Training Of The Weightlifter

May 1999

Hi Shaun, Thanks for your reply. I think I can be of help to you but as you well know there are many who hold views opposed to mine. So, a certain amount of faith on your part will be needed. What I liked about you was that you were young and inexperienced. I say this because many times advanced lifters are initially intrigued by my view but when they discover they must cut back on their strength work in order to lift with proper technique and/or organize their training along more rational lines they say "Been nice talkin' to ya". You also struck me as intelligent (to be studying Statistics and Computer Science you must be). More importantly you seem to be open minded and an independent thinker. It is good (as you noted) to pursue balance in your life.Training, school, and personal life are all important. I liked your comment "I want to be the best lifter I can be". This is important because unless you are a professional athlete the notion of striving tobe world or olympic champ is just a pipe dream and a waste of time.

Well, a bit about me. I've been in lifting for 26 years (sports in general my whole life). I was an above average lifter at my best (137.5+177.5 as a 82.5kg in 1977). I made those lifts on raw talent because I had NO IDEA what I was doing. I still compete as an athlete in masters track and field (multi-events:indoor and outdoor pentathlons) and I still OL but mostly in conjunction with the T&F.

I came across Roman's system in '93 and ithad the effect on me that it did for 3 main reasons: 1)his track record: if you want to succeed at anything I think it always pays to listen to what extremely successful people in that field have to say 2)his methods were based on scientific principles and 3)hindsight being 20/20 I could see WHY all the things I did wrong were wrong. Although his book was written in '86 international lifting levels are no higher today than they were then. What IS different now is the unreal depth ofgreat lifters in the different categories. I think this is a result of the russian training methods being applied in other places for asubstantial period of time. I say Russian because I think the Bulgarian methods,while proven, tend to burn people out quickly and are not applicable to non professionals anyway. I know your main question washow to effectively plan your training. Roman's system is (as you know) a deductive one starting with a multi year plan and working down to the individual session. The process is not hard to follow but I'll take you through it step by step.

The planning of the individual workouts is by no means arbitrary but it is highly subjective and is largley a function of experience. This is where i think I can most assist you. Iam glad you possess and have read the book because in the interest of time and clarity I will often refer to passages in it. I would like to proceed as follows: in maybe 3 installments I can
1)give you an overview of why americans train wrong and how Roman's method correctsthese flaws
2) explain the most salient points of proper technique andtouch on the most important principles regarding the various exercises(chapters 1 and 2) and
3)explain in detail how to effectively plan yourtraining.

In the meantime: go to http://www.drsquat.com/ and then click training articles and then click training systems and read what Fred Hatfield has to say there. It's good stuff. Tell me what your best lifts are and how often you can train. To avoid scaling down Roman'sprogram in a typical 4 week prep cycle you would need to plan for 1five day week 1 or two 4 day weeks and 1 or 2 three day weeks, so 15 to16 sessions per month. In a typical competition month two 4 day weeksand two 3 day weeks ,so 14 total sessions. Otherwise you will need toscale it down. That is really the biggest problem with his system. Finally, I would recommend you get 3 books if you can.
1)Science andPractice of Strength Training by Zatsiorsky
2) Supertraining by Siffand Verkhoshansky and
3)Quantum Strength and Power Training by O'Shea.

The 1st two you can get from M-F Athletic at 1-800-556-7464 and O'Sheahas a link on lifttilyadie.com . Total cost will be about $100american and I realize you are a student but it is a good investment and will help you greatly in terms of amplifying on my own comments. Well, I guess I'll be hearing from you. Jim