Categoriessport training Strength Training

Why College Athletes Should Not Include Olympic Lifting In Their Programs

It’s not lost on me that the title of this particular blog post may ruffle a few feathers out there. There are many coaches and facilities in the world who implement the OLY lifts with their athletes and find great success with this approach.

Conversely, there are also many coaches and facilities in the world who d0 not use the OLY lifts1 and as a result have been blacklisted from S&C Twitter get resounding results as well.

What follows is one coach’s (Syracuse, NY based strength & conditioning coach Ricky Kompf) opinion with a solid rationale for why he falls into the latter category above.

I hope you give it a read.

Copyright: arseniipalivoda

Why College Athletes Shouldn’t Use Olympic Lifts

First off I want to start this article off by saying Olympic lifts can be a great way to develop power.

(step away from the pitchforks, please)

This is in no way shape or form is a diatribe trying to bash Olympic lifts as a group of exercises. They are a tool and just like any tool in the weight room, they have their time and place.

And that time and place should not be in the college weight room as a main means of training power in their respective sport.

via GIPHY

I see it every year, athletes who we have been working with for years in high school finally gain some respectable competency in the weight-room and reach the point where they can play their sport at the next level.

Their collegiate strength coach sends them their summer training program and there it is:

  • Hang cleans
  • Snatches
  • Power cleans
  • 6 AM lifts

A little piece of me dies inside and I have to fight the urge not to go how and yell at my cats.

How can you except an athlete who you have never trained with or seen workout in person to execute the Olympic lifts correctly and effectively without your watchful eye?  It then becomes our job to teach these lifts to the athletes which I’m happy to do, but it undoubtably takes away from the training due to the time and energy restraints it puts on our training.

To make things worse, when these athlete head off to college, train with these exercises as their key performance indicators and main source of power training, 9 times out of 10 they come back to our gym the next year weaker and many times slower.

Weak man tries to lift heavy dumbbell, wants to be strong and fit, does exercises regularly, dressed

I cannot fully contribute these exercises to the outcome, this is simply an observation I’ve noticed for years.

Here’s why I believe these lifts should not be apart of a college athlete’s training program and are actually causing a decrease in performance.

1. Competing Demands

The Olympic lifts are highly technical.

College athletes are arguably at the peak for their sport’s performance (or at least very close to it). That means the demand of skill in their sport takes up a large portion of their training…

…and rightfully so.

They are trying to reach mastery in their craft.

They are not Olympic weight lifters. They are team sport athletes and should be treated as such.

Learning and training with the Olympic lifts takes a high level of skill, skill that is learned through years and years of training and working at it. By spending the time required to be proficient at these exercises you will be taking away from the motor learning time and energy that could be used in their sport.

Basketball players holding basketball in court

You can only master so much at one time from a motor learning perspective and choosing a highly technical form of exercise during collegiate years will only take away from this mastery.

2. They Won’t Be Good Enough For It To Be Effective

The Olympic lifts do a great job of enhancing powerful triple extension, but you don’t reach peak power until you reach about 80% of you max in an Olympic lift.

For the bulk of collegiate aged athletes who have little experience training with the OLY lifts, they likely won’t truly reach this level for a number of years because of how long it takes to master the skill.

(ideally, one would have started at the age of twelve with a PVC stick and ample time…not at 18 with USC at home next week).

I’d rather utilize an exercise like the Trap Bar Jump, which has a much lower learning curve yet yields comparable peak power production in a matter of minutes (not years).

This way I can develop strength, power and speed with as little amount of time as possible. As a result, the athlete can spend more energy on their sport while still experiencing the benefits of a strength & conditioning program.

 

An argument can be made that you could, over the course of the four years, systematically teach a college athlete how to perfect the Olympic lifts in order to reap their benefit.

However, in my experience most (not all) collegiate strength coaches incorporate these lifts using max loads and testing them as a key performance indicator right away.

This is not ideal if you ask me.

Some strength coaches do a great job and implement the OLY lifts responsibly, but I’d still argue that teaching these lifts over the course of four years is a drain on athletes’ time, energy and resources.

I’d Recommend the Following Exercises Instead:

Trap Bar Jumps

 

Trap Bar High Pulls

 

Trap Bar Speed Pulls

 

Sumo Speed Pulls

 

Band Resisted Speed Pulls

 

Dynamic Effort Box Squats

 

3. Power Is Plane Specific

Team sport is rarely played in the same plane of motion as the Olympic lifts.

When developing power that transfers over to your sport it’s better to do it in the same or similar planes of movement and joint angles that you’ll see in your sport to have the most transfer.

Using sprints, jumps and throws are great ways to bridge the gap and usually are better options than the Olympic lifts.

Here’s some exercises that can train speed and power with great transfer to sport:

10 Yard Sprints

 

Max Velocity Sprints

 

Partner Chase Drills

 

Rotational Med Ball Toss

 

Skater Variations

 

Broad Jump Variations

 

Overhead Med Ball Throws

 

Box Jumps

 

4. Other Variations & Methods

Other variations and methods that have a great effect on power training and can be taught quickly include the use of accommodating resistance with bands and chains as well as contrast training.

Accommodating resistance allows you to accelerate through a full range of motion because the resistance increases as you get into joint angles that can handle greater loads. This allows you to train power at all joint angles in a lift.

In addition to that the use of bands provides a unique training stimulus in which the eccentric portion of the lift is accelerated forcing a great amount deceleration training as well as a high-level reversal strength by using the stretch shortening cycle.

There’re a couple examples of this is the exercises listed above.

Contrast training is a method to peak speed and power production in which you use a heavy compound movement like a squat or deadlift and go right into an explosive expression of speed and power like a sprint, jump or throw.

Note from TG: I posted about contrast sets recently HERE.

The heavy lift provides an activation of higher threshold motor units that will transfer into a more explosive athletic movement.

Here’s some examples of contrast training.

Pre-Season Football Contrast Set

 

Back Squat —-> Box Jump

 

Banded Bulgarian Split Squat —-> Half Kneeling Sprint

 

About the Author

Ricky Kompf is the owner of Kompf Training Systems located in Syracuse New York.  His facility provides semi-private training for predominantly high-school and college level athletes with individualized programming.
You can find Ricky on Instagram HERE.
CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 7/24/15

Only ONE week left until the Elite Training Workshop – Boston is held on Saturday, August 1st, featuring myself, Mike Reinold, Artemis Scantalides, and Ryan Ketchum.

I’m really excited for this event and think it’s going to be a awesome experience for those who attend. The line-up is pretty rad and the flow of the day is set up in a way where each presenter does there schtick and then immediately follows that up with a hands-on portion.

So it’s less blah-blah-blabidy-blah and more “holys*** did you see Artemis Turkish get-up Tony? That’s badass.”

If you’re looking for some practical information that you’ll be able to use for yourself or with your clients, and earn CEUs to boot then this will be a great opportunity.

Click HERE for more information.

Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

 

Dean Somerset and I are excited to announce our latest traveling show: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

It’s like a travel Cirque du Soleil show, except with no tents, flashy acrobatics, animals, or ripped half naked dudes contorting themselves into pretzels. Unless, of course, Dean decides to take people through one of his epic warm-up routines.

He’s a supple bastard. It’s deceiving.

We teamed up last year for a handful of workshops – London, DC, LA –  and didn’t want to kill each other, so we figured we’d do it again this year

This time we’re going to place a ton of emphasis on the hips and shoulders. We’ll talk anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, programming, and we’ll also be doing a fair amount of coaching/hands-on demonstrations. And maybe, just maybe, in honor of Dean’s Canadian heritage, honor Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill in some fashion. I mean, it was 20 years ago this month that that album was released.

Yep, I feel old.

CEU’s will be available for all workshops.

EDMONTON (in August, so it won’t be cold as balls).

ST. LOUIS (in September, the EARLY BIRD rate is still active, but will end soon!)

CHICAGO (I’ve never been, and can’t wait to explore.)

(Just Added) LOS ANGELES (in November, Tony finally does his tour of bars from the movie Swingers).

Why the Fitness World Needs Tracy Anderson – Lee Boyce

Funny story on this. An ex-athlete of mine sent me a message the other day on Facebook linking to this article with a note “Really? Is this guy serious?”

I wrote back, “Lee’s my boy. It’s total tongue in cheek. He’s one of the good ones.”

It’s an older article – I can’t believe I missed it the first time around – but it’s a good one!

Squat Depth: The Final Answer – Dr. John Rusin

This was a great article by Dr. John (<– hope it’s okay I call him that), and it falls in line with many of my own thoughts on the topic.

Basic rule to follow: different squatters squat differently. Don’t be an a-hole and think there’s only ONE best way to squat.

How to Teach the Clean for Maximizing Athletic Power – Eric Bach and Loren Landow

Coaching the OLY lifts is definitely a weak spot for me as a coach, which is why I often refer out whenever an athlete or client wants to learn them.

But after reading this article and watching the videos I’m pretty sure I’m ready for 2016. See you in Rio de Janeiro everyone!

BONUS STUFF (Because, Why Not?)

HERE’s an article I wrote on Active.com on muscle soreness and whether or not you should be sore after every workout.

HERE’s an article I wrote for Stack.com that re-ran on Men’s Health on why I feel benching with your feet in the air is moronic for most guys most of the time. There’s a time and place for it, but then again there’s a time and place for sticking your finger in an electrical socket. I guess.

The trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s (21 Grams, BabelBirdman) next movie, The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, looks siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

I’m predicting winner for Best Cinematography right now.

CategoriesUncategorized

Why I Don’t Use the Olympic Lifts

Blogging is funny sometimes.  There are instances where I feel I put a lot of time and effort into a post thinking to myself that I’m easily going to win some kind of blogging Pulitzer or that I’m going to step outside my apartment and a ticker-tape parade will just spontaneously erupt complete with a Stealth Bomber flyover and Kelly Clarkson busting out the national anthem in my honor.

Low and behold that’s never even come close to happening (yet), but still…I’m often bemused at which blogs actually catch on, gain momentum in terms of traffic and shares, and which fall by the wayside.

Take for example one of my posts last week, Success = Strength. This was something I wrote in like 30-45 minutes and something I just tossed up on my site because I didn’t feel I had anything important or revolutionary to say that day.

Funnily enough, it’s a post that, despite not getting a ton of “Likes” (which doesn’t really mean all much anyways), did result in quite a few people reaching out to tell me how much they enjoyed it and that they enjoyed the overall message.

In addition, I also had a fair number of clients at the facility walk up me throughout the week telling me they really liked it. Go figure!

And with that, today’s post, I feel, is another one of those hit or miss scenarios which may resonate with a few people and win me a few internet high fives; or maybe more appropriately make people want to throw their face into their keyboard in a fit of rage.

I’m hoping for the former.

One of the more prevalent and frequent questions we receive at the facility from other coaches and trainers who visit is: Why don’t you include any Olympic lifting into your programs?

Seemingly I think many who visit are under the impression that we (or more specifically I) don’t find any efficacy in their use and that we feel they’re a waste of time, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

I don’t feel I need to insult anyone’s intelligence and delve into the in’s and out’s of why Olympic lifting is efficacious or why it’s a superior way to train speed, power, explosiveness, and overall athleticism.

They work. Nuff said.

I’d be a complete moron to state otherwise.

That being said, and I’m speaking on my own behalf here (and not for the rest of the CP staff), I have my reasons why I don’t use them in my programming.

Numero Uno

I know I’m going to catch some flak some of the internet haters and gurus out there, but I’m going to say it anyways. Point blank:  I know my limitations as a coach.  

I don’t have a lot of experience with the OLY lifts personally, and I just wouldn’t feel comfortable pretending otherwise. That said, it doesn’t make much sense to me to spend an inordinate amount of time coaching/teaching something I don’t have a lot of familiarity with.

It’s certainly not going to do my athletes and clients any good. And it most certainly won’t paint me in good light.  At best I can probably get by and fudge my way through coaching a half-way decent hang-clean.  At worst I end up hurting someone.

And I don’t feel any less of a person or coach admitting that this is a weakness of mine.  If anything I wish this is something more coaches and trainers would admit to themselves. That they’re not Superman and that they DO have weaknesses.

Hi, my name is Tony Gentilcore……and I don’t know how to coach the OLY lifts.

Of course this isn’t to say I’m never going to improve my OLY coaching prowess.  I’m sure at some point I’ll ask someone to coach the coach and take me through the ABC’s. But until that happens I’m most certainly not going to pretend I’m something I’m not.

Numero Dos (<=== That’s About the Extent of My Spanish)

There are other, more “user friendly” ways I can train power and explosiveness.

I never quite understand why some coaches and trainers take an “elitist” attitude towards any one modality or way of thinking. One of the more common examples would be some people’s gravitation towards everything kettlebells.

I like kettlebells, I use them with my own clients. But I also believe they’re a tool in the toolbox and aren’t the end-all-be-all-panacea of health and fitness.

I can use the same train of thought with regards to powerlifting, CrossFit, Zumba, Yoga, the Shake Weight…..you name it, and you’re bound to find your zealots.

Okay, maybe not the Shake Weight…but you get the idea.

When talking about power and explosive training, as paramount as OLY lifting is, when working with a specific population like baseball players, I feel we can serve them well by implementing med ball training into the mix.

Hell, I’d argue it’s more “specific” to their needs in the first place and a lot less detrimental in terms of joint distraction forces on both the shoulder and elbow:

And this doesn’t just apply to baseball players either. We use med ball training with our general population clientele as well.

Numero Three

Pigging back on the point above, I don’t necessarily know how long a particular athlete or client will be training at the facility.  Some have been with us for one, two, three, four+ years.  But more common are those who may come in for a 1-3 month span.

Teaching and coaching the OLY lifts (well) can easily take months to accomplish, and if I only have a limited amount of time with someone I have to be overly judicious with my time with them.

With that I tend to opt for med ball training, skipping drills, heidens, sprint work (when applicable), and the like to get my “power” training in.

And not to blow sunshine up my own arse, but I feel the results that I (and the rest of the CP staff) have been able to accomplish speak for themselves.

And That’s That

Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone or cause someone to blow a gasket.  Just to reiterate, I understand that OLY lifting is important and that it works.  So save the hate mail.

I just don’t feel that you HAVE to include them to be a successful strength and/or performance coach. As the saying goes – there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Maybe even most important of all: I think we can’t be afraid of knowing our own limitations as coaches.

It’s nothing to be ashamed of, nor is it something to cower away from.

It’s as simple as that.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Movie Reviews, Truths About Squatting, and More

Before I get into today’s meat and potatoes I wanted to take the opportunity to suggest some new movies I think some of you will like.

As most of you who read this blog consistently understand, I’m a huge movie nerd.  I’d venture a guess that if I wasn’t a strength coach I’d probably try to figure out some way to become Kate Beckinsale’s cabana boy watch movies for a living.

Sort of like a more jacked version of Robert Ebert – except instead of something mundane like a star system or something trademarked like a thumbs-up/thumbs-down review (ALA Siskel & Ebert), I’d rank movies using a ” loaded” barbell system.

A barbell with no plates = god awful (Pain and Gain,The Hangover II, anything with the word Twilight in it).

From there, the more plates added onto the barbell dictates its level of badassery.

Ahhh, a guy can dream right?

Anyways, two movies I’ve watched recently that I felt were fairly decent and worthy of 3-4 plates were:

Killing Them Softly and A Place Beyond the Pines.

The former stars Brad Pitt as a hitman for hire and has some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in any film this year. Coincidentally, there was a movie that Pitt did a few years back with the same director called The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford which I felt was another highly UNDERrated film that didn’t get much fanfare despite being nominated for two Oscars (Best Supporting Actor – Casey Affleck, and Achievement in Cinematography).

A fair warning: It’s more of a dialogue based movie and doesn’t really have a lot of shoot em-up scenes despite the title.  All I’ll add to that point is that I LOVE good dialogue and Pitt’s closing monologue is epic!

The latter movie – A Place Beyond the Pines – is one that Lisa and I have been meaning to see for a few weeks now.  I mean, it’s Ryan Gosling – the man can do no wrong after Drive.

We finally had the chance to go see it yesterday. This film teams Gosling with director Derek Cianfrance, who also directed Gosling (and Michelle Williams) in a Blue Valentine (arguably one of the most depressing yet unflinchingly real films on the heartache of relationships), and while I wanted to really, really like this film, I had to give it a solid B- because it’s so freaking long.

The acting was superb – kudos to Bradley Cooper by the way – but there were a few plot points I felt didn’t jive, and while I appreciated the storyline (the first act focuses on Gosling’s character, the second on Cooper’s, and the third on their two sons, I don’t want to give away the “twist”), I felt it was a teeny tiny bit far reaching.

Nonetheless, if you’re looking for two non-Iron Man 3 movies to watch relatively soon, maybe these will be up your alley?

Talking Shop: Video Interview with Tony Gentilcore – Harold Gibbons

I had the pleasure of sitting down for a Skype video interview with my pal Harold Gibbons last week where we discussed everything from why Yoda would make such an amazing strength coach to the fitness writing process. And lots of other stuff in between.

If you’re looking for an hour to kill while you’re sitting there at your desk hating life and think listening to my sultry voice would help pass the time, then I’d highly recommend slapping on a pair of headphones and give it a listen.

This was easily of the funnest interviews I’ve ever done.

And look!  There’s a dragon in the background. Sweet!……;o)

Too Jacked to Olympic Lift: OLY Lifting Mobility – Wil Fleming

I’m about as adept at olympic lifting as I am at playing poker.  Which is to say, I’m god awful.  Speaking truthfully I don’t have a lot of experience with the OLY lifts which is why I generally steer clear of them and point people in the direction of guys like Wil whenever someone is interested in dabbling a little bit.

Even if OLY lifting isn’t your bag this was a fantastic post which digs into some common mobility restrictions.  Check out the t-spine drill!

On an aside, for those who are interesting in OLY lifting, I’d highly recommend Wil’s Complete Olympic Lifting DVD.

6 Truths About Squats – Lee Boyce

My internet high-five of the week goes to Lee for writing this excellent piece on some of the common misconceptions when it comes to squatting.

CategoriesStrength Training

Q and A: Hypermobility and the Olympic Lifts

Q: I’ve recently got into Olympic lifting, but my hamstrings are so flexible, I have no tension at the bottom and lose power. Also, my shoulders are unstable when I snatch and my wrists bend too far back when I push press, etc.

I’ve just purchased wrist straps, but I’m not sure what to do about my hamstrings in particular. Any tips or advice? Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this!

– Paula

A: First off, let me just say that I think it’s awesome that you’ve taken a step outside your comfort zone and decided to take on the OLY lifts. It’s refreshing to see a female get after it and not fall into the Tracy Anderson “no woman should lift a weight over three lbs/excuse me while I vomit a little bit in my mouth” trap.

To that, Paula, I’m dedicating this slow clap to you:

With that out of the way, there’s a few things we need to highlight/discuss.

There’s obviously a lot of efficacy towards the OLY lifts as it relates to strength, power development, performance, and increasing one’s overall level of badassery. As a strength coach, I’d be remiss to state otherwise.

The first point I’d like to cover – for my own edification – is how “technique heavy” the OLY lifts are.  These aren’t just something that you decide to throw into the mix one day and all is butter fly kisses and rainbows. The OLY lifts are hard and often take years to master.

I don’t care how many articles someone reads or how many Youtube videos they watch, NOTHING will trump in-person coaching.

ESPECIALLY in this context.

To that end, I’m just going to assume that you’re under the watchful eye of an established OLY or weightlifting coach.  If not, please do yourself a favor and seek one out.

Secondly, and maybe most important of all, is the heart of your question: Do the OLY lifts and hypermobility mix?

At first glance you would probably think yes. I mean, if you watch many of the top lifters or someone who knows what they’re doing, it would seem that having all that mobility would be a good thing. How else to explain the crazy positions they’re able to get themselves into – with a shit-ton of weight above their head no less!

While there is a fair degree of natural selection going on in terms of having the ability to do those things, you also have to understand that these athletes are demonstrating an insane level of mobility AND stability, as dictated by the joint-by-joint school of thought.

For the amateur or weekend warrior, having excessive hypermobility may (not always) be more of a reason NOT to partake in the OLY lifts.

Of course, how can we even ascertain whether or not someone is hypermobile in the first place?  Are they in any way, shape, or form, affiliated with Cirque de Soleil?  If so, they’re hypermobile.

Kidding aside, one easy screen you can do is the Beighton Laxity Test.

1.  Do the fingers extend past the 90 degree angle to the dorsal aspect of the hand?

2.  Does the thumb contact the forearm with full flexion?

3.  Is there more than 10 degrees of hyperextension in the elbow?

4.  Is there more than 10 degrees of hyperextension in the knee?

5.  Can he or she lay their palms flat on the floor during the toe touch movement?

Generally speaking, if someone scores a 3/5 or higher on the screen, chances are they’re hypermobile.  Or, at the very least, it’s something that needs to be taken into consideration.

With this information on hand, we can make a better judgement call as to whether or not the OLY lifts would be a good fit.  Now, this isn’t to say that if someone tests very high on the Beighton Score that he or she needs to avoid Olympic lifting like a Justin Beiber concert.

I’m not saying that at all.

Rather, all I’m trying to convey is that certain precautions need to be taken into consideration.

1.  Avoid aggressive, uncontrolled ranges of motion during the warm-up.  Especially in the upper body.

2.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to perform a lot of yoga.  If you are: stop.

Well, let me back track that statement.  You can perform yoga, but I’d limit aggressive poses that place a premium on becoming a human pretzel.

3.  With your warm-ups, something to keep in the back of your mind is that closed-chain exercises will provide more stability.

4.  As far as strength training is concerned:  to reiterate, I can’t stress enough how important it is that you seek out a reputable coach, or someone who has experience with the OLY lifts.  Given the excessive ROMs elicited by the sport itself, not to mention how technique intensive it is, it only make sense.

Additionally, since you mentioned how you feel you lose power in the bottom position and that your hamstrings are very flexible, it probably wouldn’t hurt to hammer things like Romanian deadlifts, pull-throughs, glute ham raises, or anything that will help strengthen that area (single leg work included).

5.  It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to include more rhythmic stabilizations into the mix to help teach the joints to, well, stabilize.

6. Static stretching.  Don’t do it.  Seriously.  Stop.

Instead, I’d try to perform more low grade activation drills.  Think:  glute bridges, Forearm wall slides, bowler squats, t-push-ups, dwarf throwing, etc.

And that’s really about it.  Like I said, I think it’s fantastic that you’re pursuing the OLY lifts, but I think given your situation, some precautions need to be made.

In Summary:

1.  Get a coach (if you haven’t already).

2. Don’t go out of your way to perform a lot of static stretching.

3.  Strengthen the posterior chain (especially the hamstrings).  Also, be careful with front and back squats – hypermobility (when not addressed properly) can wreak havoc on the joints when squatting.

4.  Try to include more low grade activation drills and rhythmic stabilizations into your repertoire.

5.  Avoid exposure to Justin Beiber as much as humanly possible. Good luck with that.

If there are any coaches or people with more experience than myself on this particular topic, PLEASE, feel free to chime in.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.