Exercise Selection and Volume Training for Class III Weightlifters
Michael Conroy, Idaho Weightlifting
USA Weightlifting Level 4, International, Coach
PART ONE: Rational
Much research has been done on developing novice weightlifters into elite level athletes. The factors that need to be considered when selecting exercises and their volume are as follows: a. Age b. Somatotype c. Work Capacity d. Skill Level
Coaches can benefit from understanding that the athlete will progress, at their own rate, through four quadrants of understanding. As the athlete achieves a level they can advance to the next level where the training will become more challenging and more productive.
Quadrant One: Acquition: What are the skills I need to learn?
Quadrant Two: Application: Can I perform these skills properly?
Quadrant Three: Assimilation: Can I perform these skills routinely and automatically?
Quadrant Four: Adaptation: Can I perform correctly in a unique and different situation?
(Competition)
The less experienced the weightlifter the greater the number of exercises will be in their
'menu'. Placing exercises into specific categories, based upon their focus will allow the athlete to progress more quickly.
Categories of Exercises
A. Competition Lifts
1. Snatch
2. Clean & Jerk
B. Derivatives of the Competition Lifts
1. Cleans
2. Rack Jerks
3. "Hang" Snatch
4. "Hang" Clean
C. Strength and Power Movements
1. Power Snatch
2. Power Clean
3. Power Jerk
4. Snatch Pull
5. Clean Pull
6. Back Squat
7. Front Squat
8. R.D.L.

D. Combination Movements
1. Pulls + Snatch
2. Pulls + Clean
3. Power Snatch + Overhead Squat
4. Power Clean + Front Squat
5. Front Squat + Press
6. 3 Position Snatch
7. 3 Position Clean
E. Assistance Movements
1. Snatch Shrug
2. Clean Shrug
3. Goodmornings
4. Presses (Clean Grip Front and Back, Snatch Grip Front and Back)
5. Push Presses (Clean Grip Front and Back)
6. Bench Presses
7. Seated Presses (Clean Grip Front and Back)
F. Remedial Movements
1. Jerk Balance
2. Jerk Recovery
3. Lift Offs
4. Lockouts
G. General Fitness Movements
1. Abdominal Work
2. Core Work
3. Pull ups
4. Push ups
5. Dips
Teaching Progressions
It is recommended that the "Top/Down" approach to instruction be used.
The most difficult task a weightlifter has is to pull the barbell off of the platform efficiently. However studies have shown that once the barbell is above the knee the hips and shoulders rise at the same rate and the athlete is flat-footed, which is a better position from which to apply force to the barbell.
What is the function of, a particular, exercise?
“Hang” Movements place the emphasis on the receiving position. “Power” Movements place the emphasis on the extension of the body, standing the lift ‘up’. “Combination”
Movements focus on increasing work capacity while working the body levers. All
Training is purposeful and exercise selection places the focus on the individual and the skill set they need in order to improve. Variety in training is important but every exercise has an expected outcome and exercises are not selected at random.

What is really known about weightlifting technique?
Debates among weightlifting coaches are common and due to anthropomorphic differences there may be more than one way to skin a cat.
Still research has shown that there are standards and measures that relate to the specific ways that force can be applied to a barbell to make it move efficiently.
This Research has shown the following;
Once the athlete establishes their Original Center of Gravity the barbell stays behind the initial vertical line throughout the lift

The barbell passes through three phases. Peak Force, (Breaking the inertia), Peak Power,
(Once the bar is off the floor to where it 'brushes' the athletes upper torso) and Peak
Acceleration (The final upward movement of the barbell prior to its decent.)
The following factors influence these phases.
Initial Set up.
Tightness of body levers
Grip on the barbell
Feet Position (Staying Flat-footed as long as possible)
The Barbell comes back towards the athlete immediately upon leaving the floor.
Hips and Shoulders rise at the same rate.
The Second Pull is 'faster' than the First Pull
Arms only bend to pull the athlete under the barbell
The feet move from the pulling position to the landing position.
The landing position is typically only a shoe width wider than the pulling position and similar to the athletes "Squatting" position.
Paying attention to these items will correct the vast majority of technique errors

Sets, Reps and Weight Selection.
First and Foremost Technique drives the training. Skills incorrectly learned early on are the most difficult to correct. Correct technique is always re-enforced.
Studies have shown that the nervous system of a novice athlete will fatigue much quicker than the muscular system. Maintaining neural integrity is a critical component to mastering proper technique.
Other studies have also shown that when performing "Higher skill" movements fatigue sets in quickly and that sets of 3 reps seem to maintain neural integrity. It is recommended that when dealing with novice lifters a total volume of 30 reps per Skill
Exercise be followed.
Please consider the following statement by German Coach Michael Kellmann
" In the real training world the concept of less is more seems to be hard to sell. Most coaches feel that coaching is their job, and it is the duty of their athletes to follow their regimes. In addition, when coaches back off too much, performance may decrease. This shows that there is a careful balance between practice and recovery.
Practice is important to improve performance, but the focus should be on the quality rather than
on the quantity of training. During long and hard training sessions athletes tend to take
"hidden rests,” for example, by going at a slower pace during the exercises. A thoughtful variation of the training exercises includes a recovering element. An increase of the overall quality of training occurs when the standard regular training routine is modified, when new exercises are introduced, or simply when different types of training are applied.
Underrecovery and overtraining: Different concepts—similar impact? This question can clearly be answered with a yes and a no. Yes, they have the same impact—performance declines; No, they are not similar—underrecovery is the precursor/cause of
overtraining. Consequently, the key to prevent overtraining is an active and proactive enhancement of recovery. Coaches and athletes need to be educated about the importance of optimal recovery and its impact on performance."
Weightlifting skills seemed to learned best when the weight is 70% to 75% of a one rep max. But when dealing with a novice when a one rep max is not known the coach needs to consider the quality of movement as the beginning point and then adding or subtracting weight in accordance with the technique.

SETS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAT REPS.
For the Novice Weightlifters it is more important to complete a few reps correctly than to do reps until failure or until technique is lost. (In fact poor quality reps at the end of a training session are more likely to become the muscle memory.)
Novice Athletes and their coaches should place Sets in Front of Reps.
If we use the 30 rep formula for quality maintenance and that for the Novice athlete 3 reps per set for the High Skill Movements then we have established 10, TOTAL, sets for novice athletes when training the Olympic Lifts and their derivatives.
Sets and reps for other movements. Once again research has shown that Power
Production begins to go down after 5 reps.
In fact Hypertrophy for Weightlifters is completely different than it is for other athletes.
A Canadian study showed that once an athlete decides to do a set of 12 or more the weight is so light that the exercise becomes completely an endurance exercise.
Weightlifters compete ONE REP AT A TIME and the training needs to mimic this in order for the proper body energy system is to become functional.
When Training Weightlifters consider Three Cycles.
Cycle One: Train the Joints
Cycle Two: Train the Muscles
Cycle Three: Train the Nerves
COMPETE
If the Olympic Movements are trained for 3 reps per set (To maintain Quality of
Movement) and all other movements are trained 5 reps per set (To maintain Power
Production) we are now getting to the understanding of Volume for our First Cycle.
Athletes should perform 3 to 5 warm-up sets prior to their TARGET SETS
( In Target Setting the athlete performs multiple sets at the Same weight. The rational for this is the get the athlete into the Second Quadrant of Training (Assimulation)
The rational for Volume comes from two Sources Pat O'Shea and his book Quantum
Strength Training and Lyn Jones modification of Supercompensation Training
O’Shea (Oregon State University) stated in his book Quantum Strength Training the
S.A.I.D. principle of training. SAID stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
In this training the relationship between frequency, duration and intensity is examined.
O'Shea recommends the following Reps for the related percentages of a One Rep Max.

Once again it is important to remind athletes and coaches that these are the sets and reps recommended to develop power and strength while focusing on correct technique.
Lyn Jones decided that the exercises needed to be placed into 4 main groups.
“A” lifts: The competition movements and their related movements
“B” lifts: Squats
“C” lifts: Pulls
“D” lifts: Remedial movements.
In his Supercompensation Model there was a need to create a balance between work and rest. Jones placed Training into three Cycles each having its own emphasis. Cycle One would be the Preparation Phase Cycle Two would be the Strength Phase and Cycle Three would be the Competition Phase
Here is what Supercompensation training looks like as an Overview
Cycle One Cycle Two Cycle Three
Wk 1 2 3 4
% 70 75 65 80
5 6 7 8
75 80 70 90
9 10 11 12
85 90 80 100
In Cycle One the Target Sets(for the “A” lifts) are 3 in Week One, Four in Week Two,
Two in Week Three, and Two in Week Four. For the “B” and “C” lifts they are 3,4,2,3.
The Repetitions are, for the “A” lifts, 3 and the “B” and “C” lifts, 5.
In Cycle Two the sets stay the same but the “A” lift reps are now doubles with the “B” and “C” lifts being triples.
In Cycle Three the sets, are again the same, with the “A” reps being singles
And the “B” and “C” lifts being doubles.

Competition Program for Class III Lifters
All Training Programs should contain the Following Qualities
1. Easy to Understand and monitor
2. Be of a cyclic nature
3. Have built in checks of progress
4. Allow of individual creativity
5. Allow for the inclusion of remedial movements for error correction
All Training Programs should also consider the following outcomes
1. Improve Performance
2. Refine Technique
3. Increase Work Capacity
4. Reduce Injury
Training Programs are essentially regimens of stress and recovery to which the athlete adapts. All programs can only have 1 of 3 outcomes
1. Insufficient stress; No Progress
2. Too much stress; Collapse and or injury
3. Optimum stress: Ongoing improvement
Once again it is proposed that Class III Athletes be exposed to the
Supercompensation Model to maximum the opportunity for ongoing progress
In the Supercompensation Model
Week One will be the "Base" Week
Week Two will be the "Loading' Week
Week Three will be the "Supercompensation" Week
Week Four will be the "Performance" Week
All Exercises should be placed under two "Umbrellas"
Umbrella "A" All competition Lifts and their derivatives
Umbrella "A" All pulls' presses, squats and remedial movements
Cycle One; Preparation
Group "A" will perform 3 reps per set with a maximum of 4 Target Sets
Group "B" will perform 5 reps per set with a maximum of 5 Target Sets
Cycle Two; Strength and Power
Group "A" will perform 2 reps per set with a maximum of 4 Target Sets
Group "B" will perform 3 reps per set with a maximum of 4 Target Sets
Cycle Three: Performance
Group "A" will perform 1 and 2 reps per set with a maximum of 4 Target Sets
Group "B" will perform 2 reps per set with a maximum of 4 Target Sets

EXAMPLES of CLASS III Programs
It is recommended that each training session contain
One Olympic Movement (Classical or a Derivative)
One Pushing Movement
One Pulling Movement
One Leg Movement
One "Core" movement