Olympic Lifting and Sports
In our last installment of The Insanity we talked about how DTS does not perform power cleans and Olympic lifting variations. I know every coach is going crazy right now with comments like, how do you build explosiveness then? How do you develop triple extension? At DTS we always ask ourselves why are athletes doing certain things in training and how can we better the athlete? We take pride in not following current trends in training but yet finding ways to advance training. Here's an example, baseball players we train are told never to bench press because of pec and shoulder tightness but if you use the correct bar that places the hands in a neutral position a player will actually help themselves by putting less stress on the shoulders and achieve greater stability in the wrist, forearms and shoulders because of the positioning of the bar. Yet, these players who are told not to bench are told to do power cleans??!! For those of you who don't know, power cleans cause more stress on the shoulders than benching especially benching the way we recommend. Olympic lifts take time, energy and skill so why master a preparation exercise when the specific task is becoming a better baseball player.
Benching for stability
Power Cleans - Notice the weight of the load is place on the shoulders at the top of the lift.
There is no correlation between Olympic lifting and sports. Olympic lifting is a sport in itself. Would Alex Rodriguez play football to become a better baseball player or would Reggie Bush play baseball to become a better football player? So, why do coaches use these lifts? I know, I know, I have heard all the reasons before it builds pop from the hips, makes you a better athlete, makes you jump higher and run faster and it's great for teaching coordination. Unfortunately this far from the truth. The best way to develop all of the above qualities of an athlete is to get strong and jump. If Olympic lifting really did this then all the athletes who perform these lifts would be impressive when they first come to us. It amazes me how many top D-1 athletes we train that cannot jump with our athletes who are in high school. Jumping is a huge component of coordination and should be utilized to help an athlete but not abused. This athlete could jump on a 40" box with two legs now he jumps on a 42" box with one leg!
In our last installment of The Insanity we talked about how DTS does not perform power cleans and Olympic lifting variations. I know every coach is going crazy right now with comments like, how do you build explosiveness then? How do you develop triple extension? At DTS we always ask ourselves why are athletes doing certain things in training and how can we better the athlete? We take pride in not following current trends in training but yet finding ways to advance training. Here's an example, baseball players we train are told never to bench press because of pec and shoulder tightness but if you use the correct bar that places the hands in a neutral position a player will actually help themselves by putting less stress on the shoulders and achieve greater stability in the wrist, forearms and shoulders because of the positioning of the bar. Yet, these players who are told not to bench are told to do power cleans??!! For those of you who don't know, power cleans cause more stress on the shoulders than benching especially benching the way we recommend. Olympic lifts take time, energy and skill so why master a preparation exercise when the specific task is becoming a better baseball player.
Benching for stability
Power Cleans - Notice the weight of the load is place on the shoulders at the top of the lift.
There is no correlation between Olympic lifting and sports. Olympic lifting is a sport in itself. Would Alex Rodriguez play football to become a better baseball player or would Reggie Bush play baseball to become a better football player? So, why do coaches use these lifts? I know, I know, I have heard all the reasons before it builds pop from the hips, makes you a better athlete, makes you jump higher and run faster and it's great for teaching coordination. Unfortunately this far from the truth. The best way to develop all of the above qualities of an athlete is to get strong and jump. If Olympic lifting really did this then all the athletes who perform these lifts would be impressive when they first come to us. It amazes me how many top D-1 athletes we train that cannot jump with our athletes who are in high school. Jumping is a huge component of coordination and should be utilized to help an athlete but not abused. This athlete could jump on a 40" box with two legs now he jumps on a 42" box with one leg!
Here is a conversation between Buddy Morris, Tom Myslinski (Two great strength coaches) Jim Wendler and Dave Tate on why Olympic weightlifting is pointless for athletes.
**Explicit Language
This also goes for those so called current pro athletes who train athletes during the off-season!
So coaches we urge you to think outside the box and help your athletes! Oh, to answer your questions about explosiveness and triple extension. Here's what we do at DTS!
Double Hurdle Jump to 60" Box
**Explicit Language
This also goes for those so called current pro athletes who train athletes during the off-season!
So coaches we urge you to think outside the box and help your athletes! Oh, to answer your questions about explosiveness and triple extension. Here's what we do at DTS!
Double Hurdle Jump to 60" Box
