Throughout my life as an athlete and coach I have performed and implemented some variation of Olympic weightlifting into my programing. In most power sports such as football, basketball, track, hockey, lacrosse, etc., the better athletes are the ones who can generate and exert force rapidly over and over again in the form of running, jumping and changing directions. Of course, these same athletes are well skilled in their respective sport.

A good 100-meter sprinter can get out of their starting position, get to top speed and maintain it faster and longer than their competition. A good offensive lineman in football can get out of a 2-point or 3-point stance and explode into their block and driving their defensive opponent back. Both of these athlete’s starting positions are more of a concentric position in which they have to exert maximum strength as fast as possible with good skill. In Olympic weightlifting the best lifters exert maximum strength to move heavy loads quickly with good technique.

In sports, there is a common “athletic position” that is widely used as a base for a lot of the movement patterns for the athlete. The cues for this position for the athlete is

• Feet hip/shoulder width apart
• In a quarter squat
• Flat back
• Hips are slightly back
• Knees over the toes
• Body weight evenly distributed throughout the whole foot

This position is identical to the starting position to the hang clean or hang snatch. Now we begin to solidify this strong relation between non-lifting sports and Olympic weightlifting. The goal of both athletes in Olympic weightlifting and non-lifting sports is the same. To execute a series of movements as fast as possible under tension at the same time using great technique. Now in developing power for a non-lifting athlete is somewhat similar to how a weightlifter would. But the difference is the lifter performs more variations and does more weight lifting that a sport athlete would. A sport athlete may only use a small variation of certain exercises to train for power.

The lifting athlete would perform many variations of the snatch and the clean and jerk, the two lifts used in competition. These variations could be performed at various loads and could consumed most of the time during the training session. For example, a lifter during a training session would perform one of the competition lifts weather it is a snatch or clean and jerk. Following that, the lifter may do squats and some type of complimentary exercises involving rows, push, pulls, etc.

For the non-lifting athlete, their workout and programing can include different variables from improving their skills outside of lifting weights and improving their athletic performance. The program can differ between athletes in each non-lifting sport. For example, a football player may start a workout with an Olympic lift variation such as a hang clean followed by an upper body core exercise, such as bench press and a leg core like a back squat or hex-bar deadlift. Following these core lifts the football play may perform complimentary lifts similar to the Olympic lifter. Afterwards the football player may include some form of conditioning.

Power is the ability to exert maximum strength as fast as possible. Performing Olympic lifts and their variations can help all athletes improve their power output. The programing of Olympic lifts for non-lifting athletes in sports such as basketball, football or track should be somewhat of a minimum. The reason being is because the priority for these athletes is to improve and maintain their skillset at a high level, training is secondary. It is best to use select variations at different intensities during the year. Individual differences, limitations and other factors can better help decide what Olympic lifts are good for the athlete.

The hang clean is a good Olympic exercise that is widely used throughout most sports. The starting position for the hang clean is similar to the athletic position that I described earlier. The hang clean is good for training for power, using triple extension through the hips, knees and ankles. In regards to the catch position, the athlete is getting used to absorbing power after generating it. Most athletes catch cleans into a quarter squat or perform hang power cleans or power cleans (from the floor) or during certain phases of training the cleans are being caught at the bottom position.

Other variations of cleans such as hang high pulls or high pulls from the floor are good as well, especially if you are dealing with an athlete that may have some flexibility other mobility restrictions. Also, athletes such as tennis players, quarterbacks in football or basketball players should probably do more high pulls because they rely on using their wrists so much that you don’t want them catching heavy cleans if it’ll affect how they athletes perform on their playing field. Hang snatches, DB hang snatches and snatch grip high pulls can fall into this category as well. I have implemented hang snatches into my programing for non-lifting athletes. I have never used a number based on a max snatch because the goal is not to improve the snatch but to improve power output. Instead I start all of my athletes at extremely light weights and coach them up and have them perform each rep with top speed. Over time, I progress them to heavier weights.

Push press, power jerks and split jerks are also great for developing upper body strength and power. Throwers in track and field and football players benefit from these a lot because the use of upper/total body strength used in their sport. In Olympic weightlifting the jerk/press is used in combination with the pull in one exercise, more so during training and especially in competition. For non-lifting athletes it is best to separate the two, especially in training. Using DB push press is good for those athletes with limitations similar to those who have a hard time catching a clean.

Programming Olympic lifts for non-lifting athletes should be taken seriously. Never as a strength coach have I encouraged an athlete to perform more than five reps in a given set for any Olympic lift or its variation, mainly because anything past five repetitions technique will fall due to fatigue. We want great technique with great speed. Training intensities can vary from 70%-90% or higher pending on the athlete and time of programing. The most important thing is to choose which lifts and their variations can help the athlete improve their athletic performance in their sport.

Below is a good example I believe that can be universal for any non-lifting athlete. This is more of an outline of what could be used for training a non-lifting athlete. Programing would differ depending on time of year for the athlete weather they are in season or out of season.

• Hang Clean 4 sets of 3 reps
  • Superset: Box Jumps 4 sets of 3 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4 sets of 5 reps
  • Superset: Bent Over Dumbbell Row 4 sets of 5 reps
• Hex Bar Deadlift 4 sets of 5 reps
  • Superset: Dumbbell RDL 4 sets of 5 reps