A lot of people are not aware of the complexity and thoroughness of the Chinese when selecting their athletes. It seems many online, tend to think the Chinese, merely pick a random child off the street because they’ve a 1.5 billion population (2011 estimates). That’s quite, untrue. The system to select athletes, in China involves far more complexity than I’ve ever seen in any country.
Athletes will be scouted in their schools or from families. Gymnasts may be scouted as young as 4 years old, weightlifters, from 7. They go to schools, or villages to ask families if they’ve a kid that they would like to put through sports school. There is NO coercion! Do NOT keep joking about how Chinese will point a gun to the parents and demand their kid just because he or she shows talent. Parents and children, are free to decide if they want to train and many who are picked tend to be from the farming background. Training as an athlete ensures their education, food, housing and future is secure. There are career paths that wait for them even if they don’t end up as top athletes. Also, they’re paid a monthly stipend, and yes their parents are allowed to visit them.
I’ll explain the top 10 things required in choosing athletes. The selection process measures;
1. Parents height and muscularity.
History of parents in sports and activities that they do. Whether they’re from an physical activity intensive industry or whether they’re from a “brain” intensive industry.
2. Blood type and muscle type. More white or red fibers.
White muscle fibers are the type 2B fibers, which are extremely explosive. They’ve a method from extracting blood, to identify lifters with more white fibers.
3. Jumping height, distance and reversal speed (how fast they bounce out from landing).
Obviously the higher and further you jump, the more explosive you are. Reversal speeds, measure how quickly you can explode while under compression (extremely important for the clean and jerks)
4. General strength level.
Duh…. The strongest athlete with the best technique, always wins. If you bicker about “Oh, sometimes they’ve bad days and that’s a contributing factor too”, that explains why you’re not in the Olympics.
5. Skin type.
We don’t look for long, limber, yoga looking skin. We look for the….I’ve no idea how to describe this. It’s a very thin looking sort of skin. Type 2B fibers, (Fast glycolytic) are thicker and denser than slow twitch fibers. Thus, the skin you find is easier to pinch and separate from the muscle. Slower twitch individuals (best example, yoga teachers) tend to have a more leathery long looking skin.
6. Attitude (*Extremely important*)
Talent without the right attitude, not going to work.
7. The size of their testicles
I SWEAR they do touch ur balls to check it. Doesn’t apply to women, smartass. For women, there’s a different way of choosing. Something about their breast size and triceps and belly density. They look for small breasted women with thin triceps and belly fat, because that shows a higher amount of testosterone. They also look for women, with a squarish jawline because that indicates high testosterone levels and ability to build muscle.
8. IQ level.
Athletes need to understand how to train and pick their own weaknesses. You must also be intelligent to use the monthly allowance and competition prize money to continue to grow your wealth and not go have to fall back to the farm life. Most of the people you see on the TV about how they’re back to being poor, didn’t tell you the stories about how they mismanaged their funds. Never ever believe what the media says.
9. Flexibility
Goes without saying
10. Kinesthesis ability
Are you aware about where your hips and shoulders need to be during the pulls, if you’ve a mistake, can you readjust, yadayada bla bla. Being highly aware of your body is extremely important, that’s why gymnastics is prescribed for the beginner levels.
In the next installation, I’ll give further details into when and how loading is performed for younger athletes, to avoid messing their full growth potential. This applies both to height and athletic abilities and symmetrical development.
One of the more commonly asked questions, is “Can you write me a program?”
No I cannot.
I can give you a rep range and set range that are commonly used.
I can give you, the purpose of an exercise.
I can give you, times when an exercise is suitable.
But I cannot give you a program.
The thing is, with a program, you’re banking that everything will go as planned, and the lifter will progress according to that estimation. And we all know, that never happens. In order for that to happen, we’d need to have thousands of hours of data, for that particular lifter alone. And these numbers change as the lifter progresses in his or her training. That’s probably the best way you’re going to be able to structure a 100% accurate and predictable, program.
What I can do is explain how I was TAUGHT to view training. I’m combining the teachings from my Chinese coaches as well as my Soviet coaches. Things that they can agree to, and things that they disagree to. Don’t worry, I’ll state them.
They both agree, that a program, is merely a template that describes what will be done during training. Yet, the program, should NOT impose a limit for additional work the lifter intends to do, to further address glaring technical/strength/power concerns. As such, they prefer to categorize the day, and what that day’s work is supposed to consist of.
Example:
Monday. Snatch Day
Snatch (1RM then to 5×3)
Snatch pull, to hip (5-8 x 2-5, usually, 110-120% of snatch 1RM)
Snatch high pull from block (5-8 x 3-5)
Snatch Balance (1RM then to 5×3)
Now, what happens on snatch day, is that we do snatches (of course) and we intend to, “Draw a target, around the arrow”. Halfway through training, we realize that we’ve not been terribly explosive for 2 weeks now. And at this point, we realize, it’s perhaps time to develop more power. The above routine, will then be changed slightly to reflect this need to increase power.
Thus instead of doing pulls to hip for 8 sets, he may just do it for 4 sets of 3 reps and move to snatch high pulls from block, and even a light hang power snatch at the end.
And what weight to put on? That really determines on the repetitions. Every time my trainees train with me and ask me “How many KGs?”, I always give the standard “One billion KGs, please”. Certainly knowing very well they won’t be able to accomplish this. But the point is, to let them learn from their own bodies. If I’m hitting reps of 5, I’m probably trying to increase my muscle and strength rapidly here. If I’m hoping to improve my power? I’ll stick to high reps of singles and doubles. Duh.
The Russians researched this to death!
1-2 reps, pure power and strength
3-5 reps, strength 80% and maybe, 20% hypertrophy
6-10 reps, hypertrophy 65%, maybe strength 35%
11 reps, get out the bloody gym and go back to your dammed treadmills.
And lesser repetitions, means more sets. Choose your way of torture. Prelipin’s table is good for this too.
They also agree that, if a lifter can lift maximally and continually get stronger by maxing out on the Olympic lifts, by all means let him/her. But while he/her’s doing that, make sure they’ve enough higher repetition stimulation by means of pulls and push presses and squats to encourage ligament, bone, muscle, and tendon strength and health.
There is a huge emphasis on pre-hab exercises such as presses, unilateral stretches, gymnastics work, rotator cuff work, and etc.
They however, disagree a bit on the distribution of exercises. The Chinese, like a 40% competition lifts, 60% variation/supplementary. The Russians, are slightly closer to 60% competition lifts and 40% variation/supplementary. Of course, towards the competition dates, they both peak the same. I personally prefer to use the Chinese model for longer phases and the Russians model for shorter phases.
Apart from this, yeah, that’s pretty much how we look at training. Not so much about the perfect rep and sets. Just more towards, loading the body with as much stress as possible to inflict the necessary trauma and better the body.
…when you’ve come to a point where you’re that strong.
The issue I see, with many individuals or forums, that are of the Youtube generation, where the first video of a lift they say, was a powerlifter squatting huge, is the immense emphasis on back squats. It’s like, when I read what lifters are concerned about, it seems they’re far more concerned about the squats correlation to the lifts. Then they discuss about how squatting more, will enable them to lift more.
The problem I see here, is that, that theory may not be true. When I had a back squat of 200KG, I only snatched 125KG and cleaned 150KG. I know, of boys with a 100KG snatch, 120KG clean, but a 140KG back squat. Syzmon Kolecki, reports that he only squat about 235KG but has a 232.5KG clean. Hysen Pulaku racks a 200KG, but his front squats are also only 200KG.
My own coach, who had a 230KG back squat, only managed a 170KG clean. When his squats were at 270KG, his clean was only 195KG. That’s a whole 75KG MORE.
Anyway, the details of what other lifters do, are unimportant so don’t bicker about such useless things. The point, is to point the idea that high back squat numbers, DO NOT transfer so well to max lifts. When I spoke with him and other coaches, they all agreed that the front squats, would be a far better determinant of your max lifts AND provide better carryover to your Olympic lifting.
These are our thoughts, put together, on why the front squats are more important, and should have a 2:1 or even 3:1 (FS:BS) ratio.
1. It’s simply easier to teach than the back squats.
Tall a long femur, long torso lifter and see how they back squat. Throw the bar on his/her chest and see what happens. Perfectly straight back (not like there’s an option), the first few reps, they’ll end up on their toes, but they’ll smarten up or with some proper cues, they’ll be fine.
2. The loading of a front squat, is very central.
With the back squats, shooting your hips backwards without your chest rising (weak mid back) doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll lose a lift. You’ll see a really ugly squat, but you can make it. Is the weight in your center? Bollocks, if you said yes. There’s a percentage of “cheat” when your torso leans forward, that you can get away with. Not with the front squat, and with a sport that requires you to be as central as possible, you don’t wanna back squats messing your perception out.
3. You can use less weight, for more returns
Western methodology, suggests that using more weight, recruits more muscle fibers, thus the back squats are superior because you can use more weight. The Chinese, jump for the exact opposite. EVEN Russians. I know this, because I’ve Russian friends who say they don’t squat less than triples, and go up to even 10 repetitions (not regular). They choose to squat for more repetitions, because it uses less weight but produces the loading, alike using more weight.
It’s not any easier though, to do a front squat as compared to the back squats. The weights in the back squats may be more, but Chinese coaches have come to realize it isn’t even weight that matters most. It’s about how the body feels about the loads. It’s almost bodybuilder’ish in principle.
The reason there’s so many more reps, within the Chinese trainees is because coaches have found that PROPER muscular recruitment is NOT determined by weight alone. Muscular recruitment is determined by many many other factors such as time under tempo, complexity of movement, rest time, repetitions, fatigue levels. The heavier the weight is, the less likely you are to use tiny muscles which are weak, because your better developed prime movers are so strong. These fellows automatically work, disallowing weaker muscle fibers to work. You don’t think so? Well, that’s your problem. HARHAR!!!
What this causes, is an over development of prime movers, with nothing done to fix weaker muscles. Repetitions, however exhaust the prime movers and FORCE the supplementary muscles to come into play. What happens is, you get to wire more of the weaker muscle fibers instead of relying purely on the already strong muscles.
How is this beneficial to a weightlifter? Would you rather peak in 5 years, and then live the rest of your life trying to figure why your left erector spinae is underdeveloped, why you only managed like, 5 competitions, and you’re in constant pain? Or would you rather peak, in 8-9 years, while continually enjoying your weightlifting and continue to make records? NOW, I am not suggesting that every human being goes through this, but I am suggesting, the majority of cases I’ve heard and read and spoke to, do experience this.
In the world of the internets, it’s necessary to cover all bases or jokers will like to jump on me.
Are you the hare? Or the tortoise?
4. Snatches, cleans and pulls will work your posterior “chain”
Actually, the idea that front squats don’t work your hamstrings itself, is quite mad. You’re going to work your hamstrings as well, just to a lesser extent compared to back squats. Added with the Olympic lifts and pulls which you should perform (Even if you’re a sport specific Nazi), your hamstrings are gonna be killed. But how we look at it, is less of each individual muscle.
We look at it as a movement. A supplementary movement that should mimic the actual one as much as possible. The reason I believe, many people report not finding pulls beneficial is because they’re regularly treating it as a godforsaken deadlift. As an exercise to strengthen their hamstrings and back.
No you numbskulls. If I wanted you to do a deadlift, I’d have enough sense to call it a bloody deadlift. I need you to do a pull, by keeping your hips low at the start. Then raising it up and backwards, and pulling the bar into your hips and popping your hips upwards and reversing yourself, dumbass. Why are you trying to stay over the weight anyway?
The pulls are meant to develop your positioning and give you an idea of the weight, not for you to pull the bar into the air and stay on your toes. Don’t discredit an exercise just because it doesn’t work for you.
I’ve no desire to tear down a person’s technique, but here’s what you’ll always see when you watch a video of pulls on youtube. A deadlift, a forward shrug and a jump. I’m serious. Look at where their shoulders point. It’s always forward. You ever seen a clean or a snatch like that in your life? Exactly! Why are you doing that then when practicing a movement that’s supposed to mimic the actual lifts?
So figure out, exactly what are you trying to achieve when training. A phenomenal squat that’ll make powerlifters drool, or a phenomenal snatch and clean and jerk, that’ll make weightlifters drool?
Your choice. For me, I choose a lift that’s less taxing, provides the most benefits for my sport and I can be afford to be a bit “lazier”.
Monday
Snatch (3 sets x 4 reps, each weight to 4RM. Top set, + 2sets)
Clean and jerk (2 sets x 3 reps, each weight to 3RM. Top set, + 2 sets)
Front squats (6-10 sets) x (6RM + 1 Jerk)
Press from behind neck (5 sets x 12 reps) [+] Lunges (5 sets x 15 reps)
Tuesday
Back Squats (6-10 sets) x (8 reps)
Hang snatch (2 sets x 5 reps each weight. Top set + 3 sets)
Hang clean and jerk (2 sets x 3 reps. Top set + 3 sets)
Box Jumps (5 sets x 1 rep) [+] Lunges (5 sets x 15 reps)
Wednesday
Block Snatches (2 sets x 3 reps each weight. Top set + 3 sets)
Block Clean (2 sets x 3 reps. Top set + 1 set)
Snatch Pulls (to 5RM. Repeat 3 sets)
Clean Pulls (to 5RM. Repeat 2 sets)
Behind Neck Push Press (to 2RM. Reduce 10%, 5 sets x 5 reps)
Thursday
Front squats (6-10 sets) x (6RM + 1 Jerk)
Power snatch, with standard grip (3 reps x 3 sets each weight to 3RM)
Power cleans and power jerk, with standard grip (3 reps x 3 sets each weight to 3RM)
Dumbbell Overhead Press [+] Walking Lunges (5 sets x 15 reps)
Friday
Snatch (To 1RM. Repeat for 3 sets of 4)
Clean and jerk (To 1RM. Repeat 3 sets of 2)
Snatch pulls (to 5RM. Repeat 3 sets)
Clean Pulls (to 5RM. Repeat 2 sets)
Strict behind neck Press [+] Step-ups (5 x 10)
Saturday
Back squats (8 sets x 10 reps)
Bodybuilding stuff. Back, arms, shoulders.
Since I have not been researching much on topics I want to discuss, I figure it’ll be a good time to log my sporadic training days.
Sunday (25/12/2011)
Snatches
20KG x 5 x 5
40KG x 2 x 3
50KG x 3×3
70KG x 7 x 3
Not too bad. playing around with the technique.
Finished with some presses and pull-ups
Monday (26/12/2011)
20KG x 4 x 10
40KG x 2 x 10
60KG x 2 x 10
80KG x 1 x 10
90KG x 1 x 10
100KG x 4 x 8
Trying to get some technique in, some endurance in the legs and back. Feeling a bit tight all over but loosened up after a few sets.
Snatches for 4 sets of triples. Techn tech tech!
Tuesday (26/11/2011)
Power Clean and Jerks
50KG x 3 x 3
70KG x 3 x 3
90KG x 2 x 3
110KG x 1 x 1 (Wasn’t planning to go past 70%)
90KG x 4 x 3 (1 power clean, 2 front squats, 1 jerk. I think my wrist died in the process)
40KG overhead presses for 3 sets of 8.
Tomorrow’s gonna be front squats to a top set of 10RM for 5 sets.
Looking forward for next week when I can put in the second exercise in.
In Asia, parents raise their kids up differently from the Western world. I’ve personally experienced, being tied to a “rambutan” tree when I was being naughty. Define naughty? Not complete homework on time. Not get all ticks, but instead a couple of crosses for obvious questions. If I get anything less than top 10, I’ll be spending a few hours removing splinters of the cane my dad would use to beat me.
Yes, I may be born in a country outside of China, but my parents are still extremely Chinese in terms of upbringing. I don’t even understand why! My dad doesn’t even speak Mandarin. Weird…
I remember being dragged out the car because I was threw a tantrum. Dragged by the back of the collar and thrown out the car. I had to walk a good 6 hours I think to get back home. No no scorching heat. Just 6PM darkness.
Actually, one of my best memories of childhood was when I was still…about 10. I didn’t complete my homework and hid it in the couch. My mom sat and the book, popped out. Holy…shit.
Nowadays, I see kids that ask, plead, whine and yell to get what they want. My dad used to say “MY words are FINAL!” and u knew you just lost the argument despite how logical yours sounded to you. I still think I beat him in logic.
After years of such beatings which the modern world would call, abuse or torture, I learned how to actually, “enjoy” it. Shit’s gonna happen anyway. My dad’s going to hit me ANYWAY. I could yell and let the pain eat me, or I’ll just keep quiet and take it all in. While the beatings are going on, I’ll just think of something else and block the pain.
I think this sort of upbringing, often taught me to toughen up and say, screw that, I’m doing it no matter how tough the process will be. The process sucks, but it’s only for that period. After that, it’s all smiles again.
Am I pissed that I was brought up this way? Are you kidding me, seriously? I’m happy that my dad brought me up this way. It taught me humility and toughened me up. It taught me which battles were worth winning. Would I bother arguing with you, about the end of the day? No. Will I argue which method is better in training? To hell with you. It’s your body. Will I argue if you diss me without anything to back your words up. You bet!
I see the way kids are brought up here and I think to myself “Holy cow, they’re lucky alright!” My cousin’s 8 and he’s never gotten caned. I think I was 3 when I first got smacked. The special weapons would come in later. It’s very interesting for me at least, to see how children are brought up.
Perhaps this is upbringing does bring the best out of children. Psychologically and future mental health aside, performance does improve when pressured. I’m thinking, this may be why many athletes from less “socially developed” nations are so much better in weightlifting. Perhaps, they’re just a lot tougher and have a “I don’t care” attitude.
I see some guys that rip their hands and the workout’s over. I see some people, whom are given the privilege of a personal trainer, fussing about whether to do overhead presses behind neck or in front of neck. I see a lot of sissies in gyms nowadays.
Whatever happened to the days where, “Oh shit, my knees hurt. Oh well, I’ll do pulls” Or, “Oh shit, my grip’s weak. I’m going to do more wrist curls”. Nowadays, people are just all so into the whole functional, big picture, do compound only because I’m cooler that way. I think such individuals are mentally retarded.
Just because compound movements are better, doesn’t mean isolation movements don’t work. You try running a V8, on a 10″ rim. You need to have the whole structure. So just toughen up, and don’t stress over what the industry names these movements. Just do what fixes your errors. And stop believing that you can’t train your back today, just because you trained your back yesterday. You ate yesterday. Why you still eating today?
People tend to believe that, the moment someone touches the bar, the lift is over. That’s what some coaches believe and I respect that.
I believe there are many opinions in the training world, and each coach is allowed to create his own. Mine however, says that “Spotting is extremely important for the athlete to be better and stronger”
First, you have to look at your goal. If your goal, is to get stronger and build more muscle, I believe a spotter (smart spotter), is integral to your success. A spotter not only works as an individual that provides tiny assistance at your weakest points, but also cues your technique. A spotter is also hugely important, as a motivator, telling you that there’s an extra rep within you. But what’s most important to me, is how the spotter helps break through the sticking points.
Sometimes, it’s that 1″ that the lifter’s a bit weaker at, and by slightly tapping the bar, the lifter gets the lift. Now realize that, training is to get you to a goal. My goal, is to get stronger. Now here I am, doing sets of triples at 95% of 1RM.
I say…By using a spotter, to help you tap through that 1″, you get so much more work done, at that selected weight and eventually, just get stronger? How’s that for training perspective? Possible isn’t it? And as a bonus, I’ll even do sets of 2-5, from a block at that weak spot after that. Now I’ve got intensity, I’ve got weight, I’ve even started working on my weak positions. And to even it all out, I’ll even add unilateral training, to build connective tissue strength and help balance some muscular imbalances.
So for me, spotters are extremely useful and important. It’s how you use these spotters, that is far more important. If my friend touches the bar, I’ll ask “How much load was pulled off? Was it because the bar was out of position? Thank you”
..is the day you stop learning and become stupider than everyone.
Are some of the words I’ll remember till the day I die.
I’ve been hanging around some forums, reading on stuff they post. There are posters who are so stupid, that they refuse to accept that each man or woman or child’s physical goal, differs. And they can’t keep shoving one type of training into the throats of another. Really… one of my biggest question is;
“I wonder how much these companies are paying these fanboys”
For me, training, is specific to your goals and what you wish to achieve. There’s no need to make fun of others. However, there are a few elitist communities out there, that love dissing the fact that some people curl instead of deadlift, use a leg press, instead of squat, and do kipping pull-ups, instead of strict pull-ups.
Make no mistake, all communities of trainees, whether crossfit, powerlifting (Suited or raw), bodybuilders, bootcamp, whatever. They are all somehow or rather trying to condemn other sports or method of training.
What I’d like to know is, how many of these fellows have seen, real athletes? Maybe that’ll teach you a thing or two about dissing other trainees.
170KG power clean by a sprinter.
A discus thrower, Werner Gunthor, doing some “functional” (What a nonsensical term) plyometric drills
A wrestler, showing some major strength. So what if he doesn’t squat 300KGs for a triple? He’ll still lift you off the ground and make you look like a complete wuss.
Rugby players, that are probably not going to beat your Fran time, but will still take the worst beating you could possibly give, and stand. After that, they’ll hit you twice and see you fall. Rugby players do have higher bone densities you know.
So my point here is, learn from all angles, whether bodybuilding, crossfit, powerlifting, weightlifting, sport specific training. Anything. There’s really no need to compare yourself as being a better athlete. It’s worst when companies, start telling their followers and their followers are STUPID enough to believe that they’re better athletes.
You’re nothing, if you can’t respect the training and abilities of another athlete. Don’t even bother calling your athlete, for the most important conduct of an athlete, is respect. Until you can get that right, you can forget about being an athlete.
You’re nothing but a retard, controlled by marketing strategies and here’s take home message for you.
