Olympic Lifting Program Questions

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey guys at Prime Time,

I’m approaching an offseason. Im a polevaulter at Rutgers University and the season is coming to a close. I need some help in creating or finding a decent olympic lifting program to build some strength. Im having trouble finding good information on making an olympic lifting program, especially the set/rep scheme in within the program. Any help?

Thanks,
-poper

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[quote]poper wrote:
Hey guys at Prime Time,

I’m approaching an offseason. Im a polevaulter at Rutgers University and the season is coming to a close. I need some help in creating or finding a decent olympic lifting program to build some strength. Im having trouble finding good information on making an olympic lifting program, especially the set/rep scheme in within the program. Any help?

Thanks,
-poper[/quote]

It’s hard to point you toward a specific program, because to be optimal a program has to be designed to fit your own needs.

Some suggestions though:

  1. Stick to the “easy” OL variations … this means only using lifts from the hang or from blocks and only using the power (catching the bar with minimal knee bend) variations. These have all the benefits of the full lifts and are easier to master, so you’ll benefit from them faster.

  2. Focus on increasing lifting power/acceleration first, load second. Never sacrifice speed and form for load in the olympic lifts.

  3. Do use other big compound movements like the squat, deadlift, bench press, push press and barbell rowing in your training. These will build up your stength base.

  4. For the OL I find that using 1 or 2 variation per workout 3 times per week is optimal for most athletes. Try to vary the lift…

E.g.

Monday: power clean from blocks
Wednesday: push jerk, power pull
Friday: power snatch from the hang

  1. For the OL, I like to use a wave loading pattern of 6 sets:

Week 1 6/5/4/6/5/4
Week 2: 5/4/3/5/4/3
Week 3: 4/3/2/4/3/2
Week 4: 3/2/1/3/2/1

  1. A full body workout or 4 exercises per day seems to be very effective for most… stick with the basic exercises. You can also add one “beach” session per week where you perform any exercise you like usng higher reps with light loads.

  2. As a pole vaulter do include a lot of lats work … pullovers (machine, cable station, bar) and chins are especially important for your sport.

3

I love you CT

4

One more question CT,

How would I add in squats in this program? Would I be doing them twice per week? Rotate between front and back? Should the set/rep schemes be the same or different?

Thanks
-poper