Westside meets olympic lifting

[PowerXL]

Westside Meets Olympic Lifting
By Travis Mash
For www.EliteFTS.com


I’m about to make a comeback in Olympic lifting at the age of 33, which most Olympic lifting “experts” say is impossible. In their opinion, males somewhere between the ages of 22 and 25 max out on their ability to be fast and from that point on, it’s all downhill. Maybe they’re right, but I don’t think so! Sprinting is proving that!

All of this research is based on the number of world class athletes and their ages, and these studies are old. Several years ago, there wasn’t much money to be made in sprinting, so at the age of 25, it was time to get a job. The same is true still for Olympic lifting. There’s no money, so someone has to get a job.

My success in powerlifting has taught me that athletes keep getting better as long as there is no injury. Different types of stimuli are used in training so their body doesn’t adapt to their training. Westside principles have shown me that constant change allows for constant improvement. I have also become more serious about my sports medicine by hooking up with Dr. Larry Gray, who is the greatest chiropractor in the world and is certified in the active release technique, cox technique, and graton technique. Anyone who has been to him will agree that he is nothing short of a miracle worker. His office is now full of beefed up guys between 200–350 pounds, who mix well with the triathlon competitors and runners. Other areas that I’m going to concentrate on are diet, sleep, and mobility. We should all learn from Lance Armstrong—to achieve greatness, never leave a rock unturned.

So over the last few weeks, I’ve been developing my template to use with the Westside template when weightlifting. It has been a lot of trial and error, and I’m sure that at the end of the first stage I will have many changes. But here is what it’s going to look like.

Day 1: Dynamic snatch and lower

Morning session

* dynamic warm-up
* box squats using the same Westside phases (speed strength, circa max, strength speed) and bands
* Romanian deadlifts, snatch grip/clean grip (alternate) (I will be using bands of all kinds of variance)

Evening session

* dynamic warm-up
* snatch 70 percent, 1 X 8 (45 seconds between sets) (I will be using bands and chains creatively)
* snatch pulls (several varied heights) 100–110 percent, 1 X 4
* reverse hyper

Day 2: Dynamic clean and jerks and upper

Morning session

* dynamic warm-up (which will include prowler work for active recovery), superset with seated rows
* dynamic bench Press (this is going to be done carefully with some new ideas that I have come up with to rehab my shoulder; check out my blog to read about it)
* upper body plyos
* triceps work
* shoulder and rotator work

Mobility work and stretching

Evening session

* dynamic warm-ups and abs
* clean and jerks using bands and chains, 60–70 percent, 1 X 8 with 45 seconds rest
* clean pulls at varied heights, 100–110 percent, 1 X 4

Mobility work and stretching

Day 3: ME snatch day and lower body

Morning session

* dynamic warm-up and pull-downs

ME exercises will rotate between varied heights of the snatch; assisted snatch (which is still being developed but very cool); overhead squats; overhead squats with bands, chains, weight releasers, and reverse bands; front squats with bands, chains, weight releasers, etc; snatch grip pulls with bands and chains; and varied types of good mornings. There are some things that will be announced later when I’m finished with the development.

Each week, I’ll rotate between a snatch type ME lift and a squat/lower body ME lift. When I ME snatch, a heavy lower body assistance will follow such as a good morning for example. When it is heavy lower body ME week, a session for developing snatch mechanics will proceed.

Evening session

* dynamic warm-up

Isolateral exercises like zertzer lunges; regular lunges; step-ups forward, backwards, and lateral; and one leg squats. I’ll keep the reps between 6–10 with 3–4 sets. This will be great for hypertrophy and to limit any imbalances.

* Good mornings or zertzer squats, 3 X 6–8
* glute ham raises
* Prowler work for GPP

Day 4: ME clean and jerk and upper body

Morning session

* dynamic warm-up and rows
* upper body ME exercise, board presses, rack jerks (using bands, chains, reverse bands, etc.), military press (bands and chains), push press (bands and chains), reverse band bench
* hypertrophy work (dumbbell presses for reps seated, lying, incline, etc.), flies dumbbell and cable
* triceps work
* shoulder and rotator work

Evening session

* dynamic warm-ups and heavy abs
* cleans from a box of varied heights (using bands, chains, and reverse bands), heavy clean pulls of varied heights (using bands and chains), dumbbell cleans for reps, Hurricane machine cleans, cleans using belt squat machine (still working on)
* lower body plyometrics (using vests, bands, chains)
* reverse hyper
* Prowler

Note that the workout consists of two workouts per day. I did this to optimize glycogen storage and minimize cortisol release. The Bulgarians performed several studies and concluded that the optimal training time was between 30–45 minutes. Also notice that with Westside, I was able to combine hypertrophy, dynamic methods, max effort methods, conjugate methods, and accommodating resistance. Most importantly, the athlete gets stronger year round.

This will be a work in progress but has really aided in the training of my fiancée, Julie Childress, who is on the Olympic bobsledding team. She started about a year and a half ago with a 17” vertical, 200 lbs raw squat, 135 lbs raw bench, 135 lbs power clean, and 4.5 second 30 meter sprint. Now, she has a 28” vertical, 350 lbs raw squat, 225 lbs raw bench, 210 lbs power clean, and a 4.2 second 30 meter sprint. Results speak for themselves!

Travis Mash made history at the 2004 GNC Show of Strength by totaling 2414 lbs in the 220 lbs class. This total surpassed the legendary Ed Coan and places Travis as one of the greatest powerlifters in history. He pursued Olympic lifting for awhile and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 2001, his best lifts included a 970 lbs squat, a 705 lbs bench press, and an 800 lbs deadlift all done in the 220 lbs class. To contact Travis, visit his website at MethodXSP.org or email him at travis@MethodXSP.org.
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