It has long been my view that the critical factor for developing a confident and reliably successful Jerk is that the athlete must attempt to mimic the conditions of a maximal Jerk all the way through their warm up to the moment when a maximal Jerk is actually achieved. This requires the athlete to have conceptual knowledge of what actually happens during a maximal jerk, and how a maximal jerk can be achieved if it is to be achieved at all.
The causes of burnout in athletes
I have formed a view, as a result of a lengthy career in Olympic Weightlifting, that the most difficult tasks of the coach are neither the instruction of Weightlifting technique, nor the teaching of athletes how to train effectively. Though these activities are time consuming and require considerable learning to perform, there is yet another level of coaching that far exceeds in complexity. The hardest task is keeping athletes highly motivated over many years despite all that life throws at them. This article will examine the causes of burnout in athletes and what the coach and supporters of the athlete can reasonably do to mitigate the risks. Continue reading
Rehabilitation and Recovery of Weightlifting Injuries
This article attempts to address one of the most serious errors that athletes frequently make in their training – a failure in regard to rehabilitation and recovery of Weightlifting injuries that result from overloading.
Overloading is considered to be an essential aspect of training for performance improvement and for this reason we tend to talk about Progressive Overload Theory in coaching courses. It is not that overloading is something to be avoided but it is inevitable that the motivated athlete will at some time push too hard, too often, and will fail to adequately recover between sessions. The result is often the occurrence of worrisome pain, soreness and/or stiffness focused in a particular part of the body. An easy example in Weightlifting would be the situation where an athlete pushes hard on squats over several weeks only to succumb to patella tendon soreness in either one or both knees. Continue reading
Training Intensity Percentages as Used in Weightlifting
In Weightlifting, it is a common practice to use percentages (of best lifts) as a means to set the desired intensity of the athlete’s training in any given day. Intensity is measure of how hard or how difficult the training is. The following table provides an example of how words like “heavy” or “light” can be quantified by using training intensity percentages:
The percentages in the left column are worked from the athlete’s personal best lift. Thus, if following the percent bands in Figure 1 above, for an athlete who has a best Snatch of 100Kg, the very heavy range begins at 93Kg, the heavy range is 88-92Kg, and so on. The actual boundaries between each of these percent bands are arbitrary. By this I mean that other coaches will likely have different ideas as to where these boundaries lie. As always in the sport of Weightlifting, there is great delight among experienced coaches in finding some aspect of training methodology to debate, and certainly the above training intensity percentages will suffice in this regard! Continue reading
Training frequency in Weightlifting: When to add another training session?
I was recently asked “what are the advantages and disadvantages/risks of adding an additional training session per week”. I am sure that readers will attest that this is a common question in some form or another.
In any club that caters for differing levels of experience and ability, it is likely that there are athletes training as little as 2 days a week and as much as as 6 days per week, and some even 9-11 sessions per week. At every level of experience, it is probable that athletes will ask the question ‘should I be doing more?’
The simple answer is of course that it depends on the ‘circumstances of the individual athlete’ but an answer of this nature does not really help. What’s really needed is a number of criteria that the athlete and the coach can consider to determine whether circumstances permit an additional training day.
Here are some suggested criteria for increasing training frequency: Continue reading
Expertly Written Olympic Weightlifting Programs
Reliable, well-written and professionally produced Olympic Weightlifting programs are now available on this website. Training programs available cover experience levels from novice to advanced athletes. More programs are being added weekly to cover the needs of athletes preparing for competitions in as short as 4 weeks and as long as 15 weeks. Longer duration programs are phased, for example – Preparatory Phase, Competition Phase.
The author (Leo Isaac) is well acquainted with training theory in Olympic Weightlifting having been a devotee of the sport for 42 years as an athlete, coach, director of coaching and lead coach educator in Australia.
A special feature of programming method used by Leo Isaac is “Volume Guide” which assist the program user with advice on the amount of warm-up sets, sets at the designated intensity and sets above the designated intensity at periodic intervals.
A key issue with written training programs in general is that they need to be individualized according to individual strengths and weaknesses. The advanced programs provided on this site provide a mechanism to add additional exercises for identified weaknesses and to incorporate morning training as well.
You will not find a better deal for Olympic Weightlifting programs anywhere on the Internet in terms of the number and variety of training programs that you can buy for very small dollars.
Find out more about Weightlifting Training Programs available
Conversation with athletes
Last night I had a pre-planned group conversation with athletes at the club after training. I am not entirely sure what was expected by the athletes but this session had been billed as an opportunity to discuss athlete responses to a club survey of opinions on training programs, coaching and factors that limit performance.
As the session proceeded, I attempted to probe the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the athletes as represented by the survey. Here’s an example of one of the survey questions: Continue reading
Coaching the youth beginner athlete
Coaches must be aware that the initial learning period of the beginner in Weightlifting is profoundly important and will leave an indelible impression. In the case of coaching children and/or young adults, there is an increased level of responsibility to ensure that the coaching methodology employed lives up to community expectations and provides the beginner with a good start to their career in the sport.
The following guidelines are provided to assist coaches working with children and young adults in Weightlifting:
Determining platform attempts in a Weightlifting competition
In the final days/weeks before a competition, athletes and coaches will generally discuss and make decisions about the athlete’s “competition plan”. This process can be quite simple or very elaborate depending on the importance of the competition, the level of experience of the athlete, and whether there is any need for tactics to respond to the athlete’s competitors. Continue reading
A coach’s plea
To my athletes, I would like to take a moment of your time to explain how I might see things differently about training, your training.
Last night was a designated ‘heavy’ session. I know that you very much look forward to such sessions in the hope that you can push beyond your present personal bests. Last night, many of you were rewarded for your efforts. Well done!
But as we head towards the next competition, there are some things I want you to keep uppermost in your mind. Continue reading