In my group, I have twins (female), 17 years old, doing 100m/200m. At this stage they have only done a light circuit in the gym. (PB’s on 100: 12,2 and 12,3)
I want them to start with weights, and as they have a training age of approx 7 to 8 years, I think they are ready.
In the GPP - where do I start? The main 3 exercises - squat, bench, power clean? Reps? Sets? (I want to make it easy - therefore no pyramids, as David Woodhouse recommend.) What else?
On what % do they have to start? Of 3RM? Or 1RM?
I would appreciate any assistance, as I do want them to start properly!
Start the off with 2x5 for the 3 main lifts, then after 2 weeks bump it up to 3x5, then wait 2 more weeks and then 4x5, until 5x5. And use 80% of the max for the 5 reps. That would probably be the best way in my opinion.
as they are starting a new phase it will be essential to lay a solid foundation.teach proper lifting technique especially in the cleans,squat and basically any other movement.technique will aid the weight to improve just as good mechanics aids speed to improve.i would use reps of 6-10 with a medium to low intensity range.as the athletes progress the strenght will increase and then you can reset the plan
Since they are both starting I would not worry at all about percentages since you really don’t know what their current capacities are and really don’t need to know at this point. Start extremely light and work them up gradually. After 4-6 weeks of work with 10’s then you will have a better idea as to their status while simultaneously developing their work capacity. Rather than doing power cleans have them do clean pulls, mid thigh pulls or clean grip shrugs(legs initiate movement). These exercises lend themselves to completing higher rep sets than do cleans. Squats, benches, pulls etc. can be incorporated. When you have worked up to reasonably heavy 10’s over time then you can implement a percentage based program. Keeping accurate records of what they are lifting is useful to determine progressions and weights to start with when you repeat the program.
NB: In the comp.period, I sometime mix pre-comp and comp-work … if the period between one meeting and the following is too long, or if the meeting is not so important.
I feel that novice lifters can handle greater volumes than more experienced lifters. THis is because neural inefficiency means relative intensity is low and so therefore is CNS fatigue.
Novices are one of the rare cases where I would recommend reps greater than 5 (e.g. 6x8r). Do not even attempt to determine a repetition maximum, this is where your experience counts. Vary load depending on form and bar speed and never let them reach failure.
If you choose to include Olympic lifts obviously reps here should be lower (<6). I find the easiest (and most enjoyable) exercise to learn is hg snatch (there it is again gentlemen!)
Also periodisation is largely redundant since you should expect
(curvey) linear progression for at least 6 months.