Hello for all.
Some time ago, I rode Jhon Edwards’ weight training programme at 1995, the year of his awesome WR.
He spent a month( I think it was November) doing 36/75% at the power clean, hang pow clean, power snatch and hang power snatch.
Then, his PB at each lift was: 115, 105, 85 and 75kg.
Two weeks before his 18.29m triple-jump, he maxed 132.5 power clean, and failed at 140kg.
The progression of his weight trainig was:
over a month of conditionig, then 36/75%, then 44/85%, then 33/90% mixed with some short pyramids.
He stayed lifting at 90% and more too many time, but his lifts had a great increassing, he didn’t overtrain. Maybe it was because he lifted each 6 to 10 days.
I know at '93 he was doing sets of ten, going to failure in the power clean. It was 1x week, and another day he did 4-6 simple reps at 95-100%. It was an aplication of his coach, Carl Jhonson, of some studies published at late 80’s.
Well, it was some original, but I must say his strength at Oly lifts didn’t improve too many. Instead, his Frontal half Squat was seriously improved.
I belive he has been doing the 36 to 33 the last years, as his strength training protocol. Really, very bad won’t be, assuming his 150kg power clean.
I belive doing 6’s at Oly lifts can be very hard, dangerous, and improductive if you work with too many intensity or you do too many volume(you will be tired, your technique will go down, and you can be injuried). But, if you do 6’s with medium weights( high catches), you can work explossive strength, always looking for maintaining proper technique, working also your energetic system.
I use 3-4sets of 6 reps at 65 to 75% resting 2-3 minutes in power cleans at my first month of training, as a way of conditioning, but with power snatches( hang style), I never go below 4 reps. I belive I can work some conditioning increasing the reps’ number at a multijoint exercise as the power clean, better than doing something as more sets, less reps, and going for quality. But I never do more than 6 reps( one time I did 10’s, with lights weights, but it was disappointed and bored).
At this first month, I work more endurance and little speed. I do light plyos, a few submax sprints over 60-80m, and a lot of anaerobic endurance( well, I work also aerobic endurance, but only because my coach order it, because I hate it). The only maximum speed exercises I do are my Ol lifts. 6’s at power cleans and push presses( with medium weigths, I belive it results more a straight leg receiving position power jerk than a real push press), and 3-4’s at the hang power snatch. This last exercise it’s maybe the only which I perform 100% for quality all the year.
My experience is that you can do 6’s at the power clean wihtout being injured or slow, but I will not use more than 75%( my particular rule is that the weight I use must be a muscle lift- no leg bend or some little-).
At another hand, the hardest sets of 6 reps at Oly lifts I’ve seen was a weigthlifter doing 6/110kg at cleans. His best C&J at that moment was 150kg, at 77kg category, but maybe he could clean a bit more. He did it at his firsts weeks of training after summers holydays. This was only for “conditioning”, as well as over two monts later he did heavy sets of 1 and 2 reps, getting ready for a competition.
I now it isn’t common at weightlifting, but well, this is the anecdote. Don’t do it at your home, and only do it if you are a very experimented lifter.
Oly lifts are quality training for power, speed, coordination and relative strength, but I think you can also use some variations going for reps as conditioning work.
Thank you!
about weight belts. I know that Ben used one. I am not knocking Ben or knocking Charlie’s views on the subject. I personally believe that a belted squat has never applied as much to the track as an unbelted one (at least in my personal experience). So please don’t start a flame war about this