Utilizing Olympic-Style Weight Lifting in the Development of Our Athletes

The High School Perspective:

By C.J. Stockel, MSED
Flowery Branch High School,
Strength & Conditioning Coordinator,
Special Teams Coordinator

The Olympic lifts and the exercises that support them are the basis of our football training program at The Branch. Our philosophy is YES to the POWER of 4: 1) exercises are ground based (we are standing up), 2) exercises are multi-joint and multi-muscle, 3) equipment used is free weights, and 4) exercises are explosive in nature. This philosophy describes what an athlete does in competition, and we train to produce the best athletes possible. However, it is not exercises that we are teaching, but rather movements that will be used on the football field or any athletic field. Triple extension and applying force into the floor is what an athlete does in competition. The Olympic lifts replicate this with a bar in the hand and produce more power per lift than any other movement. Balance, core training, and explosive drive is necessary for an athlete. Almost every joint in the body and muscle are used in the two basic movements of the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk. In our program we have 2 beliefs: 1) Safety is the number one priority 2) Technique moves the bar.
Our athletes are expected to train as they play. On the field we want perfect technique in blocking, tackling, passing, and receiving. The same is expected in the weightroom by which we have reduced the number of injuries on the field. We begin with the seventh grade, building the foundation by training the basic movements of over head squats, presses, pulls, and bar path with a dowel rod. When the athletes have perfected this technique, we move to light bars in these movements. By the eighth grade we want our players to be able to do front squats, cleans, and snatches from blocks using the bars and light weights. Using blocks allows us to teach position of the body and the bar in the correct bar path. By the ninth grade we expect our players to have mastered the basic bar path and to be doing the exercises from the floor. Between the seventh grade and the ninth grade, we have taught all of the lift progressions and have laid the foundation for our athletes’ high school training.

Since football is a collision sport, preparing the body is what we do in the weightroom. With the bar traveling from the floor to overhead in less than a second and landing in a squat position, we are training explosive hip production with abdominal and back strength in less than a second. It is through this movement that the nervous system and the body are learning how to produce force and receive force. Our basic workout is: 1st) Classic Olympic lift, 2nd) Pull, 3rd) Strength lift (a type of Squat or Bench), and 4th) auxiliary lifts. In-season we train 5 sessions per week and in the offseason we train 8 sessions per week with 2 of these sessions being speed and agility training. We also do the Olympic lifts with kettle bells and dumbbells, teaching unilateral movement.

The College Perspective:

By Jason W. Beaulieu, CSCS, USAW
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Delaware

At Delaware, our center of attention is always to develop a well-conditioned, explosive football player by integrating all phases of a comprehensive and scientifically-based strength and conditioning program.
The purest form of training for any activity is the actual activity itself; therefore, it is imperative that your training program include activities that are similar to the sport being trained. Football is a stand-up power sport that is played in free space, so I believe you should train your athletes in free space. Football players need tremendous strength, power and flexibility in the kinetic chain of the body. They use every muscle, tendon, and joint in a coordinated and explosive fashion. Athletic movements in the game of football have very quick and explosive changes in direction and speed levels while maintaining an optimum body position in good balance. My training philosophy is structured with those thoughts in mind and we will train in the most natural state that all football players interact with on a daily basis – on their feet using the whole body in a functional and dynamic environment.

There are several reasons why I utilize Olympic-style weightlifting in my training programs. I believe that this approach to training will best prepare my athletes to develop the characteristics necessary for the demands of the game. The first reason is power. We use lifts such as the snatch, clean and jerk and multiple variations of these lifts because they create the explosive power necessary for the sport. Research shows that exercises that require multiple joint actions timed in the proper neuromuscular recruitment patterns are the most productive in developing athletes. The explosive “jump and pull” motions of a clean and jerk are executed in 0.2-0.3 seconds. Such power transmission from the ground up through the kinetic chain develops muscular synergy and proprioception that carries over to blocking and tackling on the field.
Movements that are performed with the athlete’s feet on the ground are more productive than movements performed while sitting or lying down. Applying force against the ground causes an equal and opposite reaction in the direction of the movement. The greater the force you generate against the ground, the faster you can run and the higher you can jump. It is my opinion that ground-based power is critical to athletic success. Training with your feet on the ground requires the athlete to stabilize their own body structure which in turn increases proprioception and strengthens stabilization muscles, reducing the risk of injury.

Training explosively with Olympic-style weight lifting also causes a greater exertion to the central nervous system which helps to stimulate the production of endogenous hormones thereby developing a greater degree of overall lean muscle mass and strength in our football players. The biggest difference between strength and power is the speed of the movement. Strength alone is useless – power is what wins games. Developing the ability to apply force rapidly has the greatest transfer to athleticism and explosiveness.

I feel strongly that if performed correctly, these lifts would be beneficial to any athlete who incorporates them into their speed and strength training program. p