Olympic Lifting, Nice, But Not Necessary.

“Athletes Need Olympic Lifts for Power Development”

From strong-athlete.com

How many times have you heard that line?

Probably a lot….The NSCA indoctrinates everyone with it…….and I used to repeat it….

Then I got educated, thought about it and realized…that’s some dogmatic BS.

First things first:

What is Power?

Other than A kick-ass magazine about all things STRONG….

It’s a measure of work done over time.

Power= Work/ Time

So the faster you can do work…ie. create the displacement of an object relative to a fixed point, the more powerful you are.

Ex.

A. 225lbs bench for 3 reps in 3 seconds.

B. 225lbs bench for 3 reps in 6 seconds.

Example A is MORE powerful….see how that works?

And why is that a good example?

Because it shows that:

Granted, some exercises lend themselves to power training more so than others.

Olympic Lifts certainly fall into that category because, the fact is, you can’t perform a clean or snatch slowly.

Well you can, but you’re really going to be jacking yourself up in the process.

So you probably shouldn’t be doing POWER lateral raises…that sh@t would be stupid, useless and lame as hell, but instead focus on compound, multi-joint exercises that must be performed fast.

Bench Presses, Box Squats, Push Presses, Corner Presses and some Kettlebell exercises (snatches/ swings) can all work well in developing power.

This is especially true when combined with bands because you have to “out-run” the band by accelerating the weight through lockout. <—-there is a LOT more to the concept of overspeed eccentrics and power but that’s a whole other article..

Trust me, if you try to be slow with bands you’ll get stuck, you MUST be fast..

So you don’t have to use the Olympic lifts to build power…

“Triple Extension”

That’s always the argument for Olympic Lifting once you debunk the “they’re the only way to develop power” thing….

Triple extension: this is full, simultaneous extension of the ankles, knees and hips.

It’s a common position seen in MANY sporting movements.

From Will Stuart Strength Training

From Lehmans Baseball.wordpress.com

saptstrength.com

 If you’re going to transfer maximal force into the ground and generate maximal power, you’re gonna need to achieve triple extension……that’s true.

But I can train this position using other modalities.

Looks like triple extension to me, so the Olympic Lifts aren’t necessary for this either.

So why don’t I use the Olympic Lifts?

In no particular order:

#1. The learning curve with Olympic lifts tends to be fairly high, and I don’t have the time luxury.

#2. I can get as good or better results in less time with other, simpler/ easier to perform exercises.

#3. Any faulty movement/ technique when using Olympic lifts can really beat up a lifter quickly.

What do I use Instead of Olympic Lifts to Develop Power? 

Sprinting:

Jumping/ Bounding:

Throwing:

Band Resisted Barbell Work:

All of these (except the barbell work, crazy, I know)  can activate just as many, if not more, high threshold motor units in the same amount of time (the physiological marker of power output)  as the Olympic Lifts and involve the “triple extension” motor pattern.

There used to be a chart out there in interwebzz land from Charlie Francis that had an estimation of the % of motor unit recruitment relative to certain exercises. If someone has that please email it to me HERE.

From Chad Waterbury.com

Something to think about:

You probably DON’T need specific power training.

You just need to get stronger.

Fact that gets lost on most Charlatans “Performance Specialists”

You’re power output is LIMITED by your maximal strength.

Think about it this way:

From Eric Cressey’s Ultimate Off-Season Manual

Maximal strength is the size of the glass….

Power is the amount of liquid in it.

You can not have more liquid than the glass can hold.

Therefore, you’re LIMITED by maximal strength and usually simply making the glass taller will lead to a subsequent increase in power output.

Point being: If you’re weak, you have a short glass…you’ll get little to nothing out of “Power” training…and a whole lot more out of just making your glass taller, getting stronger.

The magnitude of improvements after ballistic power training was not significantly influenced by strength level. However, the training had a tendency toward eliciting a more pronounced effect on jump performance in the stronger group.- Cormie

Stolen from Yann LE MEUR, if you’re interested in this type of research this guy make awesome infographics breaking it down. 

Another Consideration: The INTENT to move a weight quickly is as effective in the development of power as actually moving the weight quickly is.

“results suggest that the principal stimuli for the high-velocity training response are the repeated attempts to perform ballistic contractions and the high rate of force development of the ensuing contraction. The type of muscle action (isometric or concentric) appears to be of lesser importance” Behm and Sale

High level coaches have known about this for a looooonnnnng time and have always coached athletes to be “explosive” with heavy weights.

“when Ben is performing 2 sets of 5 repetitions in either bench press or squat he is moving a heavy weight as fast as he can. The CNS stimulation/ activation is optimal. He is maximally involving his nervous system via maximum recruitment of motor neurons. He is challenging his organism. However the actual lifting speed of a maximal weight is moderate to slow.” –Charlie Francis

Truth be told

I don’t think this works in developing power with truly ELITE high level athletes, but instead maintaining it.

Elite athletes DO need dedicated power work to develop power, but that’s less than 1% of the population.

They already create motion using maximal force, so I think that they usually can benefit from specific power training to improve the rate of that force transmission.

The average guy or gal on the street however is usually so far away from their genetic potential that I don’t think they get much out of dedicated power training because they can’t activate the necessary number motor units quickly enough in the first place.

This isn’t to say the Olympic lifts are horrible and no one should use them. It’s just my thoughts on why they are not necessary for power development, contrary to what many in this field will tell you. 

If I did use them this is what I would want my athletes to look like:

HUGE props to Nate Baukol and his staff. Really good interview with him here.