mihou
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Nombre de messages : 8092
Localisation : Washington D.C.
Date d'inscription : 28/05/2005
 | | The Olympic Lifting Myth | |
The Olympic Lifting Myth
by Christian Thibaudeau Olympic lifts are the only way to get explosive.Most people say they perform the Olympic lifts because they're
"explosive." The truth of the matter is that any lift can be
explosive! By incorporating the dynamic-effort method with
sub-maximal weights into your program, you can turn any lift into
an "explosive" lift.For example, if a man who can box squat 500 pounds were to train
with 275 and focus on accelerating the weight, the box squat would
then become an "explosive" lift. This example can hold true for
many other exercises as well. By training with weights that
represent 50-60% of your 1RM in a given lift, science has proven
that the weight is heavy enough to produce adequate force, yet
light enough to produce adequate speed. And we should all know that
speed times strength = power. Another reason I feel the Olympic lifts are overrated is that
they take a long time to teach and most athletes are horrible at
them. After all, Olympic lifting is a sport in and of itself!
Olympic weightlifters spend their entire lives practicing these
lifts and some of these athletes still never perfect
them!The reason that most non-Olympic weightlifters aren't great
at the Olympic lifts is usually because they aren't strong
enough in the right places. After assessing an athlete's power
clean or power snatch form, I usually conclude that their technique
flaws are due to a lack of hamstring, glute and low back strength.
This assessment usually means that I end up prescribing more
deadlift variations, reverse hyperextensions, glute-ham raises,
pull-throughs, etc.This is called the training economy. Getting stronger in the
deadlift, reverse hyperextension and glute-ham raise will improve
your power clean, but it doesn't work the other way around.
Basically, I choose the exercises that give my athletes the best
"bang for their buck." Another benefit of my "economical" exercises
is that they're much less stressful on the wrists, elbows and
shoulders compared to the Olympic lifts.
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