Hey, I was just curious if any of you guys use the Olifts in a powerlifting routine? Can anyone give me some ideas on how to implement them into a overall routine emphasizing powerlifts? If so,roughly what weights should I be using on the Olifts…I currently deadlift 410, and back squat around 340. I’m just starting to learn the Olifts, so if anyone has some good pointers on how to learn/perform the lifts better I’d really appreciate the advice.
Thanks,
Daniel
Learn proper form, practice form everyday even with just a bar. If serious try to get a coach to help you. There is a mega thread on here full of experienced oly lifters that can help you a long the way with questions.
Just because you can deadlift 500 lbs doesn’t mean your going to jump in and be doing big oly lifts. There pretty technical and require lots of speed and power more so then pure strength.
I’d be more curious to find out why you want to do that? Are you thinking of using them to increase your total?
If that is your line of thought, I would say not to bother. I had a long conversation on the phone with Louie Simmons about that very line of thought and the bottom line is that he felt they do not carry over to powerlifting well. He did a good job of convincing me as well.
I’m not trying to use them to increase my max strength. I’m not looking to be a massive powerlifter, my reason for doing powerlifting is just to increase my max strength in the major lifts. My overall goal is to improve my athleticism through strength AND power gains. My reasons for incorporating the Olifts are:
1)I want to increase my power and explosiveness including my vert. And yes, I know you can gain explosiveness from speed squats
2)I’m bored of doing only tradition lifts…i’d like the option of incorporating some of the Olifts into my workouts.
3)They’re just so cool looking.
I was thinking of eventually incorporating the Olifts into the powerlifting scheme on a DE instead of speed squats. Thoughts? constructive criticism?
Here is an article by Travis Mash who competes in both sports. Maybe it can help…
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/westside_meets_olifting.htm
Using a westside template, you can do a power clean or a power snatch in DE lower day.
[quote]droshan wrote:
I was thinking of eventually incorporating the Olifts into the powerlifting scheme on a DE instead of speed squats. Thoughts? constructive criticism?[/quote]
Nothing wrong with this based on the goals you laid out. I tried this once. Mostly it involved power cleans to warm up for speed deads, full snatches at the end of de squat workouts and jerks from the racks on bench days, a lot of fun and good for cardiovascular purposes, but as Matt said you’re not going to see a lot of direct carryover to your powerlifts.
The biggest carryover/benefit I got to powerlifting was the extra tricep work from the jerks and snatches, a bit more firmer in the abs and better conditioning. if your goal is just general physical fitness then you can mix and match lifting styles all you want as far as im concerned.
If your goal is to become a better powerlifter or a better o-lifter then youre better off picking one discipline and putting all your time or energy into that.
What sport are you playing? I would switch over to a complete oly program if I were you, they just don’t seem to mesh that well with powerlifting. Going to full oly program you get 1. A new fun program, 2. You will progress faster on them.
I think powerlifting in general is better for most athletes as many athletes tend to be pretty weak and powerlifting will get you much stronger faster. Thats why westisde for skinny bastards is such a highly recommended program for athletes. I mean on top of lifting your still going to practice speed and explosiveness with drills and other various exercises.
Thanks for all the great replies. Is it possible to maintain maximal strength while performing an Olift routine? What if I add in some maximal strength work twice a week for maintanence? I still need to learn the technique before I start loading on the O lifts.
Or, should I just do powerlifting now while practicing the O lifts with a bar?
Don’t laugh, but I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Basketball…I’m thinking of possibly doing some powerlifting at 165. That’s why I’m working on just a general strength/power improvement. Too many goals!!
Yup. I wanna dunk even if I suck and dribbling.
[quote] Matt wrote:
Here is an article by Travis Mash who competes in both sports. Maybe it can help…
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/westside_meets_olifting.htm
[/quote]That is VERY similar to what I do.
Thanks Matt.
OP, PM me if you want to see my program.
It is definitely a work in progress.
[quote] Matt wrote:
Here is an article by Travis Mash who competes in both sports. Maybe it can help…
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/westside_meets_olifting.htm
[/quote]
While I find that article very interesting, I am curious why he uses bands and chains for oly lifting. I know many people oppose this.
Joe DeFranco says you can use O-lifts on ME day if you feel you must, read the ask joe section i dont remember where it is but i read it all lol.
What i have infered from louie simmons articles at westsidebarbell.com is if you do ME O-lifts you should be able to handle more volume from the reduced TUT. (more like 7-12 total lifts above 90% instead of 1-5ish.)
i like to do powercleans as a ME movement because they are fun and its kind of a rest not putting 400-500 pounds on your back or more in your hands(DL). i dont think a westside template is made to have a ME squat/DL and a ME o-lift day in the same week so if you do Olifts on speed day do them like speed work, light and fast.
heres the deal for me should I add clean n jerks to DE upper and snatches to DE lower or the other way around. I can only train once a day.
Hey guys, new to the forum but I’m a long time reader and follower so I figured I’d start posting. I see this topic more as adding the West Side philosophy into Olympic Lifting. Louie Simmons often references this and I find this helps. In the cycle I’m in now 75% of my workouts are started with some type of olympic lift. Then I’ll use power lifting methodolgy to improv my power and strength and so far its worked out very well. All my lifts have gone up steadily. In fact, I’ve found training oly lifts helps my leg drive on bench significantly. I hadnt benched in a while and hit a big weight with bands on driving through my typical sticking point.
So yeah, for me at least as a Rugby player it’s more about powerliftings application in oly lifts as opposed to the other way around.
Louie Simmons article on OL: http://www.mikesgym.org/articles/index.php?show=article§ionID=3&articleID=57
what i do i do all of my olimpic lifts as a warm up u might like to try that.
TBH, I think that Louie Simmons article is garbage. Too much emphasis on limit strength and pretty much a total disregard for position, technique and consistency. Yes you have to be strong to be a successful weightlifter, but being stronger than everyone else won’t make you better than everyone else.
If you really want to add the O lifts do them first, not last, and on lower body days.
ninearms, totally agree with you. And what’s with westside only compatible with olympic lifts? Olympic lifters themselves are quite strong as well. squatting, pressing, and pulling is included in almost each workout…