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By Steven Morris
Author
of Explosive Football Training
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There's gotta be a better
way!
I've been competing in Olympic
Lifting for about 8 years, on and off. It's a wonderful sport
filled with great people and challenging, but rewarding exercises.
While the Olympic Lifts and
their variations have been a part of my programs since I started
nearly 15 years ago, they were, frankly, starting to let me
down.
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My training became stale and I was
not producing on the platform. I decided to take a break from the
O-lifts for a while and stumbled on an article by Charles Staley,
strength coach extraordinaire, about his Escalating
Density Training (EDT) system. For those of you unfamiliar
with EDT, here's a brief explanation from one of Charles's Articles.
| If you know when it'll be over,
you'll work that much harder. The EDT system employs time frames
for work sets. When the time frame ends, you're done, no matter
what you have or haven't accomplished. Your goal is to discover
ways to do more and more work within these time frames. As the
old saying goes "You can work hard, or you can work long,
but you can't work hard for long." |
My take on EDT was always simple.
Time your work, record what you do, then, the next week, you try
to beat your total number of reps, amount of weight used, or time
you completed the work in. It's a very simple and straightforward
way of tracking progress.
I liked the idea and formulated a
basic template. Unfortunately a football induced knee injury meant
I was going to have to scrap that idea for a while. I read about
the EDT for Arms program and decided to specialize for a while.
Well, 6 weeks later, my knee was healed and my arms were much bigger
and stronger. I decided to look at this EDT program much harder.
I wanted to go to one more Olympic
Lifting meet. My last 3 had been disappointing, missing weights
I had hit in training, always feeling like I'm leaving a ton of
potential on the platform, especially in the C & J. I wanted
to get one good meet in, then move on to Powerlifting for a while.
But, what to do? My old approach
was not working at all. I was on the path of following percentages
and extreme specificity. Problem was that I'd often have to go up
to 95%+ of my contest maxes and it would just be too heavy and not
provide enough reps to really refine the skill.
Then I was watching a tape of the
Bulgarian Olympic Lifting team training and I noticed something
strange.
They didn't follow any percentages,
nor did they worry about a prescribed number of sets and reps. I
hauled out a few of my other tapes and saw that while every team
did things differently, the one thing they had in common was that
they picked a lift for the session, then worked it extremely hard
for 30 minutes. Hmm, this got me thinking, "I wonder if I could
use the principals of EDT to prepare for my last meet?"
Being a lifter with a decent Snatch,
an excellent Jerk, and a sub-par Clean, I needed to formulate a
plan to work my weaknesses, yet still hit my strong points.
I came up with a basic template fairly
quickly.
Day 1
Zone 1 - 30 minutes
Snatch - Singles or doubles for a
30 minute block. I didn't follow any percentage guide, but I was
usually in the 85 - 95% range. Sometimes I'd work up to a Training
Max and try to hit it as many times as I could.
Zone 2 - 25 minutes
Clean Pulls
Front Squats - If this zone seems like a lot of work, it's because
it is. Reps were between 1 and 3, and rest periods were as short
as possible. Remember, we're trying to increase density here.
Day 2
Zone 1 - 30 minutes
Front Squat - 30 minutes of doubles
and singles with whatever felt heavy that day (training max)
Zone 2 - 25 minutes
Incline or Push Press -Typically 1-3
reps (1-8 for the Incline work)
Rows/Chins/General Back Work -Higher reps, usually sets of 5-8
Day 3
Zone 1 - 30 minutes
Clean and Jerk - 30 minutes of doubles
and singles with whatever felt heavy that day (training max)
Zone 2 - 25 minutes
RDL's or SLDL - Usually doubles or
triples
Clean and Clean Pull - These were for speed and form, usually done
for 1-3 reps. One rep of a clean, followed by 1-3 reps of Clean
Pulls
Zone 3 - 10 minutes
Optional Arm Work -If I felt like
doing some vanity work, I would. If I was tried, I didn't. Reps
were 4-8.
The sessions were fairly similar for
the entire 12 weeks. Progression was measured in three ways:
1. Beat the number of reps
2. Add weight
3. Same weight, same reps in less time
The first thing I noticed was my
work capacity was greatly increased. Also the ability to "follow
myself" became almost automatic. In a meet, if you miss a weight,
you are cut down to 60 seconds rest, and must repeat the attempt.
This used to be fairly difficult, as one minute is not a lot of
time to rest in between max attempts. However, after just a few
weeks, I was hitting 90%+ for set after set with ease.
About 4 weeks in I decided to play
with exercise order. Whereas most people put the classic lifts first,
I would often put the accessory lifts first and the snatch or clean
and jerk second or third.
Blasphemy, I know. We've all heard
it a million times. "The Olympic Lifts are a high-skill exercise
and should always be done first." Well, anyone who's ever been
in a meet knows that you might attempt your first Clean and Jerk
two or three hours after completing the Snatch. You will be tired
at this point and if you are not used to doing the lifts in a fatigued
state, you're done. While no training program can replicate a meet,
doing Snatches after 25 - 30 minutes of heavy leg work will certainly
help.
I was about at the 9-week mark that
I started to notice huge jumps in weight. I took week 8 off, other
than pulling a light sled, stretching, and walking. When I got back
in the weightroom in week 9, the weights were flying up. I had not
only surpassed my previous meet weights; I was doing them for 12-15
singles!
This is another huge strength of the
EDT program: It builds amazing levels of confidence.
Going into a meet wondering "Wow, can I actually DO this weight?"
is much different from; "Ok, a new P.R., but I've done it in
the gym fifteen times." Which mindset would you rather go to
the platform with?
I pushed hard through weeks 9 - 12.
I did a de-load the week before the meet to allow my body to recover,
as at this point I was getting beat up from the much heavier weights
I was not using. Meet day came and it was almost anti-climactic.
The Snatch went easily, hitting a
P.R. of 10kg. I felt I had more in me, but I had a decent lead and
didn't want to risk it. Now on to the Clean and Jerk. This is the
lift that has disappointed me time and time again throughout the
years. I decided to open with the same weight I ended with last
meet.
Smoked it. Next up, a 10kg P.R. attempt.
The weight came up so easily that I actually missed racking it!
So here I was, following myself, shooting for a 20+lb P.R. This
time I was ready for the bar, racked it, and smoked the jerk. I
won the meet easily and wondered why I didn't try this sooner!
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Take
Home Lessons
Following my program
completely might be a mistake for you. I provided it as a
template and it's up to you to figure out your weak points
and strengthen them.
You'll notice
I Front Squatted for most of the program. I'm not anti-Back
Squat and it would be perfectly acceptable to use both or
alternate. Front Squats have always had a much more positive
impact on strength for me, and that's why they were so prominent
in the program. It should be said however, that my legs got
much bigger and stronger, and that strength carried over big
time to my next cycle.
The best approach
would be to learn the principles of EDT and start to apply
them to your training as soon as you can. Experiment; find
an approach that fits you and your needs. With some hard work
and smart planning, EDT can help you too have your best meet
ever!
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Learn More About EDT Training Here!
Charles Staley’s
training package "The Complete
Video Guide To Escalating Density Training" is available now!
Click
here to learn more
and get your copy today!
About
The Author
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Steven Morris is a Personal
Trainer and Strength Coach in the Philadelphia and South
Jersey areas and the owner of UWA Fitness. He has been lifting
weights for over 15 years and has been helping people achieve
their fitness and strength goals for over a decade. Steven
is currently pursuing an M.S. in Psychology.
You can learn more about his
methods and services at, www.explosivefootballtraining.com
and, www.UWAFitness.com
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