Takano Athletics

Day 1—Monday

1)Back Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, 80%/4, 85%/4, (80%/4)2                             24:24

2)Snatch: 60%/4, 70%/4, 80%/4, 85%/3, 80%/4, 85%/2                             21:45

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 70%/4+1, 80%/4+1, 85%/3+1, 80%/4+1, 85%/2+1           27:72

4)Snatch High Pull: (85%/4)4                                                                      16:88

5)Push Press: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/4)3                                                       20:108:108

Abdominals: (X/25)4

Day 2—Tuesday

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, (80%/3)3                                                      15:15

2)Power Sn. & Push Press & Overhead Squat: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/3+3+3)3       45:60

3)Power Clean & Front Squat & Jerk: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/3+3+3)3         45:105

4)Romanian Deadlift: (90%/4)5                                                                  20:125

5)Press: (X/5)4                                                                                            20:145:253

Day 3—Wednesday

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3, 85%/3, 90%/1                                  13:13

2)Snatch: 60%/2, 70%/2, 80%/2, 85%/2                                                     08:21

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/2+1, 70%/2+1, 80%/2+1, 85%/2+1                           12:33

4)Clean Deadlift (down in 10 sec): (80%/3)5                                             15:48:301

Abdominals: (X/25)3

Day 4—Thursday

1)Front Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, 80%/4, 85%/4, (80%/4)2                             24:24

2)Power Snatch & Push Press & Overhead Squat: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/3+3+3)3 45:69

3)Power Clean & Front Squat & Jerk: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/3+3+3)3         45:114

4)Push Press: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/4)2                                                       16:130:331

Abdominals: (X/20)4

Day 5—Friday,

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3, 85%/3, 80%/3, 85%/2                      17:17

2)Snatch: 60%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3, 85%/3, 80%/3, 85%/2                             17:34

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/3+1, 70%/3+1, 80%/3+1, 85%/3+1, 80%/3+1           20:54

4)Clean High Pull: (85%/4)5                                                                       20:74

5)Press: (X/6)4                                                                                            24:98:429

This is a reprint of one of the old Exercise of the Month columns in International Olympic Lifter magazine.  It is the first of two parts dealing with the issue of the cycling of training.   It is a reasonable primer for the beginning coach or athlete interested in the design of training.

It hardly seems possible, but as 1981 rolls around, it will mark the eighth year that I’ve been writing this column. While it started out to be an instruc­tional column to describe the correct performance of various training movements, the column has expanded into other areas since the number of auxiliary exercises is finite. The other day I was reflecting on some of the material that I had written, and two things struck me as items to be considered in the composi­tion of future columns. First, I had to remind myself that in many instances, magazines are the only source of training in­formation for a large number of our readers, especially those that are juniors or novices. Secondly, I noticed that while many of the columns contained information of a very general nature I had never bothered to justify to the readers. Perhaps I can clear up some of this in this month’s column before I get to the meat of the article.

The other day I was thinking back to my novice days when I trained in the backyard with a set of exercise weights. I can remember waiting in heavy antici­pation for that one day a month when Strength & Health would show up in the mail, back in the times when Suggs and Starr kept it a weight lifter’s journal. While every one of those issues was nearly committed to memory, I would always tear through the pages to see if there were any articles that contained the exact training routines of the champs. I wanted to know exactly how Kono, March, Riecke, Baszanowski, Miyake or Kurentzov trained. In my youthful naivete I believed that if I could train exactly like the champs, I would be a champ, too!

After four years as a biology major in college, I came to under­stand just how biochemically unique each individual is. After several more years of reading, researching, experimenting on myself and others, and observa­tion I came to comprehend just how difficult the training of athletes can be. While certain principles can be applied to training, their effects will be varied in many cases. In short, there is no one routine that will work equally well for every­one. Even among those who have been fortunate enough to receive enough genetic gifts to provide for competitive parity, there is wide variation in their train­ing routines. The best ones are those that either realize them­selves or have coaches that realize that continued progress is a never-ending process of working on weak points. This is even more true since the incep­tion of the biathlon where every champ is a well rounded, complete lifter.

Undoubtedly there will be skeptics out there, and more than likely they will be lifters with five or less years of com­petitive experience. You can take anyone who has never train­ed before and give him any train­ing routine and bring about an improvement in performance. As time progresses the options steadily diminish. After a peri­od of about three to five years a lifter will have to involve himself in the individualization of his training routines. Along with this realization, the ath­lete must also realize that he is changing physiologically from year to year, and that what work­ed last_year may not necessarily work this year. Sound difficult? It is. And that’s all the more reason to marvel at some of the American lifters who have con­tinued to show progress over long periods of time without the benefit of a coach with a Ph.D. in weight lifting (Yes—they do exist. It’s just that they’re not too plentiful outside of the Iron Curtain). A good example is Tom Hirtz, a former training partner of mine, who just re­cently set an American 82.5 kg. snatch record of 155.5 after at least 15 years of competing that I know of. Tom may not be a world expert on training methods, but it’s for sure that he knows a whole lot about how to train Tom Hirtz. What with conditions and facilities being what they are in this country it would behoove every lifter reading this column to begin taking stock of his own resources and taking every opportunity to fa­miliarize himself with them and to exploit them to their full extent.

For the very reason of indi­vidual specificity, I feel that this column would serve the readers best if it focused on general principles since they will enable the thinking indi­vidual to maximize his potential, provided that he provides the thought and energy to utilize them.

Now that I’ve done a little rationalizing for my writing, let’s delve into this month’s topic, which is cycling. It’s been several years since I.O.L. has carried an article on this subject, and a whole new genera­tion of readers has surfaced that keeps reading about it, but may not be comprehending it. In addition, it never hurts to refresh the minds of you veteran readers.

Cycling is a process based on the principles of physiolog­ical adaptation to training that insures that the lifter will be in peak shape for a given competition. A full or macro-cycle lasts for several months and is composed of a number of training months, or meso-cycles. The length of a cycle can vary with the experience of a lifter (the “lifting age”). Those that have competed for many years will have longer macro-cycles than those that have competed for only a few years. As a con­sequence novice lifters will have more meaningful competi­tions per year than veteran lifters. While novice lifters may lift and peak for as many as te’n competitions per year, the veterans may limit them­selves to four or even fewer “meaningful” meets.

A macro-cycle is generally broken down into thirds, with the first two thirds constituting a preparation phase, and the final third a competition phase. There is some disagreement as to the length of time of these phases with some researchers favoring a one-third (or’meso-cycle) of four weeks while others prefer a three week meso-cycle.

The idea behind the whole thing is the fatiguing of the body dur­ing the preparation phase, and then to “tone” its athletic abil­ities during the competitive phase. As correctly practiced, the repeated usage of cycles can result in continued progress for the athlete on a long term basis. Characteristics of the meso-cycle. Preparation phase:

l)The training load (obtained by adding up the products of re­petitions times training weights) is high.

2)The number of repetitions per set is slightly higher than in the competitive phase.

3)A higher percentage of the exercises will be of an assistance nature and partial movements are more common.

4)There is more top pull work (from the blocks and hang).

5)The average training weight may be slightly lower during the first two or three weeks (depend­ing on whether the cycle is three or four weeks).

6)The last training week is lowered by as much as 35% in the training load.

7)More of the 90%+ lifts are performed as pulls, than as full lifts.

One of the problems that I see regarding the training of athletes is the inordinate amount of time given over to warming up.  I see all too many athletes spending too much time and energy on a warm-up that isn’t entirely necessary and in fact detracts from the training and performance of the athlete and the team.

For serious athletes, energy for training is at a premium.  In fact the next great frontier in the training of athletes is the issue of restoration after demanding training.  The entire point of restoration is to heal the body after rigorous training in order to have enough energy to effectively participate in the next day’s training.  So why waste energy on unproductive activities.

From my perspective as a weightlifting coach, the idea of the warm-up is to literally make sure that the body is warm enough to function at optimal levels.  Chemical reactions take place more rapidly at higher temperatures, connective tissues are more elastic and an accelerated heart rate due to elevated body temperature insures that materials are transported more rapidly to and from the functioning tissues.

On warm days younger athletes need very little warm-up at all.  They will be using enough energy later on to remove excess heat from the body.

Larger athletes are always quite warm, and may only need to encourage circulation to the extremities.

Unfortunately older athletes may need the most warm-up due to lesser circulation and yet have the least amount of energy to put into training.

I became intrigued with the topic of energy of warm-up when I read an article in one of the old Soviet Weightlifting Yearbooks.  The article told of how Soviet coaches were experimenting with zip-up bags that athletes climbed into and sat in under the Sun and were able to warm up without any active energy expenditure.

Topical analgesics are a good way to passively warm-up joints and induce more elasticity in the connective structures.

As we all know now stretching is most effective when it is done at the end of the workout and not during the warm-up as it can adversely affect the generation of force.

One of the best indicators of your warmth is the temperature of the head since it is a key organ for heat loss.  If the head is warm to the touch, the body is probably warm enough to begin a training session with moderate activity graduating up to the most demanding.

So the idea is to spend as little active energy on the warm-up and spend it on effective training activities that will lead to enhanced performance.

I’ve found that there is a belief common to many coaches that they have to train their athletes longer and harder than other programs in order to bring about effective results.  A training session may be longer and harder, but if it is not well planned to deal only with practices that will enhance performance, the energy that could be spent on restoration is wasted and the overall development of the athlete may be impeded.

This may be especially important for adolescent athletes who will need a great deal of energy just to grow the body.

We need to keep in mind that more training is not the same as more effective training.  Certainly demanding rigorous training is a necessity for an athlete to reach maximum potential, but the training must be carefully planned so that the rigor is targeted toward the area most in need of enhancement.

I think that sometimes people who have been in the sport of weightlifting for an extended period of time forget the degree of the allure that this sport can generate.

It might seem like a difficult argument or sales proposition to make.  Telling someone that that there are actually people who would like to snatch or clean & jerk more than anything else beyond biological needs might not get you too many believers.  Once that an athlete can perform these movements with great (and sometimes not so great) efficacy however, there is a good chance that he or she will completely alter their life in order to develop even greater proficiency.

For years I’ve been teaching this particularly addictive sport to thousands of people.  Once they understand it and comprehend it and master it, they will spend money, put careers on hold, alter relationships with loved ones and change major aspects of their lives in order to insure that they can continue to train to improve their lifting.

I’ve known of plenty of people who’ve moved to a different city to be in a better training environment or lift under the direction of a certain coach.  I’ve known a lifter who circled certain cities on a map that had weightlifting gyms and let his fiancee know that those were the possible honeymoon destinations.

I’ve had to chase lifters out of the gym when I’d given them a few days off after months of grueling training.  They couldn’t stand to be away from training!

I’ve taught the snatch and clean & jerk to athletes to improve their performance in their sport of choice, and some of them gave up their sport of choice and became weightlifters.  Others have converted their living rooms into weightlifting gyms.

As you go about your lifting and coaching, if you haven’t realized it already, you are dealing with a highly addictive activity that can truly be life changing.  But isn’t that what’s wonderful about weightlifting?  The sheer joy of progressing on that path that will lead to those marvelous moments of sport when the athlete can achieve a personal record on the competitive platform.

People that don’t understand it call it discipline when they see an athlete unfailingly show up for workouts, putting forth a mighty effort on each rep and then doing it again and again and again.  It’s not discipline.  It is addiction.

One of my former athletes, Fred,  had the best term for it.  He called it the sickness.  Whenever we had a newcomer in the gym gradually mastering the snatch and the clean & jerk, and  then getting that look on the face that was just bordering on ecstacy, Fred would look over at me with a fiendish grin on his face and quietly declare, “He’s got the sickness!”

Another convert, another addict.  Weightlifting just does work that way.

Day 1—Monday, 3 August

1)Back Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, (80%/4)4                                                                                   24:24

2)Snatch: 60%/4, 70%/4, (80%/4)3                                                                                            20:44

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 70%/4+1, (80%/4+1)3                                                                   25:69

4)Romanian Deadlift: (85%/5)4                                                                                                 20:89

5)Press: (X/5)4                                                                                                                                 20:109:109

Abdominals: (X/20)4

Day 2—Tuesday, 4 August

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, (80%/3)2                                                                                   12:12

2)Power Snatch & Push Press & Overhead Squat: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/2+2+2)3              36:48

3)Power Clean & Front Squat & Jerk: 60%/3+3+3, 65%/3+3+3, (70%/2+2+2)3              36:84

4)Snatch Extension: (85%/4)4                                                                                                     16:100:209

Abdominals: (X/20)3

Day 3—Wednesday, 5 August

1)Front Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, (80%/4)2                                                                                   16:16

2)Snatch: 60%/2, 70%/2, (80%/2)3                                                                                            10:26

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/2+1, 70%/2+1, (80%/2+1)3                                                                   15:41

4)Clean Extension: (85%/4)4                                                                                                       16:57:266

Abdominals: (X/25)3

Day 4—Thursday, 6 August

1)Back Squat.: 60%/4, 70%/4, (80%/4)2                                                                                  16:16

2)Snatch: 60%/4, 70%/4, (80%/4)3                                                                                            20:36

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 70%/4+1, (80%/4+1)2                                                                   20:56

4)Romanian Deadlift: (85%/5)5                                                                                                 25:81

5)Push Press: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/3)2                                                                                      14:95:361

Day 5—Friday, 7 August

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, (80%/3)3                                                                                   15:15

2)Power Snatch: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/3)3                                                                                17:32

3)Power Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 65%/4+1, (70%/3+1)2                                                       18:50

4)Snatch High Pull: (80%/5)4                                                                                                      20:70

5)Good Morning: (X/8)4                                                                                                               32:102:463

Just finished my second in a series of four clinics at Team Crossfit.  As is true of many clinics these days, the emphasis was on proper performance of the Olympic lifts.  One month ago we went through the training exercises that are depicted through videos in the training exercise video section of the Takano Athletics website (www.takanoathletics.com).  They are assistance movements selected to improve performance of the classic snatch.

We went through the movements and then everyone was sent home to practice them for the month.  All of them came back today with very few technical errors in the snatch.  A few more weeks and they should perfect their technique.

They will also be working on new exercises designed to improve technique in the clean.  Videos of these movements will also be posted on the Takano Athletics website this week.

In a month, we will have another session working on the technique of the jerk.  The final session will focus on the design of training.

Attendees worked hard and improved their technique (Takano photo)

I am not sure that athletes and coaches understand the dynamic that is taking place on the weightlifting platform during a competition.  Nor do I feel that all the parties are sure of how to prepare for it.

Coaching the technique of the lift and performing plenty of max singles is only a part of the preparation that should be taking place.

The competition is by all considerations a performance.  Of course it is a competition and the correct strategical decisions may have to be made by the coach if the athlete is to compete with other athletes, but the circumstances are such that not all meet performances are competitions.   In many cases there is no one close to a given athlete’s range of lifts and therefore the competitive aspect has been removed, but the athlete should always be striving to establish personal records (PR’s) because the meet is the situation where such lifts can be achieved.

The psychological state of the athlete in a weightlifting meet is an altered state.  The concentrations of the molecules functioning in the brain are different from other situations to a considerable degree.

From the first time that an individual steps up on a stage in a performance venue or a playing field or a competition hall, the skills necessary to use the circumstances to achieve a maximum performance should be under development.  This is why when I am developing an athlete I am going to put that athlete into a meet as soon as they’ve mastered the mechanics of the lifts to the extent that he or she will not bring embarassment to him or her self, nor to me.

Of the course the weights selected will be makeable ones for the athlete in question with the goal being that the lift will be successfully completed.  This will establish a very strong message in the psyche that the competition is an atmosphere in which success is achieved.

To prepare for the competition we will run through some mock competition lifts during the days when max or near max singles are undertaken.

Depending on the amount of previous competitive experience the athlete has, after a few meets, developed some ability to bring about the altered state in the brain.

When this is achieved, the heart rate is elevated, the tonicity of the motor nervous system is heighted and more responsive and the proprioception of the extremities is enhanced.  The elevated heart rate insures that endogenous hormones are rapidly circulated and that nutrient molecules are speeding to the muscles.

The perception of time is altered.

Visual perception is enhanced.

The athlete also finds that outside of the immediate sphere of perception, the environment is muddy and unclear.  Only the voice of the coach can be clearly heard.

When this condition is attained, the body and mind are both free to perform optimally and lift the heaviest weights.

One of the functions of the coach is to teach the athlete how to induce the state if it is not taking place after several competitions.  Autogenesis or self-hypnosis should be employed for mental rehearsal.

It is very obvious to the coach if the state is being achieved.

A four hour clinic this Saturday, July 24 at Team Crossfit in Woodland Hills.  Go to http://www.teamcrossfit.com/upcoming-events/2010/4/25/-bob-takanos-olympic-lifting-clinic-2010.html to sign-up.  Get those technical errors coached by one of America’s premier Olympic Lifting Coaches.

Week 1

Day 1—Monday

1)Back  Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, (75%/4)3                                                                                  20:20

2)Snatch: 60%/3, 70%/3, (75%/3)3                                                                                            15:35

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/3+1, 70%/3+1, (75%/3+1)3                                                                   20:55

4)Snatch Deadlift: (85%/4)4                                                                                                        16:61

5)Press: (X/5)4                                                                                                                                 20:91:91

Abdominals: (X/20)3

Day 2—Tuesday

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, (80%/3)2                                                                                   12:12

2)Power Snatch: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/2)3                                                                                14:26

3)Power Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 65%/4+1, (70%/2+1)3                                                       19:45

4)Clean Deadlift: (80%/5)4                                                                                                          20:65:146

Abdominals: (X/15)3

Day 3—Wednesday

1)Back Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, (75%/3)3                                                                                   17:17

2)Snatch: 60%/2, 70%/2, 80%/2, 85%/2                                                                                   08:25

3)Clean & Jerk: 60%/2+1, 70%/2+1, 80%/2+1, 85%/2+1                                                     12:37

4)Romanian Deadlift (80%/5)4                                                                                                   20:57:203

Abdominals: (X/20)4

Day 4—Thursday

1)Front Squat: 60%/4, 70%/4, (75%/4)3                                                                                   20:20

2)Power Snatch: 60%/4, 65%/4, (70%/3)3                                                                                17:37

3)Power Clean & Jerk: 60%/4+1, 65%/4+1, (70%/3+1)3                                                       22:59

4)Overhead Squat: 60%/3, (70%/3)3                                                                                         12:71

5)Press: (X/5)4                                                                                                                                 20:91:294

Day 5—Friday

1)Back Squat: 60%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3, 85%/1                                                                          10:10

2)Hang Snatch: 60%/3, 70%/3, (75%/3)3                                                                                 15:25

3)Hang Clean: 60%/3, 70%/3, (75%/3)3                                                                                   15:40

4)Snatch Deadlift: (95%/4)4                                                                                      16:56:340

Abdominals (X/20)4

I just have to blog about Aileen Wu’s lifts at last Saturday’s California State Games because of how close she came to reaching the projected lifts we had planned for this meet.

In her last meet on April 24th at the same venue, Aileen had needed three attempts to snatch her opening weight of 52, and then made three clean and jerks to finish with 64.  On the next Monday I told her we were planning on 100% lifts of 60 and 70 for July 10th.

The training programs posted on this blog from May 3rd represent the training that Aileen followed from the week after the April 24th meet.  She only missed one day of training.  She did not make every lift at every percentage as that should not happen.

Last Saturday she made an opening snatch of 54, a second good lift of 57 and based on the difficulty of that lift I called for 59, rather than 60.  She performed her best lift at 59, and could have made 60.  Aileen 3rd 59 kg

In the clean and jerk she lifted an opener of 64 to tie her PR and then succeeded with a second attempt of 68.  I called for 70 for her third.  She cleaned the weight with less than a death clean, and jerked the weight to locked arms and recovery only to be turned down for a press out.

Aileen successfully recovered from the pslit but was turned down for a press out.

Peaking is definitely a complicated task and rarely does it comes out perfectly.  Aileen’s lifting was very close to right on.  It was satisfying to see it work so well.