HLM weightlifting programming in PP 3rd edition

[Dave 321]

Rip,

I went out and bought practical programming 3rd edition a couple of days ago primarily to see what had been updated with regards to programming for the Olympic lifts from PP 2nd edition. It's been a good read so far.

Something I can't find though is what percentage of intensity and rep schemes you would assign to the power versions of the lifts to designate them as either heavy, medium or light.

Could you give you opinions?

Thanks,

Dave

[Tom Campitelli]

Are you talking about the power clean and power snatch in the context of the heavy/light/medium template?

[Dave 321]

Yes, power clean and power snatch, sorry if that wasn't clear. Percentages and reps are clearly shown for the full clean and snatch but not power versions.

Pages 170-172 if it's any help.

[Tom Campitelli]

I see the confusion, but by the time you are ready for the Starr model, you probably have an idea of what you can do for doubles on those lifts. Since they are the power variants, by definition they will be lighter than a full snatch and clean, which puts them in the "medium" category without having to worry about percentages too much. I would bet within two weeks you would have your own correct answer to this question.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

If you are just using the basic HLM pulling program of Dead/Snatch/Clean there are no percentages. Those lifts neatly confine to the model by their nature. You train them all heavy. If you are pulling with greater frequency than that, then percentage offsets will rarely be more than about 5% for the olympic variants. Although, it could be less if you varied the rep scheme a bit. In fact, weights could almost be the same. 225x3x5 might be a heavy day with 225x2x4 could be a medium day. There is no set protocol for HLM programming. Lots of ways to do it.

[Dave 321]

So you could do a session consisting of power snatches/cleans working up to a max, backing off 10kg and working back up to max in 2.5kg increments and it'd still count as a medium day?
This interests me because what I have previously been perceiving as a light/recovery day may actually be a bit more stressful than I originally thought.

[Tom DiStasio]

On the "Medium" days, I have found it to work well when I use the power version of the lift (as outlined in the book) and do sets of triples/doubles/singles across on these days. Usually I like to do about 8-12 reps of the power variation (3-4x3, 4-6x2, 8-10x1) and get some sharp reps in, but still try to go heavier in whatever set and rep scheme I use. Sparingly, I'll work up to a max in the power variation of the lift (usually closer to the time that the athlete is peaking for a competition), but I don't have the athlete go down and work back up. Just go up to a max, then stop. Only 1-2 weeks of this.

The way I look at it is the medium days (once you have become proficient in the olympic lifts and spent a fair amount of time under the barbell as an intermediate) should be as heavy as possible with weight that you can still be very sharp and fast with (no lousy catches/still pulling the bar very high).

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Technically yes, if you have the work capacity to do so.

[Sean Herbison]

Since they are the power variants, by definition they will be lighter than a full snatch and clean

Unless you suck at the full versions, like m... like somebody I know.