My name is David Owens I’m a former Scottish and British
Olympic Weightlifting champion / record holder and current Masters champion.
I have competed all over Europe for both Scotland and Great
Britain at various levels and was part of the first ever British schoolboy team
which competed in Debrecen, Hungary.
I have won the gold medal for Scotland at the Small Nations
championships and a bronze at the IWF Silver Dragon.
I have coached various lifters to national titles including
a woman’s British national champion.
I prefer the Bulgarian style of training as I believe to
progress at Olympic Weightlifting you have to go heavy as often as possible.
When I say Bulgarian style I don’t mean the actual Bulgarian
training method as those guys maxed out 3 times per day which wouldn’t be
possible for most lifters.
I mean as long as the athlete is fit and has a grasp of the
technique (beginners will have mostly technique work first before doing this)
they should lift as heavy as possible that particular day.
Training programs will vary depending on lifters strengths
and weaknesses.
Training programs with percentages etc. all have their
benefits but on the day of the competition you can’t do 3 reps with 80 percent
you have to lift to your max.
The reason I prefer to train this way is both by my own
experience lifting and with training with other national level athletes.
For example I watched a lifter train for weeks lifting at 70
percent for 5 reps then when his maximum week came he couldn’t get near his
best never mind setting a new personal best. I can remember saying to him he
should have had a few sessions closer to his best throughout his weeks at 70
percent to even have a chance at a good maximum lift.
5 reps and more are fine if you are looking to get fit and after
some competitions that’s exactly what lifters are looking for but are not going
to help you lift new bests. Some people say it helps with technique but after 4
or 5 reps most lifters will be tiring so 5th to 8th reps
the technique will suffer.
Another example is a training week doing something like 80
percent on Monday, max day on Wednesday and Friday 90 percent (I’ve done
similar to this type of training)
Then you train on Monday everything is going great you are
lifting your 80 percent weight like its an empty bar, you end up looking
forward to your max day after 80 percent feeling so good.
Wednesday comes and you are not doing so well it could be an
injury, didn’t sleep too well or even something on your mind distracting
concentration. You end up struggling with the weight you did easily 2 days ago
(believe me it happens)
So why not strike why the iron is hot?
In the example I just gave Monday should have been the max
day instead of setting it beforehand at 80 percent and basically holding
yourself back. Then make Wednesday your lighter day, do as well as you can and
don’t worry too much if you didn’t do good (you did good on Monday and will be
going heavy next training session also which gives you another chance sooner
than a 90 percent day planned on the Friday would)
Diet and nutrition is also a big part of success in olympic
weightlifting and other sports and I’m happy to give advice on any dietary
changes or whats sports supplementation I consider to be most beneficial.
As I am just starting out coaching online I have plenty of
time to keep in touch with anyone who would like to be coached by me online.
This includes:
A written training program tailored to your needs whether
you are a beginner or advanced
Critique of your technique, you would have to send training
videos of each session to view
Chat online of any queries you may have on any issue
involving Olympic Weightlifting (we can discuss by email the best way to chat)
If this type of online coaching sounds good to you and you
would like to proceed email (email button at bottom of page? after ordering and I will send a questionnaire to
get started, Thanks!
David Owens
Online Olympic Weightlifting Coach
