I have been given the distinct pleasure and honor to program for and manage Outlaw Barbell via The Outlaw Way blog. Starting tomorrow there will be a program written and published daily for strictly Olympic weightlifting. Let me emphasize this reality. This program is not for Crossfitters, it is for those who desire to excel at an elite level at Olympic weightlifting. I’m excited about the opportunity and can’t wait to see how the rest of the country and the rest of the world performs on this programming. Here’s the write up I posted on The Way’s blog.
n”The development of any skill or talent takes effort, time, consistency, and smart training. Football players become talented at the sport of football because they spend hours developing perfect footwork for their routes, catching footballs, watching film, and developing their craft. Football players do not spend hours or effort practicing ice-skating or developing their baseball swing. That would be futile and wasted effort. Would they be a more well-rounded, athlete if they did? Absolutely. However, they would not be an elite level football player. Weightlifting is no different. To be elite at weightlifting in such a way that you win National Championships and compete internationally you have to train specifically to do so.
I am going to be writing programming designed for the athlete looking to excel strictly at Olympic Weightlifting. The programming and methodology, titled the Arnold Method, will be much higher in volume and accessory work than The Way’s programming for Crossfit athletes. This first cycle will be a 12-week cycle designed to develop absolute strength, hypertrophy, and technical aspects of the lifts. However, in the future we will work through cycles designed for other purposes and with other goals in mind. This early in the weightlifting season, looking toward the American Open, strength is paramount and technical development is key. Thus for the next twelve weeks we are going to be working through 3-4 week meso-cycles designed to produce a greater level of absolute strength.
We will repeat exercises every 4 weeks. For athletes, that means you need to keep VERY PRECISE records of your daily training so that four weeks later when we re-visit those exercises you have a number to base your training for that day off of.
Furthermore, where The Way’s programming will make up for its lower volume in the lifts by adding volume through conditioning, this program will simply have more working sets in the lifts, slightly more squatting, and volume added in accessory movement. I would highly suggest breaking this program up into 2 sessions each day. You know your body best. Therefore, when your body is most primed for speed and power, do the lifts during that time of day. When your body is most apt for strength complete the squatting and accessory movements then. This routine will allow you to get the most from your workouts each day. Furthermore, the only day we will be taking off is Sunday. Every Thursday will be an active recovery day with technical work and simple movements to be completed in one training session.
Lastly, this cycle is going to be designed to help yall qualify for the American Open in December. If that is your goal begin looking for a meet in mid to late October that is USAW Sanctioned to use as your qualifying/prep meet. I will be posting a 3 week taper for you to use in preparation for that meet. Furthermore, if you are simply following the program and are not planning on competing then the 3-week taper will be the programming in mid to late October in order to help prepare you to max your lifts at the end of the cycle.
This is going to be fun and I can’t wait to see the results. Get ready. Enjoy…”
Developing Power & Strength through the use of the Olympic Lifts.
