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An overview on how
to classify and select appropriate
exercises for your training needs
By Rob Wagner
Editor's
Note: Rob Wagner, the University of Pennsylvania’s Head
Strength and Conditioning coach placed third in the International Powerlifting
Federation’s World Championships, which were held in Trencin, Slovakia.
Wagner, who resides in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, lifted
in the 82.5k (181.75lbs) class in the open division. He squatted 337.5k
(744lbs), which also earned him the gold medal in that event. Wagner
bench pressed 195 k (429lbs) and deadlifted 290k (639lbs) to give him
the bronze medal with an 822.5k (1813lbs) total weight lifted. This is
Wagner’s 6th trip to the event and his best prior placing was 4th,
which he obtained in both 1996 and 2001. He completed 8 of 9 attempts
and was a near perfect 9 for 9 with the exception of his final deadlift
of 295k (650lbs) which he nearly had completed until he lost his grip
on the bar. The first place winner was Dmytro Soloviov from the Ukraine
with a 837.5k (1846lbs) total while second went to Jan Wegeira of Poland
with the same total. Soloviov took the gold based on his lighter body
weight. There were over 150 lifters attending the meet representing 35
countries.
Sitting
down to create a workout can be a pretty basic process or it can
be a struggle.
If your training goals are still the same then it
shouldn’t
be too difficult. However, changing these goals or deciding to implement
new training concepts into the program can be a bear. To get the
most out of the program you must make sure that you coordinate the
appropriate
exercises
together in the framework of the workout. Sometimes this can get
tricky. Whether you are a powerlifter or just trying to stay in shape,
the
planning of the program can make all the difference in the world
in your lifting
success. This article will introduce a system that will have you
looking at your exercises and how you classify and structure them
into your
workout in a more effective way.
Typically here in the US we divide lifting exercises into core
lifts (our primary exercises) and assistance work (everything else).
In
his book, “The
Weightlifters Encyclopedia,” Dreschler (1998) defines the assistance
exercises as any exercise that is not a classic competition lift. Unfortunately,
this leaves out sport athletes, bodybuilders, fitness competitors or those
that are just interested in staying in shape and looking good. These groups
would typically view assistance work as those exercises they would use
to help strengthen their weak points or help maintain the strong points
of their training. There is still a bit of cloudiness over what makes a
lift an assistance lift and what does not. It seems that certain assistance
exercises play a vital role in your lifting development while some play
a minimal role. In a 1993 article Louie Simmons first brought this to the
attention of American Powerlifters, he refers to the more important assistance
lifts in this article and subsequent others as special exercises. This
term undoubtedly came from his reading of various Russian weightlifting
and sports literature (Simmons, 2002). In Russia, competitive lifters and
coaches had been referring to these exercises as special preparatory exercises.
This terminology is abundant in much of the Russian literature on weightlifting
and powerlifting (Medvedyev, 1981; Sheiko, 1998). The terminology that
these authors referred to was part of a much larger sport training classification
system of exercises. It’s structure was described by Matveyev
(as cited in Medvedyev, 1989) as a system of exercises that is made
up of
competitive exercises and preparatory exercises. The preparatory exercises
are divided
into special preparatory (SP) exercises and the general preparatory
exercises. The SP exercises can be broken into technical (auxiliary)
exercises and
the developmental exercises. This system is not only used by the weightlifters
and powerlifters, but by the majority of sports programs in the country
(Medvedyev, 1989; Siff, 2000).
Competition exercises
In the Russian system these are the actual exercises of the sport
competition. They were considered the most important because the
exercises provided
the athlete with the specific requirements of the given type of
sport. They also trained and developed the specific abilities needed
in
the sport (Medvedyev, 1989; Siff, 2000). According to Sheiko (1998)
these abilities
included things like speed, force, flexibility and endurance. These
generally would be your core or primary exercises. In sports like
powerlifting and
weightlifting the competitive exercises are the competitive lifts,
the squat, bench press and deadlift and the snatch and the clean
and jerk respectfully.
For bodybuilders or individuals lifting for recreation or for sport,
I recommend using multiple joint or compound free weight movements
for your
competitive lifts. More specifically you can break the lifts down
into three exercise groups, pressing movements, squatting movements
and pulling
movements. The use of these types of exercises is based on the
idea that all three are multi joint movements and most of the exercises
in each group
can effectively place stress on a large population of muscles.
When
these compound exercises are used you ensure the use of the antagonistic
and
synergistic muscles as well.
For a bodybuilder the competitive exercises could be the primary
lifts you use for developing (hypertrophy) or strengthening the
large muscle
groups like the quads or the chest. Stay away from the machine
oriented lifts such as the leg press or chest press if possible.
These lifts
will fit better in the preparatory categories. Also avoid using
any single joint
exercises for the same reason. Using the incline bench press as
a competition exercise would make a lot of sense for the bodybuilder
who is trying to
better develop or strengthen his/her chest and shoulder area. If
you are a recreational lifter or an athlete it could be the exercises
you focus
on for your primary strength or speed-strength (power) development.
These could be the same lifts as those mentioned for the powerlifter
or weightlifters.
Better yet, an approach for a track athlete might be to mix the
two
areas and use the power clean (a clean variation), the squat and
the bench press
as the competitive lifts. While the squat and bench press would
develop upper and lower body strength the power clean will aid
in developing
the crucial speed-strength needed by most athletes.
Preparatory exercises.
Once we enter the realm of the preparatory exercises the classification
of the lifts will be a little more complex. The preparatory exercises
serve several different roles. In Matveyev’s definition there
were 2 primary categories and then two sub categories. These categories
and
the roles
they play are listed below.
Special Preparatory Exercises
The role for these exercises is to develop the techniques and actions
of the competition lift directly. The exercises you would find
in this category
are those that are made up of the elements of the competition exercise’s
variations and actions (Medvedyev, 1989; Siff, 2000). Again try to
avoid the machines and stay with compound free weight exercises.
If the use
of machines is required it should still be of the compound movement
variety like a leg press or chest press. The two sub categories of
SP exercises
are the technical (auxiliary) and the developmental exercises. The
technical exercises are those that are variations of the competitive
lifts and
help
to reinforce the mastery of that particular technique. Lifters will
typically use heavier weight with these exercises, which will be
specific in relation
to the actions of the competitive lifts. The SP developmental exercises
can be done with barbells, dumbbells, machines or other implements.
These exercises can be significantly different in terms of technique
from those
used in the competitive exercises. The developmental exercises have
more of a local effect versus a systemic one. They should be executed
with
weights lighter than those on the competition exercises due to their
diverse technique
structure. These exercises may also serve as an additional training
means for the lifter in helping to develop tendon and ligament strength.
All
of the developmental exercises should be performed through as full
a range of motion as possible and should be done in multiple planes
of
movement
(Medvedyev, 1989).
In Powerlifting an exercise like the pause squat would be a SP
technical exercise for the squat. The pause squat is performed
technically
the same as the squat the only change would be a static hold or
pause at
the bottom
of the movement. The pause also helps to develop the strength (actions)
coming out from the bottom of the squat. The idea is that by training
the pause squat you will directly improve the squat. A lunge would
be considered
more of a SP developmental exercise since it focuses on the development
of single leg strength which may contribute the overall strength
of the squat. In weightlifting, a push jerk (a lift where the athlete
dips downward
slightly with the legs and drives the weight overhead to arms length
without splitting or squatting fully under the weight) would be
an example of SP
technical lift since it is a variation of the jerk portion of the
competitive
lift and it develops the same actions (speed-strength & speed)
of the competitive lift. Again this lift would be used to directly
influence
the
performance of the jerk. A SP developmental exercise would be the clean
grip BP, since it is technically different from the Jerk but it helps
in developing lockout strength.
For the bodybuilder, a lift like a front press (military) would
fit the bill as a SP technical exercise if we use the example presented
earlier.
This exercise is a variation of the incline bench press and it
shares
the same actions (placing stress on the shoulder muscles) as the
incline BP.
DB flyes would be a SP developmental exercise since it will focus
on the chest area, with the use of DB and lighter weight. For the
recreational
lifter or athlete an exercise considered a SP Technical lift would
be the power clean from the hang. This exercise would focus on
the second pull
of the clean from mid thigh to the rack. The SP developmental exercise
is the jump squat. With the bar on the back the lifter would dip
slightly to about quarter squat position and then jump forcefully
upward. This would
further help to develop explosiveness that could facilitate the
power clean. Keep in mind the idea here is to use an exercise that
will
help develop
the competitive exercise either by reinforcing certain technical
aspects of the lift and its actions (the technical exercises) or
by developing
the actions or characteristics required by the lift, such as speed,
strength, and flexibility (the developmental exercises). Below
are some more examples
of these exercises.
Click
Here for Chart
In
classifying the lifts in this manner you have a more concrete idea
of where to place the exercises and what each exercises
role will be. It may
seem technical at first glance but by using the guidelines
I have presented you should find that exercises actually fall
into
place
rather well. In
the next issue I will cover the vast array of general preparatory
exercises and the multiple uses these exercises can play in
your training program.
References
Dreschler, A. J. (1998). The weightlifting encyclopedia: A guide
to world class performance. Whitestone, NY: A is A Communications
Medvedyev, A.S. (1989). A system of multi-year training in weightlifting.
(A. Charniga, Tran.). Livonia, Michigan: Sportivny Press (Original
work published in 1986).
Sheiko, B.I. (1998). Classification and the terminology of the exercises.
In Powerlifting [On-line]. Available: www.ironman.ru/powerlifting.html
Siff, M.C. (2000). Supertraining (5th Ed.). Denver, CO: Supertraining
Institute
Simmons, L. (1993). Assistance for the squat and deadlift. Powerlifting
USA, (16)12, 22-23.
Simmons, L. (2000). Training organization part II. Powerlifting USA,
(26)3.
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