Dmitry Klokov Interview

[NikhilT]

In a question about the Russian training style, he mentions some interesting stuff.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday is dedicated to the snatch in the morning and the clean and jerk in the afternoons.

Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday is strength training. "Pulls, squats and presses."

Unlike the Chinese or Bulgarians, two to three months out from a competition the Russians focus primarily on strength development and only about a month out do they switch to the competition lifts. The idea is that once you're strong, you can use that strength to get fast with heavier weight.

http://youtu.be/vki1jhdWt2A?t=17m16s

[Mark Rippetoe]

Fascinating, that they seem to think so differently than American weightlifting coaches.

[wdewind]

"[Our method] is more based on strength. Strength strength strength"

@18:45

[Immortal_k]

Here's what they'll say: 1) What he said was messed up in translation 2) It's inapplicable (regurgitate something about drugs) 3) The problem with our lifters isn't strength but rather technical mastery, and anyways we do in fact focus on strength.

[John Watson]

The idea is that once you're strong, you can use that strength to get fast with heavier weight

Radical concept. Getting stronger helps you lift heavier weights. Luckily for the Russians, this counter-intuitive little secret hasn't made it's way to the States.

[paterfamilias]

Fascinating, that they seem to think so differently than American weightlifting coaches.

If only there were some venue in which to test these strategies against each other ... you know, to see if one is a little more effective than the other.

[dpinsen]

Like Rip, Klokov is on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/klokovd

He tweets videos from his workouts. A lot of them involve paused reps. E.g., he posted one video recently where he paused a squat at the bottom (ass to grass) for a few seconds, then did a behind the neck push press with the weight as he came up.

[Tiburon]

738 lb deadlift

[alagon]

Good stuff from the Russian. Rip, them white folks from Eastern Europe are pressing more weight than our guys. To be fair though, it's not just the Russians who are lifting more weight than our guys. It's also the Poles, Germans, and hell, even the Bulgarians are lifting more weight. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXlG9ZPz_xo) Bulgaria is a very poor country Rip..Hell, I'm not even sure if they have Walmart down in Bulgaria and yet....They still manage to produce elite weighlifters.

Shame on you USA. With all the wealth and resources you have obtained, you still can't manage to produce elite weightlifters. You have come a long way since the days of Tommy Kono.

[stuffedsuperdud]

If only there were some venue in which to test these strategies against each other ... you know, to see if one is a little more effective than the other.

Yes, I know what happened was an aberration, and yes, I believe it when Klokov argues "Well if your technique was fine at low weight but fell apart at heavy weight, doesn't that just mean you weren't strong enough?" but just to be a smartass, I'll point out that the Russians and the Americans won the exact same # of gold medals in London.