by Jim O’Malley Research of the criteria and parameters of the loading in the multi-year dynamics of a weightlifter's training has produced the following basic recommendations which are necessary to take into account when structuring multi-year training in weightlifting. 1) The number of lifts (NL), as a criterion of the volume, is a more objective assessment of the volume of the loading than the tonnage. To see why, consider this: two athletes execute a load of 100 metric tons for the month in the preparation period. The average training weight for one of them is 80kg, while for the other it is 100kg. This means that the first athlete did 1250 lifts (100/.08) and the second 1000 lifts (100/.10). So, the athletes executed a different amount of work and spent a different amount of time doing it. One executed more lifts but with less weight ; the other did fewer lifts with more weight. The NL does not depend on the weight class, age, or height of the athlete. It depends on the lifters qualification and, like the tonnage, is very specific. The introduction of the NL as the criterion of the volume into the planning of training facilitates the switch to programming of training. 2) Functional indicators rise along with the increased volume and intensity in the first four stages of training (beginner, low class, qualified, and master of sport). However, once the athlete reaches master of sport international, the most favorable conditions for further improvement constitute a moderate drop in the annual volume while continuing to increase the intensity level. 3) The annual volume is also a function of the athlete's skill level and the following NL are recommended for the various levels of qualification ; beginner ~ 10,000 low class ~ 12,000 qualified ~ 15,000 master of sport ~ 18,000 master of sport international ~ 16,200 The lower three skill level lifters normally perform 3 to 6 training sessions per week while the upper two may perform as many as 9 to 10. This is accomplished by implementing twice a day training when the master of sport level is reached. 4) The monthly volume follows a similar pattern (i.e. it is also a function of the athlete's skill level). The following volumes are recommended for the various qualification levels and represent the average NL performed in the preparation and competition cycles. The actual number of lifts can be lesser or greater. Preparation Competition Beginner 1100 900 Low Class 1250 900 Qualified 1650 1200 Master of Sport 2100 1500 MSIC 1880 1362 5) Planning becomes increasingly complex as one proceeds from the top on downward. That is to say that forecasting results over a multi-year time frame (i.e. on a macro level) can only be realistically viewed as a very rough approximation but one which can be quickly and fairly easily ascertained. However, at the other end of the spectrum (i.e. the micro level) which involves planning the individual workouts, is very difficult and is much more art than science due to the fact that many different combinations and permutations can be used and a fair amount of trial and error is practically inevitable in discovering the most appropriate combinations and orderings for any particular athlete. So the top-down process starts with a multi-year evaluation and then proceeds to form an annual plan, followed by monthly worksheets, then weekly plans, and finally planning the individual sessions. Recommendations are available for methodically planning the weekly cycles. The beginner basically trains three times per week with medium, heavy, and light volumes (usually in that order but not always). The planning for the low class and qualified lifters is more concrete. Both groups train from 3 to 6 timed per week. Normally, about 135 lifts would be the maximum for any single session. A more specific breakdown is as follows ; 3 days per week (28% 48% 24%) 4 days per week (22% 35% 15% 28%) 5 days per week (27% 15% 13% 15% 30%) 6 days per week (16% 20% 13% 16% 22% 13%) These orderings are usually employed but can (and should) vary from time to time. You can determine how many individual sessions to perform each week in the following manner ; since the max number of lifts in any one session is 135, then for three training sessions (where 48% of total are performed on the heaviest day) you should train 3 times per week up to a weekly volume of 280 lifts (135/.48 ~ 280). In a similar fashion, 4 sessions per week can be performed up to a weekly volume of more than 280 lifts but less than or equal to 385 lifts (135/.35 ~ 385). Five sessions would be used when the weekly volume exceeds 385 but is less than or equal to 450 (135/.30 ~ 450). Six sessions are planned when the volume exceeds 450 lifts. Weekly planning for the master of sport and MSIC is more complicated because at this level twice a day training is regularly employed. Up to 200 lifts per day can be planned in the prep cycle and 180 in the comp period. The interested reader can refer to my related article "Twice a Day Training" for more details. The overall volume distributions are approximately normally distributed. That is to say that there are fewer light and heavy weeks and more light-medium and mediumheavy weeks. 6) The intensity of the loading is the magnitude of the applied effort. This is defined by ; a) the average training weight b) the coefficient of intensity c) the quantity of 90% + lifts performed d) the distribution of the NL by zones of intensity a) The average training weight is highly correlated with the sports results of qualified athletes (r = .904). However, a strong caveat exists. The intensity of the load in each exercise, expressed in kilograms, conceals the content of training and does not represent the amount of weight the athlete actually trained with. For example, if the average weight over 4 sets of snatches is 80kg, this does not mean that the athlete executed all of the lifts with this weight. He could have lifted 70kg twice and 90kg twice or 100kg once, 80kg once, and 70kg twice (and so forth). Here is another example ; one can do five snatch pulls with 80kg and five with 110kg. The average weight of the ten lifts (assuming a max snatch of 100kg) would conform to the optimal weight for perfecting snatch technique --- 95kg ; however, in actuality this is far from true. The 80kg does not elicit sufficient muscular tension and the 110kg distorts greatly all of the optimal spatial and temporal parameters found throughout the phasic structure of the lift. So, the aforementioned way of planning a lifter's intensity of loading has a number of deficiencies, and is therefore seldom used in practice. One needs a simpler, more accessible and at the same time a more precise method of planning the intensity of the loading. A " rational " distribution will be offered in section " d ". b) An increase in the average weight relative to the biathlon total ---- 38 +/- 2% produces an increase in sports results. This is referred to as the coefficient of intensity (k) and it is equal to avg. training weight x 100 / biathlon total (for example if the average weight is 100kg and the biathlon total is 120+150 = 270kg, then k= 100 x 100 / 270 ~ 37). The stability of k is individualized. An increase of 4kg in the average training weight can produce 10kg of improvement in the biathlon results (i.e. if k = 40). For example, if the average weight is 100kg and increases to 104kg then 100 x 100/ 40 = 250kg and 104 x 100 / 40 = 260kg. Naturally, from the discussion above, the reader should realize that this is also premised on the fact that the volume is rationally distributed among the various exercises and that the intensity is rationally distributed within the various exercises. Research of the dynamics of the absolute and the relative intensity in the snatch and the clean and jerk exercises has revealed that progress in the sport of weightlifting comes about through an increase in the absolute intensity (i.e. the average weight) while the relative intensity in each lift remains relatively stable ; an average of 75% starting with class II athletes. Class III and beginner athletes train with a mean weight (in each exercise) of 69%. Testing theory states that the consistency of a test is the measure of its reliability (i.e. this kind of test can be an objective criterion of quality. c) The submaximum and maximum (90 to 100%) lifts in the snatch and the clean and jerk. Research in this area has shown that the quantity of these lifts is limited (from 10 to 60 each month), strictly individualized, and depends on the stage of training ; 20-30 lifts in the prep period and 40-60 in the competition period and 300-600 lifts annually (65% performed with 90-92.5%, 20% done with 95%, and 15% with 97.5% and more). For example, an 85kg low class lifter (21 years old) would perform about 365 lifts with 90% and above annually while an 85kg master of sport lifter (also 21 years old) would do approximately 660 each year. d) The distribution of the lifts by zones of intensity (i.e. "rational" distributions). The distributions for the snatch and the clean and jerk exercises is skewed toward the zones of lower intensity. For example, an 85kg master of sport lifter would distribute snatches ( in the 2,100 lift prep cycle ) as follows ; < 60% ~ 18% 60-69% ~ 37% 70-79% ~ 25% 80-89% ~ 13% 90% + ~ 7% Distributions vary somewhat among skill levels and within different weight classes in the same skill level but the underlying structure remains fairly steady. Squats are also skewed toward the zone of lower intensity. 20% of all squats (both front and back) are done with 70-79% of max C&J. 20% are performed with 80-89% of max C&J, and 25% with 90-99% of max C&J. High intensity squats (100 to 125% of max C&J vary both with regard to skill level and weight class. The residual squats are done with <70% of max C&J. Pulls (both snatch and clean) are skewed toward the rising intensity zones. 50% of all clean pulls are done in the 90-99% range of max C&J. 17% with 80- 89% of max C&J. 100% weights and above vary with skill levels and weight classes. Residual clean pulls are done with < 80% of max C&J. 45% of all snatch pulls are done with 90-99% of max snatch. 100% and more also vary with respect to the skill level and weight class. Residual snatch pulls are done with < 90% of max snatch. 7) "Rational" loading of the volume among exercise groups. The distributions vary ( sometimes only in a subtle manner) as the skill level increases. The following are recommended distributions for prep and comp months for the various skill levels (i.e. beginner, low class, qualified, master of sport, MSIC) : Beginner Prep = Comp Snatch 11% Other Snatch 9% Clean 6% Other Clean 7% Jerk 6% Other Jerk 6% Squats 30% Other Squat 18% Pressing 7% Low Class Prep = Comp Snatch 10% Other Snatch 10% Clean 7.5% Other Clean 9.5% Jerk 7.5% Other Jerk 3.5% Squats 27% Other Squat 15% Pressing 10% The beginner and low class athletes perform just the basic exercises so "other" snatches, "other" cleans, and "other" jerks are simply power snatches from the floor, power cleans from the floor, and push jerks respectively. For the beginner, "other" squats are both lunges and overhead squats and presses are bench presses done with either a wide or narrow grip. For the low class athlete, "other" squats are just overhead squats and presses comprise both bench presses (with a clean grip) and behind the neck presses with a snatch grip. These "additional" exercises are often combined in a single movement such as power snatch + BNP + overhead squat. Qualified Prep Comp Snatch 9% 9% Other Snatch 11% 12% Clean 6% 6% Other Clean 9% 9% Jerk 7% 7% Other Jerk 5% 6% Squat 23% 23% Other Squat 6% 4% Snatch Pull 7% 5% Clean Pull 5% 6% Pressing 6% 10% Bendovers 6% 3% Master of Sport Prep Comp Snatch 8% 8% Other Snatch 12% 13% Clean 5% 5% Other Clean 8% 8% Jerk 6% 6% Other Jerk 7% 8% Squats 20% 20% Other Squats 5% 4% Snatch Pull 8.5% 5% Clean Pull 10% 12% Pressing 5.5% 8% Bendovers 5% 3% Both the qualified lifter and the master of sport use a fairly wide array of exercises.They include (but are not limited to) ; "other" snatches - power snatch (floor), power snatch (blocks), snatch (blocks), power snatch (hang), and snatch (hang) "other" cleans - power clean (floor), power clean (blocks), clean (blocks), power clean (hang), and clean (hang) "other" jerks - push jerk (front or back), push press (front or back), jerk drives, jerk behind neck "other" squats - overhead squats, lunges bendovers - hyperextensions, good mornings presses - bench press, incline press, seated or standing presses (front and back). Also, all pressing should be done with a variety of grips including narrow, regular, and wide. The master of sport international volume distributions can be derived as follows ; first, calculate the NL in the mean prep month (2100 lifts) and the mean comp month (1500 lifts) using the master of sport percentage distribution. Then, reduce by onehalf the number of "additional" (as opposed to fundamental) lifts. These are the snatch pulls, presses, bendovers, and "other" squats. Now you will have a new set of numbers which you must convert back to percentages by dividing each number by the new mean prep volume (1880 lifts) and the new comp volume (1362 lifts). Refer back to section 4 if you need to refresh your memory as to why these are the new total volume numbers to use. One final, but important, note. These distributions are based on the premise that the athletes lifting is well balanced. By that I mean that certain ratios between the SPP and the classical lifts are met. The ratios change slightly as the skill level increases so I will use just one example (that being the qualified lifter [i.e. the class I - CMS athlete]. The following ratios should be met by these athletes ; power snatch / snatch ~ 87-90%, power clean / clean ~ 87-90%, push jerk / classical jerk ~ 92%, and squat / C&J ~ 128%. In the event that imbalances are discovered, the volume distributions should be altered in such a manner so as to increase the focus on weak spots and decrease the focus on strong areas. In my opinion, the key to success in Olympic Lifting is to "train don't strain". Employing a rational, systemic approach is FAR superior to using what I call "brute force methods" which basically involves trying to lift as much as you can as often as you can. Good luck to you !!!