per cent. Sometimes he does squats and/or deadlifts

Two to three Weeks prior to meets

Mondays
Press 3 reps of 250, 275, 300,325, 350
Snatch 2 reps of 205, 225, 245, 265, 285, 305
Clean 2 reps of 275, 325, 350, 375, 400

Wednesday
Press 3 reps of 250, 275, 300, and 325
Snatch 2 reps of 205, 225, 250 and 275
Clean 2 reps of 275, 300, 325, and 350

Saturdays
Olympic Lifts up to 90 per cent, Concentrates on form, style and speed. Squats

And, from Osmo’s “Iron Master” Interview, a million dollar gem: “Don’t attempt maximums in the gym. Concentrate on doubles, and so saving a lot of nervous energy. Some members of the U.S. Lifting team couldn’t believe how much more I could do in a contest, where it counted. I was never burned out. Doubles also develop technique. Attempts at limit weights should be restricted to once every three or four weeks. One should not work any more than 80 to 90% of his limit in training.”

“You’re feeling that weight. It should all be one movement. Look up at the top of the pull and jump down fast. All one movement. Time it right, and the weight will literally feel like it’s pulling you up from the bottom position.”

“You’re stubbing your toe on the jerk. And your shoulders are dropping down as soon as the bar comes off the floor. You’ve got to keep them back.” “Is that it?” Klonoski with some surprise. “I was told I was arm pulling, but that didn’t sound right.” “It wasn’t right,” retorts Mills. “Letting your shoulders drop slows you down.”

As the workout proceeds, it becomes clear that in response to Mills’ comments, all three lifters are quickly making adjustments which improve their lifts. Grillo, for example, brings his feet closer together at the start of the pull and, as a result, finds he can use his quadriceps more effectively.

“But if I can get a lifter down to one mistake per lift, that’s acceptable. With two or three, he won’t lift to his potential.”

“By doing the lifts three times a week, Brusie’s developing the core muscles, all the little muscles you use for lifting. To be good at lifting, you have to lift” says Mills. “Also, my lifters always know exactly what they are capable of lifting. In competition, they can start with 10 pounds more than their best in training.”

“Say a guy is snatching 95 kg.,” Mills explains. “I’d have him start with 65 kg. For five reps, 70 for five, 75 for 5, and then take single attempts in 2.5 kg. jumps to 90 kg. That’s 21 lifts. If he makes all 21, he adds 2.5 kg. To all attempts in the next snatch workout. So he’d start with 67.5. If he misses the last lift (90 kg.), he stays with the same 65 kg. starter, no increase. If he misses several of the heavier lifts, he is probably just tired. He should listen to his body and rest.”

Mills believes that the York courses, including the fast deadlifts and repetition squats, remain the best general conditioners for weightlifting.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Three Lifts only!

Clean and Press
Power Snatch
Power Clean and Jerk

Now, the confusing part!

Each workout, add five pounds to the Opening Weight. After three weeks, Opening Weight will be 45 pounds more.

Reps and Sets
Opening Weight x 5
Add five pounds x 5
Add five pounds x 5
Add five pounds x 1
Add five pounds x 1
Add five pounds x 1
Add five pounds x 1
Add five pounds x 1
Add five pounds x 1
Total Repetitions 21

You see: the Big 21!

Rules:

1. All reps must be successful!

2. Start each rep from the floor with heels together, feet pointing out to 45 degrees.

Do each rep under control-start with hips down, and fully extend!

Record end weight Clean & Press Snatch Jerk

Session One ____ ___ ___
Session Two ____ ___ ___
Session Three ____ ___ ___
Session Four ____ ___ ___
Session Five ____ ___ ___
Session Six ____ ___ ___
Session Seven ____ ___ ___
Session Eight ____ ___ ___
Session Nine ____ ___ ___

One hint: you may wish to only do “threes” on the Clean and Jerks. At the end of three weeks, take a week off of heavy lifting, then go to the Transformation Program for a week or two before repeating.

First, embrace the concept of “Pareto’s Law.” This Italian economist discovered the “80-20 Rule” :that is, 80 percent of your results comes from 20 percent of what you do.

In a football program, you will find that 20 percent of your athletes produce 80 percent of the yards, the tackles and the points. In training, 20 percent of your program

will get you to that 80 percent mark. That other 80, of course, gets you ever closer to that elusive moment when you produce a “100 percent effort.” That could mean one’s lifetime best lift, throw, or physical condition.

I have recommended for years that athletes attend to this 20 percent as early as they can in the athletic career. It can be summarized in a simple question: if, for some reason, you could only train 45 minutes a week (three sessions of fifteen minutes), what would you do? The answer to this question, if honestly addressed, is the key to a busy working guy’s training. Would you warmup? Do yoga? Well, then, what? As a discus thrower, I answered this question with a couple sets of overhead or front squats, thenhalf-turn drills with a powerball into a wall. I could easily hold “80 percent” on that schedule.

So, what are your goals? If you are an O lifter, what would you do in those 45 minutes? I might alternate snatches and clean and jerks through those 15 minute workouts. What about this or that or this: yes, they are important…but I only have a few minutes!

So, the working guy has to take the long-term goal and run it into the “Prison Riddle,” the 45 minute question first. What ever answer arises…is the beginning point of the solution to the quandary of being a full-time person and a full-time athlete.

Second, take a touch of insight from the book, Dinosaur Training. On page 113, Brooks notes an old IronMan “Roundtable” where John Wooten describes his training:

“I started out on a strength routine, really piling on the poundage in the following exercises:

1. Two hands deadlift, favorite exercise of Goerner
2. Walk with weight, favorite exercise of Milo of Crotona
3. Carry bar in dead lift position, favorite exercise of Arthur Giroux
4. Bent Presses, favorite exercise of Saxon
5. Reverse Continental and jerk from behind neck, favorite exercise of Saxon.”

Well, there is a great insight here: what is the favorite lift of the “heroes and heroines” of your sport? Westside guys should look at Box Squats, O lifters who like Bulgarian training, should think about Front Squats, fans of Russian training should look to squats, power cleans and heavy spinal erector work.

I have been collecting “gems” of lifting and recording them in a little red notebook since 1975. Every time I hear a point that just “rings true,” I add it to this book. I have found through the years that one exercise keeps showing up as a “favorite lift:” the power clean. John Terpak, George Woods, many Soviets, lots of American lifters and throwers have labeled the power clean as “key” to athletic success. Certainly, take a little bit of this advice, no matter how busy, and toss power cleans into your program.

Read what the greats do, and follow their advice. Not blindly, of course, but when enough people argue for this or that as the key to success, listen. I’m a contrarian at heart, I like to go the opposite direction of the crowd at times, but, trust me, adding the O lifts, one hand lifts, overhead work or strongman moves is as contrarian as anyone can get in the last two decades.

Finally, Andy’s question dealt with an interesting idea *what lifts give the most bang for the buck?”

My short list:

Clean and Press: if all you did was Clean and Press, you could be awesome

Front Squat: flexible, solid and strong

Power Snatch and Overhead Squat Combo: Tony Nielson, a young man I coached for a few years, was the smallest football player on the field, yet I watched him run for 200+

yards in several games. His reason: this combo. Easy to learn, difficult to master, excellent long term benefits.

Dragging a sled, pushing a car or hill sprints:shoot me, but I believe these are superior to squats for most athletes.

Power Clean:’nuff said

Farmer Walk:a year ago, I would have laughed at these — now, I don’t laugh

One arm lift of some kind: they work, they are simple to learn, they work

Total equipment needs: bar, weights; a revolving Olympic dumbbell is nice, a pair of Mike Rosenberg’s thick dumbbells are nice; all you need is a bar and weights.

Option One: Saturday and Sunday Superstar

This kind of program is designed for the person who has some time on the weekends and not much the rest of the week:

Saturday

Lift Day

Power Snatch
Power Clean
Front Squat
One arm lifts (Clean and Press to max each hand)
Whatever reps and sets you like; I like 3 x 3 or 2 x 5 or Singles (after warm ups, these are the “meat” sets)

Sunday

Strongman or Highland Games or Whatever you like Day

Power Clean and Press (Singles up to a Max)
Sled dragging, car pushing, hill sprints
Anything else you would like to do!!!
Farmers Walk (Death March Style)

One other day a week (Wednesday???)

One lift: either Power Clean and Press, Power Snatch and Overhead Squat (might be best of the lot), Front Squat, Power Clean
Some kind of carry: Farmers Walk, maybe that “Dead lift carry” idea,sandbags.

That’s it. Now, O lifters would do the classic lifts on perhaps Saturday, and the power moves and squats on Sunday, with the “other” workout being an 80 percent (or less)

total day. Highland Gamers would add an event or two on the back end of each day, although I would keep the walks and the dragging stuff.

Option Two:

Abbreviated Training Clusters:

Week One

Day One
Power Snatch
Front Squat
One arm Clean and Press
Farmer Walk

Day Two
Power Clean
Power Clean and Press
Overhead Squat
Sled Dragging, Car Pushing or Hill Sprints

Week Two

Day One
Power Clean and Press
Power Snatch and Overhead Squat
Front Squat

Day Two
One arm lifts (Presses, Snatches, Swings, deadlifts, whatever*have
fun!)
Sled drag, car push, hill sprints
Farmers Walk

First, I have tried as a coach and a thrower to do every thing possible to build this aspect of my throw. It is harder than you think. I would always argue a good base of ab work for any thrower. We did a variety of crunches, situps, various ground based twists, and leg raises. I found that medicine ball throws were a very valuable addition, too. At times, I became lethal at those medicine ball situps where you try to bury your training partner after coming up.

Second, the coaches who really push rotational strength training often don’t have good throwers. Or, it is an opinion. The best throws coaches train rotational strength on the field with overweight hammers, plates and “puds.” Puds are weights with fixed handle. Throwing the 35 pound weight during the indoor season used to really prepare my muscles for the disc. My best was 58’11″ with the old style of two turns and hit it. Bondarchuk, the great Russian coach, experimented with everything and he and Sedych ended up with a very simple program of clean grip snatches, half squats and a heavy over the shoulder throw to both sides.

Bondarchuk later developed a wonderful program that developed over a year. You would change exercises every few weeks, but they built on each other. I mentioned that in a past post: Clean from box, clean from hang, clean from floor, snatch from box, snatch from hang, snatch from floor, clean grip snatch from box, clean grip snatch from hang, then clean grip snatch from floor. Well, the rotational work developed along the same lines with one arm throws to two and back varying weights.

John Jesse offered a program for throwers in Track and Field Quarterly Review, June 1966. He made an important statement:
“Though timing and correct body position on arrival at the front of the ring are essential to the maximum application of “body torque,” once the athlete arrives at that position, application of “body torque” is entirely dependent upon the strength of the waist and abdominal region, primarily the spinal rotator and lateral flexor muscles of the trunk”

That statement could be said about any sport. His recommended program:

Exercise High School Reps and Sets College Sets and Reps

Continuous Clean and Press 1 x 8 to 10 1 x 12
Parallel Squat with Toe Raise 2 x 8 to 10 3 x 7
Supine Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 x 4 to 6 6 x 6
Bent Over Lateral Dumbbell Raise 4 x 4 to 6 6 x 6
Twisting Situp 1 x 20 1 x 20
Forward Bend (Good Morning) 2 x 4 to 8 3 x 6
Side Bends (Dumbbell) 1 x 20 1 x 20
High Pull 1 x 8 to 10 3 x 6
Wrist Extensions 4 x 8 4 x 8
Bouncing Split Squat 1 x 16 to 20 1 x 16 to 20
Bend over Twist 1 x 16 to 20 1 x 16 to 20

Carol did a lot of twists, but John Powell did none. Brian Oldfield’s breakthrough training was simply pyramids of power cleans and push jerks twice a week.

At Utah State, we emphasized power cleans, push jerks, quarter squats and a power curl. Throwing muscles came from throwing. But, we also had everybody throwing over 180 in the disc. To make USU’s top twenty, you have to throw 180 and change. (BTW, this list is almost 100% Americans, with one or two Canadians. Some schools simply buy older European throwers and claim to coach them; this is a real pisser in my life. I ended my Div 1 eligibility at age 21. I competed against a guy at another Utah school ((nameless)) that was a 26 year old freshman.

I guess my point is to look at successful throwers rather than what someone says. I know that seems assbackwards, but when you talk with Anthony Washington and he tells you that he spends four months a year just doing circuit training on the universal gym in his girlfriend’s apartment complex, then nails a 232 throw, you need to reaccess “science” and review the throws as art. American throwers especially seem to do better when they focus on their strengths or local resources rather than listening to some guy at a clinic. Fortunately, we seem to be getting people at these clinics in the past few years, but we still have a major drugger giving a lot of throws clinics.

In my career, I tried everything, but I found that snatches and squats (front, back, overhead) gave me the biggest bang for my buck. Pavel T’s stuff is excellent and I would have used that in the fall and winter. No question rotational strength is important, but safely developing it is another question.

Be sure to Set the Clock and Time the total workout
Be sure to go from one exercise to the other in each “superset” group. Finish all three sets of eight before moving on to the next group of supersets.

Set the Equipment and Warm Up
Group One
Snatch from the Hang or Romanian Deadlift: set of Eight

Front Squat…with Chains:  set of Eight
Repeat both exercises for Three Sets of Eight.

Group Two
Military Press: set of Eight

Deadlift or Variation of Deadlift:  set of Eight
Repeat both exercises for Three Sets of Eight.

Group Three
Sidebend to Right: set of Eight

Sidebend to Left: set of Eight
Repeat both exercises for Three Sets of Eight.

Group Four
One Arm Press, standing, with Right: set of Eight

One Arm Press, standing, with Left: set of Eight
Repeat both exercises for Three Sets of Eight.

Group Five
Curls, any variation: set of Eight

Tricep Work, any variation: set of Eight
Repeat both exercises for Three Sets of Eight.
Quickly record total time (all five groups) after last set of last exercise. Try to beat it next time. When you get to 13 minutes for the whole workout, add weight to each exercise next time.

Recover

*The original problem that Fibonacci investigated (in the year 1202) was about how fast rabbits could breed in ideal circumstances.

Suppose a newly-born pair of rabbits, one male, one female, are put in a field. Rabbits are able to mate at the age of one month so that at the end of its second month a female can produce another pair of rabbits. Suppose that our rabbits never die and that the female always produces one new pair (one male, one female) every month from the second month on. The puzzle that Fibonacci posed was…

How many pairs will there be in one year?

At the end of the first month, they mate, but there is still one only 1 pair.
At the end of the second month the female produces a new pair, so now there are 2 pairs of rabbits in the field.
At the end of the third month, the original female produces a second pair, making 3 pairs in all in the field.
At the end of the fourth month, the original female has produced yet another new pair, the female born two months ago produces her first pair also, making 5 pairs.

So, these numbers are: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55…

A couple of points before we look at programs. If you are lazy and don’t feel like reading my ramblings, let me summarize them here:

Focus on speed, speed, speed.
Use your checkbook
Seek and destroy your weaknesses
A little bit goes a long way

Before we get into the meat of this article, I have to agree with the criticisms that many lifters will come up with as they read this: you are right! The Bulgarians and the Greeks don’t do this! But, at age 35 plus, with a full-time job and family responsibilities, hold on Oprah: this might hurt your fragile inner child, you probably aren’t the “cream of the crop” for the Olympic selection committee either. In my humble opinion, the greatest error of the American Olympic effort over the past thirty years is abandoning the things that work for American athletes and adopting “stuff” from other countries. I imagine British athletes, who were a dominate force in track and field, as well as the O lifts and early powerlifting, would look back a few decades ago and agree they made the same mistake.

America’s last dominate lifter, Bob Bednarski, had his training methods studied by the Bulgarians before they adopted his ideas. True, they added and supplemented things, but the USA lifting establishment tossed his ideas out and … , let’s just say we haven’t had a world champ since him and Joe Dube in 1969. Review the lifting successes of the Duncan YMCA team of the late 1960′s and the parade of names that exploded with national and world records, Holbrook, Karchut, Lowe and others, and you will be left wondering why no one follows their simple “Easy week-hard week” training cycle. It works. The basic lessons of Capitalism seem to have been tossed out in the O lifting circles. If it works, do it.

So, yes, you are right, the Greeks don’t do what I am going to recommend. Of course, my five on five flag football team doesn’t train like the Minnesota Vikings. Sure, we could… but, our wives might complain about us quitting our jobs to get ready for Saturday’s games.

As we begin, let’s review one or two “assumptions.” Jim Markosian, the principal at St. John the Baptist in Draper, Utah, reminds me always of the key to leadership in education: “If you “ass-u-me,” you make and ass of you and me.” When discussing the Master O lifter’s training, I assume that you arrive with a basic mastery of technique as well as some experience in competition. If you don’t, the “Beginner’s Program”, in the last issue of the Dino Files should give you a start. And, yes, you should compete. Competition is crucial to the Master O lifter. It simply gives you that rare opportunity to “go for the max.” Also, it’s fun to beat up on the young people. Let’s get started.

Coach Ralph Maughan at Utah State University enjoyed decades of success with a Track and Field program located in the backwaters of Northern Utah, time zones away from the hot spots of athletics. How? Coach Maughan focused on recruiting two things: speed and smarts. “You can’t coach either,” he told me once. But, it sure is possible to ruin both of them. There is one thing that the Master O lifter needs to continually keep in the forefront: speed, speed, speed. Train yourself to go fast and faster.

How? First, avoid the temptation to go slow. I enjoy using the “Paleolithic Hunter” paradigm for training and dieting. I just can’t see me trying to feed my family by slowly throwing a spear or properly warming up before being chased by a saber toothed tiger. Speed equals survival. In O lifting, speed equals success. I know that a whole generation of exercise police have been raised fearing quick movements and the benefits of slowness. After listening to this nonsense for thirty years, all I ask is for proof: show me one superslow trained athlete competing in the O lifts at the Olympics. All that money spent on machines should have left a few bucks left over to support one athlete to prove the point. Just one, I’m not greedy.

Second, in your stable of lifts, you have to be willing to go fast. In 1982, at the Olympic Training Center, Curt White told me to stop doing “anything” slow in the weightroom. “Snap up 20 kilos as fast as you can, explode out of every snatch and clean bottom position.” He “destroyed” every warm up and told me to think  “fast, fast, fast” every lift, every time. Practically, though, how do you do it? A couple of ideas:

* I took a hint from Phil Holbrook: when I do pulls, I try to bring snatch pulls up to my forehead and clean pulls to my chin. Even with light, light weights, I really have to use good speed to make this happen. As the weights get heavier, it becomes a real chore. True, many O lifters have abandoned pulls in their training, but the Master lifter will find these to be real Godsend to their training. It is one of the most important lifts a Master can use as it trains the whole lift without the need to take the lift into the deep positions nor use nervous energy.
* In squatting, use the mantra “Down slow-up fast.” Always explode out of the bottom position and, taking a hint from Fred Hatfield, keep accelerating all the way up.
* Power snatches and power cleans need to be reconsidered for many. I see lots of guys leaping their feet apart three feet or more in the “catch” position. Instead, try pulling higher and faster and catching the bar with a minimal knee bend. Be sure to catch with some knee bend, but don’t let it go to extremes. Really, what does a personal record power clean mean to an O lifter, unless you jerk it overhead? Most guys who become power clean experts learn to cheat the bar up in various ways, none designed to improve the classic lift.
* One of the great coaches of yesteryear, Larry Barnholth who coached the George brothers, used to tell his athletes to explode out of everything. Rather than pulling yourself off of your easy chair, leap out of it. Try to find little places in your work and home routine where you can “explode.” I take the stairs at work two and three at a time. When I play backyard games with my kids, I find a place for an occasional “over the top” movement. It also has the added benefit of making my girls and their friends laugh.

Speed, speed, speed, but with a caution. One piece of advice that a Master lifter should listen to was a common warning among O lifters in the 1960′s and early 1970′s: don’t lift on “nerve” very often. I argue two points that every lifter should at least consider, if not actually genuflect before: first, never, never, never fail in training. Make every lift. Don’t miss lifts. Stay within yourself. Perfect practice makes perfect. Missing lifts can damage you, true, but more important is that missing lifts costs you a lot of energy. Simply dealing with the miss is energy consuming, but worse is the mental effort in psyching yourself up for the lift. Keep within yourself in training! Second, focusing on speed and keeping the weights in a manageable range will also save your nervous energy for meets. True, there is no “nervous energy” research, but anyone who has “gone to the well too often” can tell you the downside of overtraining. The Master lifter can afford very little error in the direction of overtraining. Sure, you can do it, but you will never reach your potential in meets. Trust me, this is experience talking.

The great advantage that the Master O lifter usually has is a job, a career, a profession, or, at least, access to money. When I first learned the O lifts from Dick Notmeyer, I had a hard time coming up with the one dollar a month training dues. So, how does one “use the wallet” for athletic success? Ask any athlete who doesn’t have money!

First, use your wallet to travel to meets. Get around! O lifting meets, both Open and Masters, are a wealth of coaching and training information. There are people at these meets who will give you, for free, decades of information for the cost of asking a question. Sure, some of it is suspect (unless it is me giving you the advice) but the vast majority of O lifting people are more than happy to help.

Second, use your wallet to help with equipment. True, the bar I train on is terrible, but it is a rotating Olympic bar with bumpers. I also have a hot tub as well as a great variety of training equipment. During the summer, I cool off with my outdoor shower then jump in the hot tub to recover from training. I couldn’t have done this in my twenties.

Third, use your wallet to put together a support team. I have a doctor I visit for blood tests (my number one health recommendation: yearly thorough blood tests), I have an old college teammate who I visit at his chiropractic office, and I am good friends with a manager at a local nutrition store. I put little stock in most supplements, but I take my Fish oil, magnesium, potassium and Vitamin E with great regularity.

Finally, use your wallet to purchase information. Subscribe. Buy books. Buy videos. Rent a coach for a couple of hours. Spend some money on your bar habit! (Barbell, that is)

The third point, work your weaknesses, is easy to ignore, at your peril. The Master athlete has to reconsider the notion of “tomorrow” when weaknesses are concerned. As a teen, or even in your twenties, there is always the next day to deal with skipping dreaded squat workouts or boring “technique” work, but you are at your peril as a master ignoring your weaknesses. Today is the day to, first, discover your weaknesses, and second, deal with them.

How do you discover your weaknesses? Honest feedback from a coach or a training partner is a start. Usually, though, everyone knows their weaknesses. For the competitive lifter, it is what makes you miss in meets. Getting buried by cleans? It could be your front squat strength. Dave Turner recommends that you front squat 108 percent of your clean and jerk. Dick Notmeyer recommended being able to do a triple in the front squat with your best clean and jerk.

Missing jerks? First, check your clean and recovery. Then, honestly determine exactly which part of the jerk is the problem: the drive, the lockout, the recovery? Spend a session each week focusing on the problem area. I would suggest one session a week be dedicated to the weak point of your lift utilizing a couple of different assistance exercises.

To deal with my problem recovering from cleans, I dedicated six weeks to the front squat. I front squatted three days a week, varying the weights, but rarely went over 80 percent. In addition, I did “Barski Cleans,” a simple variation of the clean where the athlete straps onto the bar, stands up, dips the bar below the knees, and squat cleans the weight. The Barski Cleans teach the athlete the timing of the recovery. Following a few weeks of recovery, I didn’t miss a clean for two years. The jerk, however, was another story.

As I have noted in other articles, the American throwers and lifters in the 1960′s were diligent in dealing with their weaknesses. Often, in articles in Strength and Health magazine, these athletes would note that “I’m really not that strong/good/technical… and I’m really working on this or that.” The writer would comment on the “modesty” of the athlete, yet, I believe the real reason for the modesty was an honesty appraisal of weaknesses. Work your weaknesses until they become strengths.

Finally, the fourth point: “A little bit goes a long ways.” Fifteen minutes a day, yes, only fifteen minutes a day of Olympic lifting may be enough to keep you going. Sure, thirty minutes might be better and an hour might be better, but if the hours at work and raising a family are piling up “a little bit goes a long way.” I have been able to win open lifting meets by lifting for a TOTAL of one hour a week.

To be able to do this abbreviated approach, you do need a reasonable in your approach to each week’s training. If I can offer the time conscious lifter any advice, it would be three basic themes:

* Monitor your rest periods
* Focus on one aspect of training in each session
* Redefine your concept of weight selection

One of the best things that ever happened to my training was the closure of my two favorite gyms and the need to train at home. Once I started training in my garage, I discovered that the bar gets extremely cold in winter in Utah. Rest periods, which had traditionally been a time for me to socialize and play tricks on my friends, now were periods of getting colder and colder. As I thought through my training, I followed my own advice from dozens of programs I had written: monitor rest periods. The research about rest periods points to increases in natural growth hormone and testosterone production. For the master lifter focusing on speed, monitored rest periods keep you focused on the lifting and not the garden, yard, housework, engine drippings or whatever can grab your attention.

On the list of “I wish I would have known this earlier,” the highest insight on the list is “focusing on one aspect of training in each session.”  Really, I like two simple approaches: either do just one lift a day (variations, too) or break your training week into a push day, a pull day and a squat day. One lift a day training works surprisingly well; I added almost thirty pounds to my snatch by devoting one day a week to nothing but power snatches and another day a week devoted to full snatches. Focusing on one aspect of your total training works by keeping you fresh with your full powers of concentration.

Tied into one lift a day is the fact that you will need to reconsider reps and sets. When I first pieced together the “Transformation Program,” a very popular program designed originally for high school throwers, we kept the reps at eight so the athletes could focus on speed on each lift. The idea of having the athlete do eight allowed for a lousy rep or two with the hope that the other six reps would teach speed. Yet as we developed the program into a pull day, a push day and a squat day, some athletes wanted to keep this “one a day” training program.

How do you snatch for a whole workout? We quickly stole an idea from the Olympic Training Center: wave training. Rather than doing a single pyramid of increasing weight while decreasing reps, we soon turned to double and triple pyramids. It was here we discovered that athletes really felt like they were going faster each successive pyramid.

For example:
Power Snatch

135 for 3

155 for 3

175 for 2

185 for 1

195 for 1 (rough lift)

155 for 1

175 for 1

185 for 1

195 for 1 (nice and fast)

155 for 1

185 for 1

205 for 1

This is a “triple pyramid:” Three successive waves of up and down and up with the weights on the bar. I now use my two and a half pound plates, a five and a ten to vary even triples. I might take 155 for a single, add the two and a half pound plates, take that 160, pull the small plates off and add the fives, 165, for my third “rep.” An Old Schooler, Daryl Jarman, watched me train squat cleans doing this method and he was shocked to see how quickly this kind of workout can finish. Moreover, the feeling of speed seems to be added by constantly changing the weight on the bar. Never go slow as a master, they might throw dirt on you.

So, how can we put this together? I competed in a meet in my mid-thirties and snatched 275 and clean and jerked 330. “So?,” you may well ask. Well, I only had a bar, two 25 pound plates and two 35 pound plates to train. That is 165 pounds total. But, for once, I listened to my own advice. We had developed the transformation program and I followed it!
Day One: (Perhaps Monday)

# Power Clean & Press: One power clean and eight presses.

3 sets of 8 with one minute rest between sets. If there is a single key to the program, it is the one minute rest period. By strictly monitoring the rest period, and obviously keeping track of the weight, one can track progress.

# Power Curls: 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest between sets. Using a curl grip, slide the weight to just above the knees and “curl-clean” the bar. Let it come down under control. Again, get all eight reps in, don’t change the weights, and monitor the rest period.

Some kind of ab work. We used side bends, but any kind of crunch is fine, too. Today, I might recommend One Arm Lifts.

Day Two: (a day or so later, perhaps Wednesday)

# Power Clean and Front Squats. One power clean and eight front squats.

Once again, 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest. Stay “tall” in the front squats and keep your elbows high. We usually use this as more of a warm up for the next exercise.

# Overhead Squats: 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest. Using the wide snatch grip, lock the elbows with the weight overhead and squat down. Athletes who do this exercise well not only develop flexibility, balance and leg strength, but an incredibly strong lower back. Also, this exercise builds what we used to call “Dad strength.” Growing up, a lot of us used to lift weights all the time but still could not torque a wrench or open a jar like dad, who never did any lifting. Overhead squats make you very strong.

Again, finish with some kind of ab work.

Day Three ( perhaps Friday or Saturday)

# Whip Snatches: 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest. With a wide snatch grip, stand up and hold the bar at crotch level. Dip and snatch the bar over head. Continue for 8 reps. You will be surprised how quickly this exercise can get into your blood. If you want big traps and explosion, this is the king.

# Clean grip snatches: 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest. With a clean grip, stand up and dip the bar to your knees. Then, explode up driving the bar, in one basic movement, over head. It is like a clean and press, well, without the clean.

Ab work if you wish.

Yes, that was it! I overhead squatted with 115 and front squatted 165, power curls 165, press 115, whip snatches 115, clean grip snatches 95. I was very fresh for the meet. Some days, I would even go lighter. True, I also totaled either at a friends house or the Hercules Barbell Club almost monthly, so I had a handle on my conditioning, but the bulk of my training was this simple weekly workout. True, I could go much, much heavier on all these lifts, but I didn’t need to until the meet day.

One lift a day programs work well, too. A nice training regime that I have used off and on for a few years is simply:
Monday

Snatch Pull

Clean Pull (True, this is “two” but they blend right together)
Tuesday

Squat (Front, back, overhead)
Thursday

Power Jerk (I also like Power Clean and Power Jerk, too)
Saturday

Power Snatch or light total on the two lifts

You can easily combine Thursday and Saturday’s workouts by doing Power Snatches, Power Cleans and Power Jerks. I would really recommend varying the weights on every set, or even every rep to keep the bar and the mind moving.

Next time, we will discuss the key concept in all levels of O lifting: dealing with weak points!