Let me describe a standard path-towards-Olympic-weightlifting that happened frequently during the era I started in the sport. Back in the 1980s and 90s (before the internet), it was extremely common for people who were interested in lifting weights to start with bodybuilding-style training. Back in those days, there was nothing to look up online, and the only resources you had for the barbell world were the magazines you found in the grocery store. (I know that sounds funny, but it’s entirely true). The lifters in the 60s and 70s had the old Strength and Health magazine, which was focused on Olympic lifting, so a few generations of them got funneled into the sport. But S&H had disappeared by the 1980s, so the only two magazines you could find that showed barbells were Muscle and Fitness and Ironman. These two were almost entirely centered on bodybuilding, so that was the only exposure you had to the strength world, unless you happened to live in a city that had one of the very few Olympic weightlifting training centers in the US. On top of that, the only gyms you could find to train in were places like Gold’s and World Gym, which were also centered on bodybuilding. Olympic weightlifting was almost underground in this country. (You people from the CrossFit era literally don’t know how lucky you are.)
 
This resulted in an American culture where barbells and strength training were largely dominated by bodybuilding. Now…bodybuilding often led to powerlifting because of the shared movements, and a few guys would find their way towards Olympic lifting once they had started in powerlifting simply because they’re both competitive barbell sports and there’s a tiny bit of connection. This path I’ve just described was my personal path, by the way. However, this is where the conversation gets interesting. Once people start Olympic lifting, they often start to look at bodybuilding like it’s a silly joke. Because of the incredible skill and athleticism involved in OL, along with the fact that it’s an Olympic sport with all the prestige and “big time” atmosphere that comes with the Olympics, people who put their lives into the sport wind up thinking of bodybuilding as a silly, completely steroid-ridden, narcissistic freakshow full of dysfunctional behavior and obsession with appearance. This mentality I’ve just described was also my personal mindset for many years, by the way.
 
And that’s where I want to start this article. We’re going to talk about using bodybuilding training to make you a better Olympic weightlifter. Right from the start, I need to acknowledge that this subject has been written about before. I’ve touched on it a bit in the past. But what we want to do here is take a legitimate look at the specific benefits from bodybuilding-style workouts that can improve your performance in the snatch and clean and jerk. Trust me; I’m not being ridiculous. Much of this article comes from personal experience, because I’ve had success with this myself. I don’t mind telling you that it took a lot of mental adjustment to embrace any amount of bodybuilding in my own training because I’ve lived a life of weightlifting snobbery where I used to look at walking into a commercial gym like LA Fitness the same as walking into a disgusting drug house full of crack whores.
 
But things have happened to my body in recent years that basically required me to start doing a lot of slow movements with machines and dumbbells…just like those bodybuilders I used to scoff at. As much as I might have fought it and scorned it back in my younger years, I’ve now realized with certainty that this stuff can actually help. I think it can help you too, so let’s take a look. I promise there’s at least some degree of benefit in here for your weightlifting career.
 
First, quick questions and descriptions…
 
I want to start with a checklist of necessary information about where this analysis is coming from, along with some answers to questions you’re probably considering:
 
1) Where did this “bodybuilding is helpful for OLifting” idea start?
 
For me, it started with physical therapy and rehabilitation from injuries and surgeries. The basic background is this. I became a full-time Olympic lifter when I was 17, and then I did basically nothing but SN, C&J, Pulls, and Squats for around 15 years. I did no bodybuilding training at all in this time span. Then in my late 30s, I got some injuries that required surgery (ACL reconstruction on both knees and rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder). After each of these surgeries, I obviously had to recover, go through rehabilitation, and then ease back into light training with non-explosive movements like squats, presses, and plenty of physical therapy work that was dumbbell and machine focused (in other words, bodybuilding-type stuff). My recoveries from each of these surgeries have been extremely successful, so I’ve kept many of the exercises from rehab as permanent parts of my training routine.
 
Also… Throughout the last six years, I’ve been splitting my life between Olympic lifting and powerlifting. I enjoy both sports, so I’ve simply decided to do them both. Because of my training for powerlifting, I’ve incorporated a lot of bodybuilding exercises into my regimen (mainly for my upper body).
 
2) Is bodybuilding training common with Olympic lifters?
 
It depends on the program you’re looking at. I do know for certain that the athletes from Russia and China do a significant amount of it. None of us here in the US know the exact specifics about how much they do, when they focus on it, how it’s incorporated into training, etc. But they use it for sure. I’ve found it’s less common with athletes in America. This difference is probably because the top athletes overseas are professionals and they have unlimited training time, whereas US lifters often have to train once a day because of jobs, etc.
 
3) Are there elite lifters who don’t use any bodybuilding training at all?
 
Yes, there are.
 
4) What are the specific benefits of bodybuilding for an Olympic lifter?
 
It might sound silly to write it this way, but the main benefit is overall body strength because the stronger your body is in every way possible, the better a weightlifter you’ll be. I know that’s a little simplistic, but it’s a legitimate truth. We all know Olympic lifts are total body exercises. This means almost all the muscles of the lifter’s anatomy are used in the completion of these lifts. Using bodybuilding exercises that isolate one or two specific muscle groups (such as tricep extensions to strengthen the triceps and stabilizing tissue around the elbow joint) have a contributing effect to the bigger picture. If every muscle in the body (large and small) is stronger, the athlete simply has a better chance of success. I consider this basic common sense.
 
5) Are there any drawbacks or potential negatives in bodybuilding training?
 
Yes, there are. First, simply overdoing it can cause problems. If you decide you’re going to implement bodybuilding training into your program and you go hog wild with it, there’s always a chance you could wind up with an injury. It might seem unlikely that a lifter could get hurt doing bodybuilding, but it’s definitely possible. Excessive use of upper body movements can lead to rotator cuff issues in the shoulder, pec tendon trouble, etc. Even if the exercises are slow and controlled, there’s still a risk if you go too far with it.
 
Second, you have to remember that bodybuilders use these exercises because they’re trying to make their muscles as big as possible. If muscles get really big and they’re not developed along with proper flexibility, there’s a chance the athlete can experience reduced range of motion. Back in the old days, they used to call this condition “muscle bound.” It’s a state where the muscles are huge and impressive looking, but they stop the lifter from being flexible enough to hit the proper positions for the OLifts. This is really only a risk with athletes who have a predisposition towards tight, beefy muscle structure. But I’ve seen it happen. Pecs, shoulders, and biceps can get so big and tight they actually stop the lifter from being able to hit proper overhead position in the snatch or jerk. Quads and hamstrings can get so big and tight they actually stop the lifter from being able to hit proper bottom position. This isn’t going to happen with skinny bony athletes, probably no matter how much bodybuilding they do. But it’s an absolutely valid risk with people who already have some thick muscle on their bodies.
 
So…how do you do it?
 
Now that we’ve gone through benefits and risks, let’s look at a few tangible training ideas, just in case you actually decide to implement some of this into your weightlifting life.
 
NOTE: I’m not going to provide descriptions or technical guidance on how to do any of these, just for the sake of not wanting this article to be 40 pages long. You can look them up yourself on the internet. It’ll be easy to find video demonstrations of them all.
 
Helpful Bodybuilding Exercises for Olympic Weightlifters
 

• Bench Press (Dumbbell or Barbell)
• Incline Press (Dumbbell or Barbell)
• Military Press (Dumbbell or Barbell)
• Bicep Curls (any kind)
• Tricep Extensions (machine, tricep bar, dumbbell, etc.)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Lateral Raises (front, side, etc.)
• Lat Pulldowns
• Seated Cable Rows (wide or close grip)
• T-Bar Rows
• Bent-Over Barbell Rows
• One-Arm Dumbbell Rows
• Straight-Leg Deadlift
• Calf Raises
• Single-Leg Exercises (Step-Ups, Lunges, Leg Press, etc.)
• Any kind of abdominal work*

 
*Abdominal work isn’t bodybuilding specific. All Olympic lifters should do it. But I know most of them will neglect it unless it’s actually programmed in as part of a bodybuilding workout. That’s why I mention it here.
 
You’ll notice I have a disproportionate number of upper and lower body exercises on here. That’s intentional. Olympic lifting training includes a huge amount of squatting and pulling work. In other words, you’re already covered on the lower body stuff if you’re an OLifter. You don’t need to add a lot of it in a bodybuilding capacity. But the upper body is a different story. Most Olympic lifting programs don’t include a ton of basic upper body strength work. That’s why there are more upper body exercises on here than lower.
 
There are dozens of other bodybuilding exercises out there. Many of you are already thinking of them, and that’s fine. Chances are you’re thinking of exercises that are also helpful and beneficial. This article isn’t intended to be a complete encyclopedia of bodybuilding movements. It’s just a short list of the ones I’ve personally found to be most helpful. If you have some to add, that’s awesome.
 
What kind of sets/reps should I do?
 
There are different ways to do this, but I don’t think you need to make it any more complicated than 4x10 (four sets of 10 reps) on most of these. Abdominal exercises should be higher reps (maybe 20-30 or more), and if you want to get after some serious weights on the bench/incline/shoulder press lifts, you could sometimes cycle down to big sets of 5, 3, 2, or maybe max out occasionally/rarely to find out where you’re at. For the vast majority of bodybuilding work, however, you’ll never go wrong with 4x10.
 
How should I organize it?
 
I like breaking it up like bodybuilders do, maybe two muscle groups in a workout. One day can be shoulders and triceps. Another day can be chest and biceps, or maybe back and biceps.
 
Abdominal work should be done every day. You can play around with how you do this, because it’s not rocket science. Maybe pick seven or eight exercises and do them twice a week, broken up into however many days you have time for. Just try to place them in a way that causes the least amount of interference with your Olympic lifts. Don’t completely fry your upper body the day before you’re supposed to work up to max level in the snatch. Again…common sense, you know? You can do these at the end of an Olympic lifting workout, or you can give them their own day. It’s a little easier and a lot lower stress to structure these into your training week than it is to design your OL program. OL programming has to be done very precisely. With this bodybuilding stuff, you can almost just stick it in wherever you have the time and space. And I don’t mean that last statement to disrespect bodybuilders or make it sound like their training doesn’t require skilled planning. Remember, we’re talking about Olympic lifters who want to use this stuff on the side, not competitive bodybuilders who are training for the Olympia. The whole situation simply allows for a more casual approach.
 
Will it help?
 
It’s helped me, that’s for sure. I’m definitely one of those people who has to be careful with it because my upper body runs the risk of getting tight and losing flexibility, not so much overhead but definitely with the front rack position of the clean. If I get my chest and arms too tightened up, I start having trouble in the clean pretty quickly.
 
As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of elite athletes who use bodybuilding training. So if you’re wondering if this is a tool of the champions, the answer in many cases is yes. Not all of them, but certainly some.
 
Obviously, there’s one more huge point we need to consider, and that’s training time. If you have a busy life and limited time to train, you have to get the most bang for your buck with those precious hours you have. If you only get time to train for one hour three times a week and you want to be a successful Olympic lifter, you probably need to spend 99 percent of that time doing SN, C&J, Pulls, and Squats. I get that. Some of you might have a “don’t waste time” mentality when you read this article. And it’s true; you shouldn’t waste your training time. But if you’ve got all the training time you need, and you’re looking for ways to make yourself more successful, adding some bodybuilding training can potentially be a very useful move in your career. Give it some thought. And if you decide to go for it, enjoy chasing the pump.