Olympic Weightlifting and Basic Power Training

 The Summer Olympics - delayed as they might be due to the Coronavirus pandemic - are upon us.  And with their advent comes Olympic Weightlifting.  And some seriously awesome lifting.  AND some seriously awesome physiques (especially the Chinese - Wow!).

Lu Xiaozun of China has a great physique, along with being a world-class lifter (photo courtesy of https://luxiaojunbarbell.com/)

Of all the competitive lifting and training I've done, I have never competed in Olympic weightlifting, but I do believe Olympic lifting, or at least the "quick lifts", have a place in everyone's lifting regimen.

 As much as I may not be a fan of Crossfit training (due to its emphasis on higher repetitions and it's lack of programming - at least at the local levels), I do appreciate that Crossfit has made the quick lifts popular even among the average gym rat.

Now, the average gym rat might also decide that there's no reason to do Olympic-style lifting because there are plenty of good physiques out there that are built without any Olympic lifting.  While that may be true, it's also true (I believe) that Olympic-lifting (or at least its accessory movements, such as power cleans, power snatches, and high pulls) can give you a "yoked look" that you just can't get with other movements.

I also believe that utilizing quick lifts is essential if you ever want to do any seriously high-frequency training.  Keep in mind that the squat, the overhead press, the clean, the clean and jerk, the snatch, and the high-pull (along with all of their variants) can be performed heavy and hard each and every day.  You can't say the same thing for any other lifts.

With the above being said, I wanted to give you some highlights from an article written in 1955 by Charles Coster (who wrote quite a few good pieces in the '50s on the intersection of competitive weightlifting, power training, and bodybuilding).  As with many articles from that time, the information presented by Coster is still superior to much of the crap you might read online and from the lifting media in today's day and age.

Here are some highlights from a rather lengthy article written by Coster entitled "Basic Power Training: Great Controversies".  What follows are the parts I thought would be most interesting to Integral Strength readers:

     "Basic Power Training, Body-Building, and Competitive Weight-Lifting are indivisible in my opinion. 

     In spite of disagreements that have existed in various schools of thought concerning weight-training methods in the past, I have always been of the opinion that these differences were invaluable to our progress and development."

     "Americans have been experimenting with "power" training ideas for quite a long time . . . but in Vienna last autumn I saw basic power principles being applied by the Russians, and worked in with their normal routine training schedules.

     Lifters of worldwide repute such as Saksonov, Kostylev, Udodov, Medvedev, Lomakin etc., could be seen utilizing wide-grip snatch pull-ups . . . power jerks without foot movement . . . repetition power presses, with slight knee-dip assistance, etc. Their young heavyweight Medvedev conducted a complete two-hour workout one morning using power snatches and power cleaning with no foot movement. We saw him snatch 264 pounds this way so forcefully that there was hardy any press-out and he must have made at least 30 power cleans to the chest with weights ranging from 297 to 330 mostly in sets of threes.

     As I write these words news has just reached me that Medvedev has made a new personal best total of 1,007 pounds . . . and 23-year old Nikolai Kostylev, whom we saw one day making power jerks with 308 pounds without foot movement . . . has just improved upon his remarkable 265.5 pound lightweight snatch -- with a fantastic lift of 270, and an 837-lb all-time record total.

     We saw the massively muscled Trofim Lomakin who is good enough to take a Mr. World Title, make a series of standing long jumps when winding up a training session one day. He has astonishing "leg spring" and has done 10'8". Kostylev is a Master of Sport, being unusually proficient at some track and field events. He is also a first class gymnast and hand-balancer."

The Russian Trofim Lomakin circa 1950s

"Tommy Kono made a 440 squat in front of the neck [front squat] almost at the same time that he pushed the light-heavyweight clean and jerk mark up to 380. it looks as though he has only to improve his squat in front of neck a little bit in order to create the necessary conditions for a new record clean and jerk.
     Lifters like Schemansky, Sheppard and Kono have wonderfully muscled physiques, and Tommy of course took the Mr. World title in his height class at Paris last year. There was a time when bodybuilding was frowned upon by the competitive Olympic lifter. And there was a time when the bench press and squat (or deep knee bend) were contemptuously regarded as freakish exercises that were almost quite useless to anyone but the pure bodybuilder.
     Just how wrong these views were can now be seen. For some of the world's foremost Olympic lifters are regularly using the DKB and bench press as sure and certain methods that will boost competitive lifting performances past certain sticking points.
     Yes, we live and learn -- or at least, we should do so. I likewise remember the opinions held many years ago concerning the continental squat style of Olympic lifting as contrasted to the more widely used fore-and-aft leg split technique.
     Not many "squatters" got to the top in those days, and it was erroneously assumed that the squat method was somewhat inferior. Yes, we were wrong about this likewise, as an examination of some of the present American and Russian star performances will amply illustrate."

     "The Canadian, Doug Hepburn, and the American, Paul Anderson are outstanding examples in this respect (and John Davis doesn't lack basic body power either). Both Anderson and Hepburn can handle around 750 in the Dead Lift, and the Canadian has made a full D.K.B. or Squat (with the bar behind the neck) with nearly 700 pounds (Editor's Note: Doug is reported to have made 760 now, and Anderson's latest performance at the time of writing is said to be three repetitions with 800 pounds.). Fantastic! Without any specialization Anderson has bench pressed 400 or more . . . and Hepburn has bench pressed 560 in public.
     Both these heavyweights weight between 280 and 305 pounds, and the 22-year old Paul Anderson has made such colossal headway with thigh, hip and back power routines that he can now perform "quarter squats" with more than three-quarters of a ton on his shoulders."

     "Take the case of Peter George as one more example. It is not generally remembered now, but Pete George was put through a course of basic power work right at the commencement of his weight-lifting career. And when we remember that this 160-170 pound athlete has made peak lifts of 264-281-375, this type of foundation work doesn't appear to have done him any harm.
     Here are a few notes from my scrapbook:
     At 14 years of age he made 10 squats with 300 pounds. A year later he made dead lifts of 460 and 480, and although only a lightweight, squatted once with 420. At the age of 17 Pete dead lifted 500, clean and jerked two 100 pound dumbbells, and Continentalled 390 to the shoulders.

When he was 17 years of age, on one occasion he made 30 consecutive dead lifts with 250 pounds, and 17 snatches from the hand with 180. He was trained to use the squat style for both the clean and the snatch, in the execution of which he is now a great artist.
     The Squat style of lifting, when practiced over a period of years, is a wonderful "muscle maker" . . . and we should always remember that fact.
     I can recall a remark made to me by John Davis when we were at Milan together. The great heavyweight said that dead-lifting was not part of his training. But he admitted that years ago as a light-heavyweight he had succeeded with about 700 pounds . . . and he also admitted that "if he had to" he could still rely on lifting that much.
     The implication was crystal clear -- he still had the power. Well, it looks very much like Hepburn, Anderson, Kono, Sheppard and Schemansky also have the power, judging by their recent performances."