"Programming"

Programming is somewhat of a hot topic in weightlifting. There is very little grey area, it's usually a coach or lifters shouting form the mountain tops that their way is the best way and all other ways are wrong.

Well, this is not true. At all.

Let's look at some of the best weightlifting systems in the world.

Bulgarian: Maxing the lifts and front squats every day, multiple times a day.

Russian: Lots of variation, lots of volume, only taking the lifts to a max once every two weeks.

Chinese: Somewhere in between the previous two.

Those are by far and away the three most dominant systems in the sport, and they're all different. That alone should tell you there's more than one way to get better at weightlifting.

I have trained multiple different styles, and through the years I have found the type of programming that works best for me. I use the experiences I've had to write programming for my team that I think will be the most effective, but I believe that programming should be fluid. One lifter may progress much more than another under a certain style, and vice versa. No one program is going to work the same for everyone. I often modify programming for my lifters based on how they're preforming that day, how they feel, where they're at mentally. I program each day as if the lifter is coming into the gym 100%, and seeing how that isn't always the case, sometimes I have to modify to make sure the lifter gets the most out of that session.

Effort has a lot to do with the success of a program as well, if the lifter isn't giving 100% in the gym mentally and physically they won't succeed. Max effort can come in any form. Taking your snatch to a max, taking a complex to a max, or making sure you hit your prescribed lifts as efficiently as possible.

I tend to flourish under a more Bulgarian style system, as do many of the lifters I coach. However some days the maxes aren't there, so I'll drop to doubles, or increase the volume at a lower percentage. Communication is key within a team. If you're not feeling up to the program, or it's not getting you where you want to be, talk to your coach. They may have a larger plan in mind, sometimes you have to go through shitty days to see the good days later. Other times you need modification.

Ultimately there is no one program, or system, or coach. There is just hard work. This quote has been recycled a lot but it holds true:

"A bad program done with 100% effort will be more effective than a great program done half assed."