I just have to say,regarding building muscle with the olympic lifts,for the upper back,and traps,they are unmatched.
I am bumping this thread up because I just invited some o-lifters from the goheavy olympic weight training forum to come here and answer questions about o-lifting for people.
Olympic lifting do build some muscle mass. Especially in the traps, upper and lower back, shoulders and lower body.
Of course, the fact that TUT is low might mean lower hypertrophy gains, but that can be countered with a greater number of reps.
Many olympic lifters have great powerful physiques. Go to this adress
http://home.cogeco.ca/~sleconte2/pics2001.html
And look at the botom picture of Hossein Tavakoli, 105kg olympic champion and tell me that it’s not one of the most frightening physique you have ever seen… and most impressive is that all of this mass is functional!!!
Other great physiques are: Pyrros Dimas, Taimur Taimazov, Kakhi and such … basically look at most 85-94-105kg elite lifters and you’ll see a very impressive, powerfull physique.
ya as far as hypertrophy goes, ive got to say that snatches have helped my traps like no other.
Chris,
Did you read the interview with Bompa? In it he somewhat poo-poos OWL’ing for athletic training. I know that I have read similar comments in his books. You (and Dr. Siff for that matter) both seem to have a different view of the usefulness of the Olympic lifts. Could you give your comments regarding Bompa’s statements?
In S&PoST (by Zatsiorsky) he says that strangth exercises have to be SPECIFIC for them to have any value. If they woon’t help sport performance, whatever they are, they aren’t very useful. That’s basically what he was saying.
Yes, I have read that book as well and I agree with Zatsiorsky (and who am I to disagree). But it seems to me that most land-based non-endurance sports are based on generation of whole-body power, relying heavily on power generated with the hips and with the entire body being in sync. As far as I am aware, the most powerful full-body movement in any sport is the snatch. A throw in baseball, a punch in boxing, a jump, a sprint, etc. all seem to me that these could be effectively improved through the olympic lifts. I am sure that the OL probably have less or little usefullness to water sports or sports where the athlete is not on his or her feet. And the olympic lifts seem to me that they would be quite effective in training grapplers at least as far as shooting in on an opponent goes or throws. This is not to say that OL’s are essential or that there are not other means of acquiring the same sports-specific strength. Just my $.02
I understand what Bompa is saying (not really agreeing)about sports specific movements and olypmic lifts, but then he goes on to talk about LEG CURLS, I don’t care what the sport is there has to be a better posterior chain movement then a leg curl (glute-ham raises, good mornings, etc.) I also wonder what Bompa feels about westsides method of periodization.
Remember, the westside-type of periodization (conjugated) is used in a sport which tests limit strength F(mm). Also the westside method borrowed liberally from Bondarchuk, a Soviet throwers coach. The Hammer Throw and Shot-put also depend heavily on limit strength (there is a non-paramentric relationship between F(mm) and v(m)). It can be surmised that different sports may require entirely different periodization schemes. Conjugated periodization may work for powerlifters but may not be appropriate for, say, sprinters who are power-endurance athletes.