Are Olympic lifts the only way to get explosive?

I get a lot of questions from guys who believe that they need to do Olympic movements to get explosive. When I ask them why they either shrug their shoulders (most have narrow shoulders and no traps so I have to look closely) or they site some BS about wanting to be faster and this will help them be a better player or help them lift more. In other words they don’t really know what they mean.

Lee Atrill is a good mate of mine and one of the best Olympic lifting coaches going around. He has been to World Champs and Commonwealth games and he has a good coaching eye. Lee and I have a good healthy debate about the merits of the Olympic lifts. We are both conflicted of course. I am a powerlifter who believes simple is best. But I do have common sense on my side.

What I do see with athletes who are convinced that the Olympic lifting is the way to go is a long road ahead. The movements are difficult to learn. They tend to spend a lot of time stretching and working with broom sticks. I like to get my guys working from day 1 with the goal of getting stronger. I want to see progressive increases in strength levels and changes in body composition. I don’t see this when guys to stuff with a broom stick or PVC pipe for weeks on end.

This argument needs balance of course. 12 year old kids are a good project for Olympic lifting. I believe that kids this age who should be limited to working with light loads are best suited to engaging with the Olympic lifts. Bu the average guy who is 18 who starts weights needs to carefully consider the value of spending all of that time learning the movements when they could be getting strong with the powerlifts.

As for becoming explosive, for me it’s about getting strong in the first instance at least. Once the base has been built we can consider explosiveness. But that comes down the track. My strategy in this case is to work in the range of 40-60% with the powerlifts. This is explosive. Doing a half arsed power clean which is more like a reverse curl. This is not explosive.

There you have my views. There will be some who disagree and that’s fine. But don’t tell me that you need to do Power Cleans because Ben and Owen Franks do them. There are hundreds of guys in the NFL and NRL who are just as explosive who don’t do power cleans.

Owen Franks trains legs

Owen doing some front squats and then back squats a few days later. Nothing too heavy yet. Top set of 175 kg.

Owen Franks training footage

Some footage from today of the beast, Owen Franks training.

I wonder how many top rugby players are back training? I know 2!

Owen Franks big hit

Earlier this year…

Ben and Owen Franks

Ben and Owen Franks in the gym this morning. Great to have these guys training at Eastside in the middle of the World Cup. Both hit PBs in the clean off blocks with Owen cleaning 150 kg.

These guys continue to take strength training and rugby to another level. It will be great to have them training with us during the off season.

Owens Franks on training and eating

One of the things about Owen Franks is that he does the little things well. The things he can control, he does control. He trains out of his skin and he eats and recovers well. In other words he gives himself every possible chance of being successful.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5390862/Gym-junkie-Owen-Franks-hungry-for-success

Owen Franks Quote

“I do pretty basic stuff.” he said. “I don’t get sucked into too much of the new-age training like Swiss balls and that stuff. Bench press, squat, power cleans, that’s my sort of thing.”- Owen Franks

Franks brothers

Ben Franks and Owen Franks, Crusaders and All Blacks. Crossfit Canterbury.

These guys don’t leave anything to chance.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/5193903/To-be-perfectly-Franks