Vasily Alexeev (1942-2011)

“The ‘Babe Ruth’ of Olympic Weightlifting” is how I described Vasily Alexeev to my wife over the weekend when I learned of his passing. Winning 8 world championships (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977), 2 Olympic gold medals (1972 and 1976), while setting 80 World records, and basically going unbeaten for the eight years at the peak of his career is a testament to his strength, power, and ability in the sport…doing so in a very competitive weight class, while being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and profiled on Wide World of Sports is a testament to his legacy and fame. 

Photos of Alexeev are available all over the web, but a few from my personal digital collection that I have downloaded over the years are presented below…including a rare photo of an assumed Alexeev throwing the shot put and the often discussed photo of Alexeev performing Cleans in the water.

Be sure to check out the collection of Alexeev videos posted by Nick Horton at his blog including this clip of his 230kg Clean and Press from WWS (below), and this excellent photo sequence of a then WR 245.5kg Clean and Jerk photographed by Bruce Klemens.

Movember Fundraiser

Last week I posted about the 70sBig-Movember movement to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.  To date, the 70sBig Movember Team has raised over $2,500 in just 14-days. To do my part to garner donations for the cause, I am selling an abbreviated manual [$11] in which all net proceeds will go directly to my Movember Donation account, and ultimately the 70sBig Donation team.

Earlier this year I put out the “Next 8-Weeks…”, an ebook which included programs based on Strength, Technique, and a Combination (Hybrid) template.  In keeping with the theme of 70sBig, and based on inquiries from the past few months, I have put the 8-Week Strength program up for sale for $11 for the remainder of the month of November to support Movember and men’s health.

Click here to purchase the Strength Program to support Movember

Strength in Olympic Weightlifting is very specific to the key movements and positions used in performing the competition lifts. So the exercises presented in this program are basic compound exercises that overload the muscles and movements used in the comp lifts.  For example, exercises such as the Overhead Squat, Snatch-Grip Push Press, and SG Deadlift may offer great improvements in strength which should transfer when performing the Snatch competition lift. 

This 8-week program is broken down into two, 4-week cycles. The exercises used in each 4-week cycle remain constant but the volume (sets-reps) and intensity (%max) changes on a weekly basis.

Click here to purchase the Strength Program to support Movember
NOTE: This is a downloadable ebook.  No physical products will be shipped. 
After you order, you will get INSTANT ACCESS to  download the ebook onto your computer. 
The e-book format is PDF, which can be viewed on Mac or PC.

Feedback on the Strength program has been very good with numerous lifters reporting PRs in both the strength lifts and competition lifts:

I just finished the first 8 week strength cycle. Prior to starting the program I competed in my first meet in about 6 years. I'm a "reentry" master lifter who competed many years ago. At that meet 8 weeks I snatched 100, c & j 125, back squat 160, front squat 135. This week I back squated 183 and front squated 153! 4 weeks ago I snatched 112 and c & j 130. So I'm very excited by my progress. I want to personally thank you.

The goal of the 70sBig Movember team is to raise $5000 in the rest of the month (about 2-weeks from now).  I would like to personally make a big contribution towards this goal and with your help and purchase I think we easily make our mark.  Prostate cancer, and other issues related to men’s health, is often neglected by the popular media and this is an opportunity to make a contribution to a worthy cause.

Click here to purchase the Strength Program to support Movember

If you have previously purchased the complete “Next 8-Weeks” ebook and would still like to contribute please consider donating directly through my Movember donation page: http://mobro.co/doctorhartman and I will personally assist you via email in customizing any of the programs in the “Next 8-Weeks” based on your current goals.  

Together, we can help raise awareness for Men's Health.  I hate cancer and you should too...please consider making a donation or doing something to help the cause.

70sBig and Movember

I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on the 70sBig.com podcast with my buddy, the mayor of 70sBig, Justin Lascek.  You can find the interview: HERE

Most of the interview deals with Olympic Weightlifting; including my thoughts on the recent Pan-Am Championships, a lengthy discussion on Technique and the Coaching of Technique, BlackBox Strength & Conditioning, and Weightlifting Fashion…a red, white, and blue singlet with an airbrushed screamin’ eagle anyone?

Check out the interview: HERE

Also on 70sBig.com this month is information about a site-based Movember Fundraiser.  If you don’t know, Movember is a movement where men grow facial hair during the month of November in an attempt to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. 

Justin has started a 70sBig Movember donation drive in an attempt to “To plunge a Valyrian-steeled sword into the heart of cancer, watching it's black hissing blood spill forth across the ground and it's face contorting in defeat...ONCE AND FOR ALL”.  Cancer has had a profound impact on my family over the years, and any cause that helps raise funds to eliminate cancer is something I proudly support.   

Power Clean Program

As previously mentioned on this blog, BlackBox Strength & Conditioning is hosting a developmental weightlifting meet at our facility in Fort Worth, TX on Sunday, Sept. 25^th.  This meet is unique in that it is a “Clean” competition, meaning only the Clean portion of the Clean & Jerk will be contested.  To register for the meet click here: http://blackboxfwcleancompetition.eventbrite.com/

The meet is unsanctioned and open to all competitors as a means to introduce all-level of athlete to an actual competition…and the small nuances which set it apart from just training.  Weigh-ins, judges, planned attempts, having to wait while other competitors attempt the same weight, potentially following yourself, etc., are all unique to competition day, and the goal of this meet is a 1^st step on the road to hopefully many future Olympic Weightlifting competitions. 

The original idea was to host a “Power Clean” meet, to provide an entry point to any athlete who may use the power clean in training, but we later decided all cleans (power, split, full) are welcome to compete…and honestly this will make the judging much easier.

Now that I am back coaching on a regular basis I am preparing several lifters (both competitive and previously non-competitive) for this competition.  Outlined below is a 4-week program that will be used by several lifters as they prepare for this meet.  This Power Clean Program is designed to maximize the ability in the power clean (clean) over the next month while also addressing the snatch and jerk in a somewhat lesser extent.  Keep in mind this is just a snapshot of what will be occurring in the gym over the next month, day to day changes are very likely based on the needs of individual lifters.

Feel free to ask questions below, or drop them on my Facebook page.  Hope to see you at the meet next month: http://blackboxfwcleancompetition.eventbrite.com/

Doctor Hartman (BlackBox FW) Power Clean Program

Week 1 – Baseline Training

Day 1

Back Squat 3 x 3 @ 90%

Power Clean 3 x 2 @ 80%, 3 x 1 @ 85% (9 total reps)

RDL 3 x 5

Day 2

Snatch 5 x 2 @ 70%

Power Clean + Power Jerk 5 x 1+1 @ 70%

Front Squat 3 x 3 @ 85%

Day 3

Snatch 3 x 1 @ 80-85%

Clean & Jerk 1 x 1+1 @ 75, 80, 85, 90%

Clean-Grip Deadlift 1 x 5 @ 100%cj

Week 2 – Loading

Day 1

Back Squat 2 x 2 @ 90%, 2 x 1 @ 95%

Power Clean 3 x 2 @ 80%, 3 x 1 @ 85%, 3 x 1 @ 90% (12 total reps)

RDL 3 x 5

Day 2

Snatch 5 x 1 @ 75%

Clean + Jerk 5 x 1+1 @ 75%

Front Squat 3 x 3 @ 85%, 3 x 1 @ 90%

Day 3

Snatch 1 x 1 @ 80, 85, 90%

Clean & Jerk 1 x 1+1 @ Max

Clean-Grip Deadlift 1 x 3 @ 110%cj

Week 3 – Max Effort

Day 1

Snatch Up to Max; 1x1 @ 70, 75, 80%

Clean & Jerk Up to Max; 1x1+1 @ 80, 85, 90%

* Work up to a max Snatch and C&J; drop the weight down then perform the prescribed reps based on daily max*

Day 2

Snatch 5 x 1 @ 70%

Power Clean @ Max

Front Squat @ Max

Day 3

Power Clean 3 x 1 @ 80-85%

Clean & Jerk 1 x 1+1 @ 75, 80, 85, 90%

Clean-Grip Deadlift  @ 120%cj

Week 4 – Competition

Day 1

Clean & Jerk 1 x 1+1 @ 75, 80, 85, 90%

Front Squat 1 x 1 @ 80, 85, 90%

Day 2

Snatch 5 x 1 @ 75%

Power Clean 1 x 1 @ 80, 85, 90, 95%

Day 3

Power Clean 3 x 1 @ 75%

Front Squat 3 x 1 @ 80%

Day 4

Competition Max

FIT Happens

As you may have read on Facebook, or on a handful of other sites, an awesome new book looms on the horizon is now available...FIT. The brainchild of Dr. Lon Kilgore, the FIT project started as brief resource to address many of the common misconceptions about fitness and what it takes to program the elements of fitness: Strength, Endurance, and Mobility.  

Over time the project grew into a 300+ page book and something that could benefit anyone looking to improve fitness.  Justin Lascek (of 70sBig.com) and I were recruited to add content to the book, and together the three of us worked our collective butts off to put out a high quality publication.  From the back cover...which summarizes the concept behind the book nicely:

Fitness is hard. Very hard. Everyone knows it is, but everyone is also willing to risk time and money on the mythology of easy fitness. If anyone, ANYONE, tells you that there is an “EASY” way to fitness, they just want your money. FIT is a book about how to get fit. It defines what fitness is in measurable, observable, and real-world terms. There is no mumbo-jumbo, just facts, practical information, and a logical approach to creating fitness from the first day of training through the day you reach your goal in fitness. No other training resource provides the reader the programming basics to specialize in one component of fitness or seamlessly program for comprehensive fitness and take the trainee from beginner to intermediate then to advanced and beyond - it’s a book for a lifetime of training. Exercise is dangerous - from 1 yard to 100 miles, 1 pound to half a ton, on land, in the water, on a bike - hazards abound and you need to pay attention to what your body tells you. But the body can adapt to much more than we give it credit for. If you use the concepts in FIT - no excuses, no whining, no shortcuts - and just get to the gym, garage, or wherever, and train hard, you will amaze yourself with results and how fast they are earned.

Click here to order FIT

Essentially, FIT provides the "why" and "how" of the purposeful integration of strength, endurance, and mobility training; address the misinformation associated with fitness; and gives the readers the knowledge to make decisions regarding fitness. While the applications and understanding of fitness (and the three components) have been well reported, there has been a void in a single source of information which provides a clear voice…and FIT fills that void. 

The Multi-Element Fitness written by Justin Lascek currently clocks in at an impressive 20,000 words and provides examples to take someone from novice to advanced stages and, FWIW, is alone worth picking up the book.

FIT is now available exclusively through Amazon.com with the Kindle version slated for release October 1st. The working Table of Contents is listed below, and for more information and excerpts be sure to check out and "Like" our Facebook page: facebook.com/theFITbook. 

FIT: Table of Contents

Fitness -What it is

Fitness Adaptation - How we become fit

Strength

Endurance

Mobility

Multi-Element Fitness

Strength Exercises

Endurance Exercises

Mobility Exercises

Getting Ready to Train

Physics, Physiology & Food

Exercise Performance Standards 

DFW Coaching and Competition

A new opportunity has presented itself and I am very excited to announce that I will be coaching and developing Olympic Weightlifters at BlackBox Strength & Conditioning in Fort Worth, Texas...http://blackboxfw.com/2011/08/new-weightlifing-coach-and-classes/

The past 5 years, 99% of all my coaching endeavors have been through online program design and consultations.  While that area of coaching has been going very well, and still available to those outside of Dallas-Fort Worth, there is something I have really missed about being on the platform with a lifter as they progress from learning the lifts on Day 1 and working hard weekly until their first competition and beyond.  I have had to turn down similar opportunities in the past but in this case, the timing, facility, and colleagues (Dutch Lowy and team) made it impossible to pass up.  This also means some good new content for the blog.  Look for more specific programming examples, athlete profiles, and technique and training videos in the coming months.

I will lead an early morning crew (6am…Rise & Grind!) on Mon, Wed, and Fri starting next week. I am also available for private and small group coaching that focuses mainly on developing and reinforcing good technique.  These sessions are usually filmed and we review each and every lift if necessary until good things happen. These sessions obviously occur outside of the 6am time slot, so if you are only in the area for a limited time, or willing to travel, we can figure something out.

More info is available through the facility web page: BlackBoxFW.com and I will update the information listed under Coaching on this site soon. Any other question can be sent directly to me via email doctorhartman [at] hotmail dot com.

Along those lines, BlackBox Weightlifting is also hosting our first developmental meet next month.  In an attempt to try something a little different, we are putting on a Clean meet on Sunday Sept 25^th.  In what was originally going to be a "Power Clean" meet for just the gym and a few area athletes as a test run, it is actually growing into a pretty decent sized event with lifters coming in from out of town. We are putting together some of the final details, including prizes (maybe $$$).

Info and registration can be found here: http://blackboxfwcleancompetition.eventbrite.com/

In addition to the meet there will also be a Roundtable Seminar following the meet (free for everyone) that I will be taking part in...topics here are wide open but will hit on the usual topics of technique, recovery, etc.

Talent

A fairly popular discussion on the interwebz of late revolves around the idea of talent, or lack there of, and US Weightlifting. 

The US model of talent identification and development might be best described as a talent funnel. In this case, large numbers of athletes are encouraged to participate in a variety of sports, and via the process of natural selection, those individuals with the innate characteristics to succeed or with the innate characteristics needed for success in that particular sport, become better, gain reinforcement, are enrolled in programs with increasing quality of coaching and higher levels of competition. 

Over time, these are the athletes who develop to the highest, and hopefully, internationally competitive level.  Think of this as the youth to high school to college to the professional level seen in most team sports.  In many individual sports, such as weightlifting, the funnel is not as defined due to lack of participants at the wide end and lack of professional opportunities at the concentrated end. 

It is thought that if the number of participants (or talent pool) was to increase, the performance at the concentrated end would improve. The talent pool argument is something I have debated for a long time and something that I am not sure there is an easy answer for or against either way. A greater number of competitors could dramatically improve results and our worldwide standing, but I do not think it is the final answer. 

Marathons have 10s of thousands of participants every single weekend in this country, more than any other country. Currently, our best American marathon competitor Ryan Hall is ranked around 10th in the world. Since the mid-1970s we have had a greatest number of competitive distance runners of any country yet our worldwide standing has remained stagnant. Same argument for soccer; it has been one of the top youth participant sports in the country for at least 25 years. It is a high school varsity sport and numerous college offer athletic scholarships. Our worldwide standing has not improved much in the past 40 years, and for the past 20, it has been said we are on the verge of breaking into the top but it has yet to happen. We could also throw the American past time of baseball into the argument. It is "our" sport but we have lost our status to many of the Latin American countries. 

In all of these sports (Marathon, Soccer, Baseball), countries with less than half our population and a 1/3 of our resources routinely kick our butts in international competition. 

Numbers will definitely, definitely help us improve from the high 20s where we currently reside, but to get in the top 5 and eventually on the medal platform, we need more than just more average lifters.  There needs to be a systematic plan for the development of talent if and when it arrives at in the sport.  Additional thoughts will come in a future post regarding the development of talent specific to weightlifting in the US.