Powerlifting to Get Strong for Olympic Weightlifting?

Short Answer: No

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[Lavabug]

0:43 it was Chewy Lemons and Stark Mistletoe...

[SofaKing]

Off-topic, but coming from powerlifting to weightlifting has honestly made this 10x more difficult lol. Having done thousands and thousands of deadlifts never accelerating the bar past my hips makes it incredibly difficult to re-program my neurons to perform properly timed second pulls

[heclas]

“…thanks to my developing maturity” 💀💀💀

[LucasDimoveo]

When I first started weightlifting I was under the impression for some reason that I needed powerlifting to get stronger. Dropping the conventional deadlift for the RDL and clean deadlift and pursuing aggressive squat programs is what actually got me stronger for this sport

[drhjhulsebos]

Switching from power to oly after discovering just how awful my mobility had become during bjj was...depressing (240 "squat" to a 40 snatch) but I'm never going back. One year later 205 squat and 100 power snatch from a 20" block and still working on dropping under faster with tall snatch.

[energyzer_bunny]

There are also Weightlifting movements that carry over to Powerlifting AND are important in Weightlifting. Snatch Deadlifts, Clean Deadlifts, Strict press, Weighted Dips, and of couse Front Squats. All of which will build a good base of strength, will carry over to Powerlifting, and most importantly are relevant to Weightlifting.

[powderedtoastman]

Can concur. I started lifting at 13 and trained for powerlifting for almost 9 years before weightlifting. It definitely helped A LOT to have so much surplus of strength, but would have been best if trained concurrently.

[Rob-Awesometon]

what you're saying is if I want to get good at a thing, I need to do the thing ??? Sounds like witchcraft to me.

[MikeXCSkier]

I debated about whether to respond to this because I knew that doing so would mean once again going to battle against Lord Marcus of the Ripped Toe and his various minions. Lord Ripped Toe rules his fiefdom with a dogmatic iron fist, and questioning his edicts will bring about insults to one’s masculinity and insults using synonyms for “cat.” But I believe that educating people on this issue is important, so I once again don my armor, mount my trusty steed, and lead my men to lay siege to Castle Wichita Falls, the home of Lord Ripped Toe.

Lord Ripped Toe’s first edict is that strength is a general adaptation. In this video, Greg mentions that strength is specific. Chris Beardsley, who is an exercise scientist, has written a book called “Strength is Specific.” Why, then, would Lord Ripped Toe say strength is “general?” Because Lord Ripped Toe’s experience is with young squires who are WEAK NOVICES. Take a young squire who struggles to squat 100 lbs., get him to increase his strength and size, and you will likely see improvements in other physical qualities, such as speed, power, and even endurance to a small extent. Chris Beardsley, despite the title of his book, agrees. He even states in his book that if a WEAK NOVICE gains strength, such a squire will see improvements in other physical qualities, which will make it seem as if strength is a general adaptation and a panacea that, like a sorcerer’s spell, can magically improve other physical qualities. Lord Ripped Toe likes to say that “power is strength expressed quickly, ” and therefore, an increase in strength will result in an increase in power. The problem with this “logic” is that continually chasing strength will result in diminishing returns. If a young squire wants to become a good weightlifter, he will need to train power. Power is its own physical quality and to improve it requires specific training. But you will not find high level weightlifters at Castle Wichita Falls, so Lord Ripped Toe has no experience with squires other than WEAK NOVICES. I won’t even get into the fact that the lifts need continual training to hone technique, but that’s a different discussion.

[Mengina]

Here's a revolutionary idea : Train olympic weightlifting to get better at olympic weightlifting

[sambsialia]

Whoa whoa whoa! Somebody once said that my knees are attached to my feet and the secret sauce was to simply stand up. Bang, my knees move back. So, it would follow the same logic in transitioning from a front squat to a back squat, imo. Simply stand up correctly, either with a deadlift in socks or with a snatch/clean in high heels. I cant argue with the main crux of your argument which is to take a long time to say specificity is most important for weightlifting, and heavy athletics and throwing. I would quickly counter however that hip drahve/aka powerlifting novice A and B progressions are the fastest safest way for untrained individuals to become strong and athletic, hence the “starting” part in the name. Besides My bar is too cheap to do Oly lifts at my home. We do have an olympian lifter in Knoxville, but I have neither time, money or talent enough to seek out coaching. What I really would like to hear about is this same topic with a focus on Olympians like Paul Anderson, Mark Henry, and that Russian Kolykleyef (cant spell). All three were freaky strong in powerlifting. Allegedly, Anderson taught the Russians how to back squat after he won gold. I remember Henry could dunk, his shoulders were 40+ inches wide, and he could almost rip a quarter in half. All of them did “strengthlete” activities, and their relative powerlifts to weightlifting would seem significant. Also, what about Kono or the big American wrestler who once could out clean and press even Alekzeyev?

[ZenoLee]

I think the one thing that has to be said about starting with power lifting is that it has a lower technique barrier to entry. You can often figure out the movements yourself and get rewarded with quick newb gains. I think the technique aspect of weightlifting might be discouraging to people starting out. You will almost always need a coach to do it properly

[sneeuwballa]

That darn Clark Smith-Roe. Always spreading his dogmatic ideas because he made an OK beginner program (which was definitely not ripped of from Bill Starr).

[AndreS_]

Since everyone beat me to the Rippetoe jokes, I'd like to ask a question please..!

I believe doing lots of back squatting has caused my back to tend stay in an over extended posture when playing other sports. My question is: will increasing my front squat volume help address this tendency to over extended posture? (in general life, not whilst lifting when extension is generally a good thing). I am guilty of not doing much front squatting beyond practicing the clean.

My thoughts are that front squats might help my situation because the scapular protraction counters the extension of the backsquat a bit. But I also wonder if because in the front squat you are fighting the tendency to fall forward more, this lift might make my over-extended posture even worse? I am experimenting on myself but would be very grateful for an experienced view?

I am also trying exercises to increase anterior core strength and 'release' my back.

Many thanks for any thoughts on this from anyone in the Catalyst athletics community 👍

[shotokankaratedude]

I like olympic weightlifting but at my gym we don't have bumper plates and a platform. So I just do a lot of front squat high bar back squat, clean grip deadlift, snatch grip deadlift. And overhead press in jerk and snatch grip .

[FairfieldCliff]

For beginners sure getting stronger always helps...HOWEVER, real seasoned lifters know the science and that pushing the actual lifts is the direct way to increase the total. Big surprise there...and this argument also includes limiting squats/pulls too..these all detract from the total if not careful. It all depends on the lifter and the cycle. Bud Charniga has already extensively and thoroughly written about this with actual essays, cited, with scientific reasoning, explaining how/why squats/pulls/static strength play a small role in the classic total. Everyone; do some research!

[BackyardWeightlifting]

I think most hobby lifters would benefit from doing a novice linear progression while they work on their mobility. That way when they start doing weight, lifting training, not only will they be stronger in a way that transfers, but learning good positions will be easier. That is true, most champion weight lifters started off as a kid training weightlifting, or some sort of fast twitch sport. Anyone with a basic understanding of exercise science should know that there will be times when the competition lifts, go on the back burner while the athlete will need to focus on general strength for a couple of months at a time or so.

But until the competition lifts become extremely close to your 1RMs in certain exercises, we should be fine to practice regular weight lifting. A good well-rounded weight looking program should have general exercises in there anyhow.

[cmonyoureds]

and, that's that. Thank you! Succinct and to the point, for us newbs :-)

[Nidan]

So Greg, training powerlifting with specific weightlifting positions, meaning snatch deadlift and high bar squats would be fine?

[littlethuggie]

You just need to powerlift if you're a powerlifter