Olympic lifts and supplements

[Rolling Elbow]

Alright, I'm ready to make a go of it seeing as incorporating olympic lifts into ones weight training program is supposed to improve power, speed, and overall muscle balance. Anyone tried these? What type of program varations are there out there? I obviously am not intereted in bulking up and i know that without increasing calorie intake and really seriously bodybuilding, this is not supposed to happen. What I am intereted in is balancing strength and power training into a program that will not promote muscle "puffiness" but will atleast retain the shape and look of what i currenly have, if not bring it out more. If anyone has tried lifts such as these and moved away from the common bodybuilding or the aesthetic side of training alone , I'd be interested in finding out what changes you've noticed physically since you started.

On to supplements, just started with the protein shakes twice a day as i know that i go overboard on the carbs and don't eat a fair percentage of protein. Any other supplements people might recommend for increased energy? How about multi vitamins or amino acids and their uses? I'd also be interested in hearing experiences with any supplements i've mentioned or others. So this is a two part question. Thanks in advance.

[yenhoi]

Want to increase your energy? Honey.

If your new to weightlifting, you will probably gain some muscle mass when you start. Thats just your body's natural adaptation. Once it is familiar with heavy weights, then you get to start molding yourself yourself.

If your happy with how "much" muscle you have, then I recommend "Power To The People" weightligting by some russian dude named Pavel T. (:eek: ) With this program you increase your strength by gradually teaching your muscles to use themselves better so-to-speak, as well as teaching your muscles to work better with one another, and to take orders more effeciently from the brain!

Its super secret russian training technology. You can goto his website, I dont remember the URL, but IronFist does!

You can also goto the Training forum and search Power to the People, or PTP or just search Ironfist, and get lots of info about this.

[Rolling Elbow]

I've been weight training for 6+ years so I am simply interested in mixing it up with more sport focused exercises.. i have been reading that allot of athletes incorporate modified olympic lifts into their programs to accomplish this.

Power to the People was a good book, but a book that could have been summed up in 5 pages. I know this because i paid the 50$ to get it. A little scarse on content i'd say!

How about the supplements, any ideas?

[yenhoi]

I used Olympic lifting methods (and still do every now and then) for overall strength development. I agree about the pavel book, I was lucky enough not to have bought it, i borrowed it and took notes :D

I drink two protein shakes a day. Heres my recipe: soy protein scoop, (I think it works out to 30-40 grams or something, dunno exactly), soy milk, ice, fresh fruit, and sometimes yogurt for a different texture (drinking two shakes a day gets old.)

Off and on I use ginger, ginseng, and honey for energy boosts, Im also not above using candy or a soda every now and then for a change or because thats what someone has. Otherwise I get everything i need and more from eating as many vegetables (as many different kinds and color) raw everyday, lots of fish, and _very_ little red meat. All the amino acids and fatty acids and all that other hype is in normal eveyday food, like vegetables and fish etc. Several of my training parners add these things to thier shakes, usually unnecessarily - most people dont need the extra stuff unless they are already doing something terribly wrong.

Personally I stay away from most stuff that comes in pills and the like, but I highly reccomend things like honey, tea, ginger, ginseng - locally grown and harvested if possible.

[cha kuen]

do you guys use creatine?

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[Lung Hu Pai]

read all of coach davies articles at www.intensitymagazine.com. He covers all the assistance and hybrid lifts to give you a good base to work up to the full lifts.

[respectmankind]

i have used creatine before, good stuff. used it alot in the past and it helpedk, it did it did.

[SevenStar]

Like anything else, creatine results vary from person to person. I've had good results with it, but I know people who have had zero benefit from it.