The following program is an example of exercise selection and set, rep and intensity prescription over the course of a 12-week training cycle. This basic template can be shortened, extended and other- wise modified fairly easily. Different exercises can be used in place of what is prescribed here to address the needs of the individual athlete, or Olympic lift variants can be changed to be appropriate for the athlete’s present ability and mobility (e.g. changing power cleans to hang power cleans, or replacing snatches with cleans).
Conditioning and sport-specific skill work would generally be placed in greatest volume in the days between these strength train- ing days, and depending on the sport, athlete and activity, may be done before or after the strength training sessions as well.
Abdominal work is done every training day. It’s recommended to alternate among different types of ab work each session to en- sure complete development and to keep athletes more engaged through variety. Ab work can be broken up into basic categories like trunk flexion, trunk lateral flexion, trunk rotation and static holds. Usually 3-5 sets of 10-30 reps is sufficient unless an athlete is particularly weak in this respect. In such cases, planks may be a good idea for every session before any other ab work.
Upper body accessory work can also be varied each week and usually can be left to the athlete to choose; however, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the athletes to make sure they don’t simply always do the exercises they like most because those will usually be the ones they need the least. These exercises should be chosen to address hypertrophy or small muscle or movement strength. For example, an athlete who has poor scapular stability should choose upper body pull exercises that involve scapular retraction.
The program shows testing of 1 rep max for certain exercises. This should be done judiciously. If an athlete is not technically sound enough to lift a maximal effort, he or she can instead per- form 3-5 sets of heavy singles.
In cases in which no weights are assigned, the numbers are sets x reps (e.g. 3 x 8 is 3 sets of 8 reps). In cases in which weights are assigned, the numbers are weight (or percentage) x reps x sets (e.g. 65% x 8 x 3 is 3 sets of 8 reps at 65%).
Note that while percentages are prescribed in most cases, these may need to be adjusted for certain athletes based on how adapted they are this type of training, how accurate the 1RMs used for calculation are, and how technically sound their lifts are. In some cases, the athlete will not have an established 1RM in a given exercise. In these instances, the percentages can be used as a guide for the desired level of effort and will show the basic progression of intensity over the course of the cycle. If the athlete is techni- cally proficient enough, he or she can test a 1RM at the end of the cycle for use in the next one.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Day 1
Power Clean 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Back Squat 65% x 8 x 3 75% x 5 x 4 80% x 4 x 4 85% 3 x 3 90% x 1 x 3 Test 1RM
SLDL 3 x 8 3 x 8 3 x 6 3 x 6 3 x 5 3 x 5 Upper Body Pull Accessory 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30
Day 2
Power Jerk Behind Neck 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Bench Press 65% x 8 x 3 75% x 5 x 4 80% x 4 x 4 85% 3 x 3 90% x 1 x 3 Test 1RM Bent Row 4 x 8 4 x 8 4 x 6 4 x 6 3 x 5 3 x 5 Upper BodyPush & Pull Accessory - Vertical 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30
Day 3
Hang Power Snatch 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Clean Pull 5 x 5 5 x 5 5 x 4 5 x 4 5 x 3 5 x 3 Good Morning 3 x 8 3 x 8 3 x 6 3 x 6 3 x 5 3 x 5 Lunge 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 8 3 x 8 3 x 8 Upper Body Push Acces- sory 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12
Day 1
Power Clean 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Front Squat 65% x 6 x 4 75% x 5 x 4 80% x 4 x 4 85% 3 x 3 90% x 1 x 3 Test 1RM
SLDL 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 2 x 5 2 x 5 Upper Body Push Accessory 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30
Day 2
Split Jerk 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Push Press 65% x 8 x 3 75% x 5 x 4 80% x 4 x 4 85% 3 x 3 90% x 1 x 3 Test 1RM Weighted
Pull-up
4 x 10 4 x 8 5 x 6 4 x 6 3 x 5 3 x 3 Upper Body
Push & Pull Accessory - Horizontal 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30
Day 3
Snatch 70% x 3 x 8 75% x 3 x 6 80% x 2 x 8 85% x 2 x 6 90% x 1 x 5 Test 1RM Clean High-Pull 5 x 5 5 x 5 5 x 4 5 x 4 5 x 3 5 x 3 Good Morning 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 3 x 5 Lunge 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 8 3 x 8 3 x 8 Upper Body PullAccessory
3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 3-5 x 8-12 Abs 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30 3-5 x 10-30
FLEXIBILITY
Inflexibility in the ankles, hips, thoracic spine, shoulders and wrists will limit an athlete’s ability to perform the Olympic lifts and un- necessarily create opportunity for injury. However, with limited training time and so many other athletic traits in need of develop- ment, along with the general unpleasantness of stretching, flexibil- ity is often neglected by athletes and coaches.
The goal for the coach and athlete is to address flexibility as needed with as little time commitment as possible. Limiting the time commitment means both keeping the amount of time dedi- cated to flexibility work in a given training session to as little as needed to be effective, but also ensuring that improvements are made as quickly as possible to allow the reduction of flexibility work as an athlete’s career progresses. It takes far less time and ef- fort to maintain a given level of flexibility than to achieve it.
Flexibility is ideally developed very early in the process of athletic development along with other general physical traits that create the foundation for athletic specialization, but the majority of athletes will arrive in a training program with less than optimal flexibility. This then needs to be addressed along with the other training elements to ensure safe training and maximal develop- ment.