Favorite weightlifting programs

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I have a bit of a background competing in the olympic lifts myself and I'd say, unless a general trainee, particularly one over 35 just has a real desire to perform the snatch and clean, there's very little benefit to them when compared to the squat, bench press, press and deadlift. They are complex lifts that require a lot of practice and a lot of training time. A person looking to spend 3 hours a week in the gym has no room in their schedule for those movement.

The movements in the clean and snatch translate better to athletics as well overall individual performance than static lifts IMO.

We have men and women in the gym and in the area in their 40 s and 50s that train and compete in the Olympic lifts for fun regularly. Look at the middle-aged crossfitters that are doing cleans and snatches. Setting a 35 years of age limit for these lifts is unnecessary.

At the end of the day, form/technique is key to safety and avoiding injury no matter the movement. Benching is probably the most abused lift in this regard and often leads to shoulder and chest tightness when opposing muscle groups aren’t also trained.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. I just don’t like the idea of novice lifters squatting with a low bar and looking down. Keeping the bar high and keeping a neutral head or even looking up encourages better spinal alignment and reduces risk of injury for newer lifters.

 

[Teaman1]

6 to 12 weeks?
How about lifetime..

The 6-12 weeks is just to switch things up.
I think it’s good to rotate programs.

 

[antaresproper]

5/3/1, any of the Modern Athlete Strength Systems programs, a good conjugate program, "functional body building"/persist from Marcus Filly.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I used to use one called tactical barbell, I really liked it. It was fairly minimal which allowed me to focus on the sports I was training for.

It was 4x/week one day was squat/bench, one day was deadlift/overhead press it was a 3x5 program after your warm up sets. It was also based on your current max lifts, one week would be 70%, then ex 80, then 90% (if I remember right, then you’d test your max and go through another 3 week set.

I liked it because I could fairly easily be in and out of the gym in ~45 minutes, my max lifts went up but I rarely ever felt smoked form the workouts so I could focus on other stuff.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

5/3/1, any of the Modern Athlete Strength Systems programs, a good conjugate program, "functional body building"/persist from Marcus Filly.

5/3/1 is great. After the basic 5x5, 5x3 thing got too tiring with progressive loading I got on 531 for several years while I lived over seas. I actually followed his conditioning advice as well for those years so I lifted, then did hill sprints at a local park a few days a week. I was very fit and got very strong during that time period. The first power lifting meet I did I just walked in, no lifting suit or special shoes, didn’t even have a belt and hit 1100lb total with no special training.

 

[Clarktar]

Check out Todd Bumgardner and Human Predator Packmule.

 

[Poser]

The movements in the clean and snatch translate better to athletics as well overall individual performance than static lifts IMO.

How exactly do these 2 lifts achieve that?

I would argue that the best Olympic weightlifters are individuals with the genetic advantage of fast twitch muscle fibers who have developed strength through squatting, deadlifting and pressing, had excellent coaching on technique and then display their power (rate of force + speed) through the snatch and clean.

 

[The_Jim]

Check out the MindPump programs. They have a lot of different options and a good podcast with timestamps that you can get a lot of you questions answered. They are total gym bros, so you have to look past that...their advice is solid though.

 

[bat-cave]

Mayhem Athlete has a slew of programs including a Body building track. Not overly expensive at ~$25/month and you get access to multiple tracks so you can pick and choose.

 

[3325]

How exactly do these 2 lifts achieve that?

I would argue that the best Olympic weightlifters are individuals with the genetic advantage of fast twitch muscle fibers who have developed strength through squatting, deadlifting and pressing, had excellent coaching on technique and then display their power (rate of force + speed) through the snatch and clean.

I believe this is correct. I believe the Eastern European countries screened and selected for this. While even average genetics can keep developing general strength and endurance for a pretty good while, explosiveness seems to require the right genetics to progress much.

I don’t doubt a person of average genetics can make minimal improvements, but is the juice worth the squeeze?

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. So what’s the main thing? To be able hunt all day on tough terrain at altitude, kill something at last shooting light, bone it out and walk out in the dark, and be back the next day for a tough pack out.

 

[3325]

I think doing the entire body each time is a way more functional way to train for hunting than isolation days.

Agreed. Full body training 2-3 times a week for the hunting chassis. Rucking once a week for specific functional adaptations. Working in other easy aerobic training helps with active recovery and general health and fitness.

 

[Poser]

I believe this is correct. I believe the Eastern European countries screened and selected for this. While even average genetics can keep developing general strength and endurance for a pretty good while, explosiveness seems to require the right genetics to excel.

Yeah, and I don't believe that the US has ever been very competitive at all in olympic weightlifting on the world stage. The top tier genetic that would excel in olympic weightlifting in the US all get sucked up sports that pay millions. I do believe that if you were able to convert a handful of top tier NFL athletes with crazy genetics (think north of 250 lbs with a 36 inch vertical jump), start training them in their teenage years for weightlifting, they would potentially dominate the sport on the world stage by 22, but that's never going to happen because what's the incentive? Americans don't care about weightlifting as a sport. and being an olympic athlete pays all of $16,000 a year or something comparable.


From an engagement standpoint, I'd much rather watch Olympic lifting than Powerlifting, but Oly lifters are generally going to peak out and be done by 25 where other strength sports such as powerlifting and strongman will peak out more in their 30s, as it just takes years to accumulate that kind of strength. Fast twitch muscle fibers are often the very first human performance mechanism to decline. You can easily observe that in Oly lifting, NFL running backs and track and field athletes.

On the flipside, I've seen guys start strength training in their 40s and even 50s and progress to a 600 lbs deadlift inside of a decade. There's just no equivalent for that in Olympic lifting -a 600 lbs deadlift is something that is achievable by the vast majority of the male population with proper training and dedication whereas, a 500 lbs clean and jerk is something that can only be achieved by a small sampling of the population with the best genetics. The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the population can't "technique" and train their way into a clean and jerk of that caliber.

I do think the snatch has some transfer relevance for throwing sports: pitchers, javlelin, hammer throw, maybe a few others. But, we're talking hunting here: its stupid simple on an athletic front. If a person desires to clean and jerk, it sure won't hurt anything, but most hunters are just trying to be strong enough to deal with the weight they carry and have excellent endurance. I just don't see how dedicating the necessary hours of weekly training required to master the Oly lifts is a practical use of a dedicated hunters time. I personally like the lfts and find them gratifying, but I dropped them entirely from my training some years back as I just don't find any practical value in them for the mountain sports lifestyle that I pursue (I did try and maintain them because I liked them for awhile, but its too much to balance). I do find the basic barbell lifts, however, to be foundational to performance and longevity.

Nothing against the Oly lifts, nothing against the Crossfit coaches who have been training them for all of a year and half and decided to get their certification, but the practicality of them for the general population vs. basic strength training is just not there: its too much training, too much technique and one stioll has to train the squat, deadlift and press to improve the Oly lifts.

 

[3325]

The top tier genetic that would excel in olympic weightlifting in the US all get sucked up sports that pay millions.

Vasily Alekseyev would have been an all pro offensive guard and an NFL hall of famer had he been born in the US.

 

[Poser]

Vasily Alekseyev would have been an all pro offensive guard and an NFL hall of famer had he been born in the US.

No doubt. Big, strong, explosive guy who can probably do a standing backflip and run a sub 5 second 40.

 

[LostArra]

Pardon the interruption but those reading this topic might be interested.
The USA has two Olympic lifters in Paris that are strong medal possibilities

Olivia Reeves competes Aug 9 (71 kg)
Hampton Morris competes Aug 7 (61kg)

Olivia beating the Chinese this spring

Same lift

aww 1Aaq1


Morris first world record by American in 50 years

 

[antaresproper]

I used to use one called tactical barbell, I really liked it. It was fairly minimal which allowed me to focus on the sports I was training for.

It was 4x/week one day was squat/bench, one day was deadlift/overhead press it was a 3x5 program after your warm up sets. It was also based on your current max lifts, one week would be 70%, then ex 80, then 90% (if I remember right, then you’d test your max and go through another 3 week set.

I liked it because I could fairly easily be in and out of the gym in ~45 minutes, my max lifts went up but I rarely ever felt smoked form the workouts so I could focus on other stuff.

This was the one I forgot and is what brought me to the other programs I enjoy. I still run base building from time to time and like the challenge workouts.

Tactical Barbell and others like Modern Athlete Strength/FBB let me stack another fitness task like running or specified task like shooting my bow or just enjoying other activities. Never feel like my CNS is shot or muscles too sore unless it’s a challenge week.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Agreed. Full body training 2-3 times a week for the hunting chassis. Rucking once a week for specific functional adaptations. Working in other easy aerobic training helps with active recovery and general health and fitness.

I agree, it probably dosent really matter what general strength program a hunter uses. In the end being stronger is always, 100% of the time better than being weaker so anything that makes you stronger is good. There is absolutely zero downside to being strong/er.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

This was the one I forgot and is what brought me to the other programs I enjoy. I still run base building from time to time and like the challenge workouts.

Tactical Barbell and others like Modern Athlete Strength/FBB let me stack another fitness task like running or specified task like shooting my bow or just enjoying other activities. Never feel like my CNS is shot or muscles too sore unless it’s a challenge week.

If I got back into “heavy” lifting, I’d likely use a basic 5x5 until it got scary to get under a 5x5 squat then I’d switch to tactical barbell.

Now that I’m old (45) and injuries are catching up, I mostly do kettlebell (70lb) and pull-ups/push ups as well as a 90lb sandbag for my “strength” work. The rest of my cardio is hiking with a pack or using my concept2 rower.

It still seems to get me in shape for hunts luckily.

 

[antaresproper]

If I got back into “heavy” lifting, I’d likely use a basic 5x5 until it got scary to get under a 5x5 squat then I’d switch to tactical barbell.

Now that I’m old (45) and injuries are catching up, I mostly do kettlebell (70lb) and pull-ups/push ups as well as a 90lb sandbag for my “strength” work. The rest of my cardio is hiking with a pack or using my concept2 rower.

It still seems to get me in shape for hunts luckily.

No way to cheat the sandbag! My dad is mid 60s and can still smoke me up the hill, fit old guys are machines. It's a good goal and they all seem to have similar builds - lean and a bit sinewy. Strong as hell.

I'm only a few years into my 30s and the heavy lifting wrecks me. It's fun so I'll push it too hard. Submaximal lifts, lots of walking/rucking/loaded carries will hopefully let me bust around the duck refuge or hike mountains with grandkids.

 

[Poser]

Pardon the interruption but those reading this topic might be interested.
The USA has two Olympic lifters in Paris that are strong medal possibilities

Olivia Reeves competes Aug 9 (71 kg)
Hampton Morris competes Aug 7 (61kg)

Olivia beating the Chinese this spring

Same lift

aww 1Aaq1


Morris first world record by American in 50 years

Wow.


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