Powerlifting VS olympic lifting
In the "types of power" we started discussing the merits of powerlifting and OL and since I didn't want to highjack that thread when I found this, I decided to make a new thread:
A Debate Between Powerlifting and Olympic Lifting as the Main Athletic Training Method
In the world of strength training, there are numerous methodologies that are used to increase the performance of athletes. Olympic lifting and powerlifting tend to be the most popular philosophies for coaches to incorporate because of their focus on power and strength development.
With their proposed popularity comes a little controversy. Many Olympic lifters and powerlifters proclaim their style of training as the “method of choice” for training athletes. Each method of training elicits a unique training philosophy, program, and outcome. For instance, “Olympic-style weightlifting is an excellent training method for developing power. It consists of two movements—the clean and jerk and the snatch. The derivatives of those movements are what make up the majority of the training exercises” (Gambetta 2007). Unlike its name, powerlifting is a training method that focuses on maximum strength. “Powerlifting is centered on the three competition lifts of the squat, bench press, and the deadlift; powerlifting develops strength in almost all major muscle groups” (Piper & Erdmann 1998).
The question that many strength and conditioning professionals and personal trainers try to answer is, “Which method is best to use when training athletes?” This article will try and answer that very question with responses from two elite strength athletes. Phil Sabatini is a nationally ranked Olympic lifter who is also the football strength and conditioning coach for the Virginia Military Institute. Monte Sparkman is a nationally ranked powerlifter who is the powerlifting coach for the Virginia Military Institute’s powerlifting team. Their candid responses to the upcoming questions will be used to understand the position of each style of weight training and determine the most desirable method to use when training athletes. Therefore, each respondent will answer six questions that are designed to provide insight into the training philosophy and training methodology for each discipline of weight training.
Question 1: What is the most important aspect of training, and how does your style of training support that aspect?
Sparkman: Absolute strength is the foundation for all other strength abilities. “Absolute strength controls all strength gains. Analysis of Hill’s equation shows that speed of movement is dependent on absolute muscular strength: v = Ft/m” (Simmons 2006). From this statement, we can assume that the most important aspect of athletic development should be focused on the training of absolute strength. Powerlifting is rooted in this philosophy. Powerlifters are constantly training to develop absolute strength and explosive strength. They (powerlifters) understand that without this basic strength, training cannot progress.
Powerlifting methods make the training of absolute strength a priority. It is my view that strength and conditioning coaches across the board do the same. Too many strength and conditioning coaches are quick to implement Olympic lifting methods into their training programs without first developing an athlete with a strong foundation of absolute strength training. This opinion can be support by a statement from Vern Gambetta’s book, Athletic Development–The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning. “It has become very popular among the strength coaching community, especially in American football, to center strength training programs on Olympic lifting” (Gambetta 2007). In my opinion, this is putting the cart before the horse. You can’t develop an explosive athlete without first satisfying this common need for the development of absolute strength.
Sabatini: The most important aspect of Olympic weightlifting as it pertains to athletic performance is power specific force development or “speed strength.” Olympic style training involves “using heavy loads that are performed at a high velocity resulting in a high power output” (Hoffman, et al 2004). The term speed strength combines two very crucial attributes of athletic performance to express “power development.” An athlete’s power capacity includes “maximum strength, high load speed strength, low load speed strength, rate of force development, reactive strength, skill performance, and power endurance” (Hori & Stone 2004).
Through the training of Olympic lifts, athletes can increase their speed strength. This is done specifically because “during the pull phase of the clean and snatch as well as the drive phase of the jerk athletes extend their hips, knees, and ankle joints to push against the ground as hard and as rapidly as possible producing acceleration on the body and the barbell, which is done remarkably similar to jumping” (Hori & Stone 2004). Also, functional core strength is developed due to the large amount of overhead activity and movements with high loads away from the body’s center of gravity. Different training methods are used to increase performance by becoming stronger and faster. Specifically, different sports require different demands. One sport may ask, “How strong?” Another may ask, “How fast?” However, in terms of Olympic weightlifting, the question becomes, “How fast are you strong?”
Question 2: Specificity is an important variable within a training program. How does your method of training support the theory of specificity?
Sparkman: “Athletic activities usually require quick and powerful movements and, consequently depend on the development of explosive strength” (Siff 2003). If an athlete wants to enhance explosive strength, he must train absolute strength. The most important aspect of powerlifting is the development of absolute or maximal strength. According to Zatsiorsky, “maximal strength is regarded as a prerequisite for high movement speed” (Zatsiorsky & Kraemer 2006). This statement confirms the belief that an athlete must first develop maximal strength and make it a priority in training over high velocity movements in order to develop explosive strength.
Although Olympic lifting is the gold standard with regards to power development, I feel that powerlifting can develop explosive strength within the particular movement that the athlete is training. I believe that once that explosive strength is developed within the trained movement, it (explosive strength) can then be transferred to the field of play.
Sabatini: All sports require different amounts of muscle synchronization, balance, flexibility, and coordination as well as strength, speed, power, and metabolic development. Olympic weightlifting provides development in all these areas. While training for maximal strength can have a positive effect on performance, it can also have a “negative effect on movement speed and the ability of a muscle to display explosive effort” (Wenzel & Perfetto 1992). However, this does not mean that strength gains do not happen through training at high speeds. Wenzel and Perfetto characterized strength gains from high speed training as adaptations “due to an increase in the number of fibers recruited or a more synchronous firing of motor neurons” (Wenzel & Perfetto 1992). Also, in sports requiring short-term, explosive energy, Olympic training incorporates the necessary mechanism that will accommodate the production of the power-endurance component. This, in turn, will lead to a positive effect on athletic performance.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !