"Pause"itive Gains

Being explosive is a necessity in weightlifting. The unfortunate aspect of training for Olympic Weightlifting, however, is that often the simple foundational factor of strength is forgotten. Everyone focuses on form and power (which are also a necessity), how to move quickly, open the hips explosively and move the bar overhead in a smooth motion. That’s all great, but your form isn’t going to make up for the fact that you’re a weak A$$ Biotch!

So how do we become stronger?! Strength training... duh! "But this is Olympic Weightlifting." 100% true... so lets incorporate a technique that will still build on the lifts, but make gains on, gains on, gains!

PAUSE REPS!

Pause repetitions are a tried-and-true method of building muscle and strength and should be a staple in any training program. Pause reps are the opposite of ballistic or explosive training. Rather than seeking to take advantage of speed or the elastic components of our muscles, pause reps force you to face your lifts with strength and strength alone.

Pausing during any portion of the rep ensures the elastic energy has dissipated while simultaneously breaking your momentum. When completing pause reps, there is no stored energy to take advantage of, no kinetic energy to assist in lifting the weight. When you pause, it takes pure muscle to produce the force you need. No cheating... just pure strength.

Here is a video of a pause snatch to give you an idea of how this looks for Olympic weightlifting.

Some people go overboard with the pause, stopping for a full two or three seconds between reps. There is certainly some utility to this approach, but doesn't need to be used for Olympic Weightlifting. That's more of a powerlifting technique. That being said, you only need a small pause to get the advantages pausing provides. Just long enough (Say Pause in your head... that's long enough) that you know your momentum is broken and you are starting from a halted position. If you pause between 1-2 seconds, I am telling you now... getting the weight to move again is going to suck! However, this is how you know you’re doing it right.

Utilizing a pausing phase into your lift is the cornerstone of simplicity. We know the obvious benefit (strength) it offers, but there’s another reason I particularly like pause reps: pausing forces you to lower your weight to a load you can handle, thus ensuring strength AND technique are accomplished in unison. I’m a huge advocate of simplicity in my training. Hence, my love for pause reps. Simple... straightforward... productive... and honest.

It’s easy enough to slap on some shoes and grind through a set of heavy cleans. When you have to mindfully pause at the knees without releasing any of your tension and then initiate pull entirely with pure strength, then there’s not a lot of room for interpretation. You can lift the weight or you can’t. Your technique tricks (speed/momentum) won’t help you.

If you want to get strong, take a second and learn to pause.

Pausing forces you to pay attention to your body positioning and the muscles you're activating to lift the weight. This essentially allows you to focus more on your form. Something that is not as easy at full speed.

One of my favorite ways to use pause rep is during my warm-up while using lighter weights, often just the bar. My reason is that it sets the tone for my entire workout. Instead of thinking about everything else going on in my head (upright back, hips move in unison with knees, lats pulling in the bar), I can focus and zero in on my positioning and mind muscle connection.

Another way I use pause reps is within my prescribed workout. This to me is the simplest way to ensure I build some strength, but also work on technique and positioning. On days that are prescribed around 50-65%, I will use pause reps in the clean, jerk, snatch, squat, deadlift etc. I specifically use pause reps at this time as I am using lower weights (we stated that is a must in the text earlier), as well as, the purpose within a training program to work at weights within these percentages is to focus on technique and positioning. I can accomplish strength gains as well if I incorporate pause reps here.


The pauses can also give you a chance to see if you're performing some common mistakes within your lifts, such as having your knees collapse inward or coming too far forward onto your toes.When you slow down the movement and use the pause to stop momentum, you will occasionally witness the imbalances within your snatch, squat, clean etc. and be able to better structure your workouts to work on the weaknesses.

So do you want gains?

Implement Pause Reps in your training and see your strength and performance sky rocket!

Found this helpful? Want to know how to exactly implement pauses in any of the Olympic lifts? Want to hear about a specific topic? Leave a comment below or send me an email! 

Until next week...

Lift it overhead, slam it to the ground and repeat! Practice leads to progression... progression to Gold!

Get to work!

Since I have covered the overview of the main lifts, and what equipment is necessary to train... I think it's only necessary we begin to look at the training programs as well as how to decipher what the F@#k its saying.

I would highly recommend starting off with a FREE pre-made program if you are new. If you are really uncertain as to whether or not you will stick to Olympic lifting, maybe try this 8 week program by Elitefitcross. I will warn you however, since it is only 8 weeks long, it is a bit more demanding. If you have previous lifting experience and your are confident in your strength, this may be for you! However, if you are a little shaky, or you know you will stick to a program for the long haul, I highly recommend the 12 week program laid out by elitefitcross. This program is a bit slower pace with less demand on the body. Yet it will give you great confidence in the end and you will see your personal bests (PB) go up guaranteed!

Last item concerning programming, if you have previous lifting experience, are a personal trainer or have a friend who knows the ins and outs of the training principles, look at this page by TrainHeroic to create your own program.

NOW... to get down to business and decipher the codes written within these programs.

Most lifting programs are based off your single, heaviest lift one time noted as 1RM. When you view a program it will state something like:

Squat @ 80% 3x2.

This essentially means, if your squat 1RM is 100 pounds, you would Squat 80 pounds. If you were to say squat 300 pounds as your 1RM, you would essentially need to squat in this scenario 240 pounds. To find this number easily, input in your calculator your 1rm x.8 (100 x 0.8 = 80) and its that simple. Math made easy right?! Now to the remainder of that statement... the 3x2 section. This is telling you in the first number the amount of reps (times you complete that exercise without stopping) and then the amount of sets (number of times you complete the reps with breaks in between) in the second portion. So it kind of reads like this: Exercise (squat) at weight (80 pounds) - reps (3) for number of sets (2). So you would complete a set of squats with a weight of 80 pounds for 3 reps, rest and complete a second set of squats a 80 pounds for 3 reps to complete the prescribed workout scheme.

To further complicate the equation you will sometimes see a workout prescribed such as this:

Power Clean + Front Squat + Push Jerk @ 80%  (1+1+1) x 5

This is telling you to: Power clean the weight once, go directly into a front squat once, then complete a push jerk once to complete a single rep. Thats the (1+1+1) summation. then you will complete that sequence 5 times according to the statement/prescribed workout.

One last thing I want to throw out there because lets face it... it is Olympic weightlifting and the sport is enjoyed in more areas of the world than the US. Sometimes you may come across a program that has the actual weight involved instead of the percentage of your 1RM. Keep in mind it may be in kilograms. To easily convert kilograms to pounds you use a simple equation utilizing a factor of (2.2). To keep it simple, I will show what 100kg converts to and then back. (100kg x Factor of 2.2 = 220 pounds) So 220 pounds equals 100 kg (roughly). To convert the other way, just devide by the factor of (2.2). So 220 pounds / 2.2 = 100 kg. Lets give it a try with harder numbers. Lets take 300 pounds. 300 / 2.2 =136 kg or 115 kg x 2.2 = 253 pounds.

I hope all this is making sense. I know if you are new to this, it can be daunting. My recommendation is to work with someone who is a gym goer already. They don't need to be Mr Olympia or a world record holder to get you going. Just someone who has a few months in the gym and has followed a fair share of workouts.

Now its time to test your 1RM in the Squat, Deadlift, Over-Head Press, Push-Press, Snatch and Clean+Jerk to determine your program requirements. Remember a 1RM is not how much you can grind out while throwing caution to the wind. It is the 1RM you can safely and effectively lift without injury or S#!t form. For more references on how to properly perform these lifts, I would peruse Youtube as they have thousands of videos that will guide you to proper lifting techniques!

Have questions as to how to start after reading this? Not sure about the math when inputting a specified weight? Send me a msg or comment below. No worries, I will get back to you! And as always... stay safe, but crush your goals!