Using O-lifts to build muscle?

[Dan Fanelli]

Hey everyone, this is my first post, and Ive got a big question for you. I just finished cutting, and am now down to 180lbs at 5'11". Im taking 2 weeks off completely, and then am gonna get back into training again. Im taking this time off because I have been overtraining for too long, and my body needs a break.


Im trying to set up a plan, and am spending this down-time to do some research. I know this is an O-lifting forum, and im not interested in competing, but feel that o-lifts will be very beneficial for both increases in size and strength.

I recently ordered CW's muscle revolution, and CT's black book of training secrets. I probably wont follow any of the programs exactly, but will likely use parts of them.

My goals are to increase size and strength in my arms, shoulders, and legs. I feel the lifts im likely gonna focus on are Power clean, push press, and front squat.

Along with those lifts, i'll likely include: Bench, row, curls, tricep extensions, deadlift.


So with my goals, what recomendations do you have for using some O-lifting to increase size. Should I stick with sets of 1-3, or maybe start with higher rep sets of 5?

Also, what are some good beginner programs for o-lifting if there are any? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

[Alcoholiday]

if you want strength and size i would go with these....

arms: incline bench, or other pressing
shoulders: push presses
legs: squats. front and back.

if you want strictly size, i would focus on getting your squat up, your deadlift up, and a kind of pressing up. I pick incline because it involves your shoulders a lot more than flat. Throw in some db pressing/shoulder pressing and other light assistance stuff.

I love oly lifts, but as far as packing on the size, the basics (press, pull, squat) are the best, IMO. Oly lifts are technical, and if you want to do them properly, you're going to have to spend a good amount of time learning proper technique, so you're not going to be using a lot of weight. Squats, pressing, and deadlifting are all relatively easy to learn, so you are going to be able to progress faster.

If you're wanting to get into oly lifting, i'd find a coach. If no coach, i'd stick with jump shrugs as they have a low probability of screwing them up and still benefits of the explosive strength.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but IMO it's what's best if you're not looking to compete and get the most bang for your buck.

[pjb923]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

I tend to agree with what Alco said. I think you can start adding some oly lifts, just don't rely on them for your main size and strength builders at first.

I would take a look at Power Training Power Training if you want to start incorporating the basic oly lifts into your routine. The workouts are mostly built around the standard big lifts, but include a power movement in every session. The workouts can be completely customized to only include the lifts that you are capable of doing.

I started to teach myself some basic oly lifts but did not progress very far until I started working with a coach. I still have a ton of learning to do, but I have seen huge improvements in only a few months of working with him. Getting a coach for a little while would be ideal, but I don't think its impossible for someone to learn decent power clean technique without an oly coach. If you are lucky enough to have someone local to at least take a look at your technique, or you can take some video and have some people on the forum critique your form.

At first you will not be able to use enough weight to see a huge benefit from sets of 1-3 and you should really focus on technique and keep the reps higher and the weight low.

[GqArtguy]

Originally Posted by Dan Fanelli

Im trying to set up a plan, and am spending this down-time to do some research. I know this is an O-lifting forum, and im not interested in competing, but feel that o-lifts will be very beneficial for both increases in size and strength.

My goals are to increase size and strength in my arms, shoulders, and legs. I feel the lifts im likely gonna focus on are Power clean, push press, and front squat.

Along with those lifts, i'll likely include: Bench, row, curls, tricep extensions, deadlift.


So with my goals, what recomendations do you have for using some O-lifting to increase size. Should I stick with sets of 1-3, or maybe start with higher rep sets of 5?

My advice is to not do the OLs because you need to spend a lot of time working on technique and this requires the use of very light weight for a while.

Any mass gains from OL will come from food and the amount of squatting and assistance pulls we do. The caveat is that our assistance pulls are used to reinforce technique points for the actual OLs so again, youll be with light weights until you drill the technique.

Given that, you wont see much mass gains from OL until MUCH later when you can lift heavy enough (via technique) to make a difference, but since you dont want to compete, theres really no point in doing them if mass is your only goal.

Additionally, you want strength but you have to be specific (i.e. strong for what?). I care about strength but mainly the strengths needed to make me a good OLer. I couldnt care less what I bench or how many pullups I can do.