@bris83 1057 wrote:
It would be very difficult if not impossible to apply louie simmons ‘powerlfiting’ philosophy to Olympic lifting.
If you are suggesting using a clean and jerk as a max effort exercise or something similar then this would prove dangerous due to the massive technical side of olympic lifting. However, you could use some sub-maximal power cleans or hang snatches in a dynamic effort day.
The main area I think you can take from the westside system is the need to highlight weak areas and and then strengthen them specifically through ‘special’ exercises.
Personally I think you can caught up too much with trying to tamper with already successful systems and not respecting them for what they are, for example the westside system is very good in developing strong powerlifters. A good olympic lifting is aimed at producing olympic lifters. Neither of these two groups of people are team sport athletes, and neither do they mean because they are good olympic lifters does it mean they are going to be good rugby players.
Again it is matter of finding the right recipe for the athlete or group of athletes rather than sweeping them with a ‘particular’ system.
To truly ‘grasp’ the system i suggest reading his book which can be found on his website. Here he talks about his early beginning as an olympic lifter and why his experiences in that sport drove him to powerlifting.
Apologies Bris! Missed your comment somehow.
Agree that the Westside Method is very specialised, but I like some elements of it for Rugby Players and it can be included within programmes for exercises like the Squat and the Deadlift in pre-season without the detriment to others.
I think the use of the Westside method in Olympic Weightlifting is probably limited to the Assistance lifts in terms of Max effort and speed days- was merely looking for a potential new twist on the programmes for the assistance lifts with hope of a carry over. A good example of its application is in Joe Defranco’s “Westside for Skinny B@stards” programmes on T-Nation and indeed his own web-site.
Having done pretty much every variation on Olympic Lifting programmes over the last 15 years, I’m always interested to try something new and see how it can be of benefit to others.