The Soviet system versus the Bulgarian system has been the question in the minds of weightlifting coaches, athletes, and administrators in this country at least since the rise of Bulgarian Weightlifting in the early 1970's. Prior to 1970, Bulgaria was a virtual unknown in the weightlifting world. However, with the appointment of Ivan Abadjiev to the helm and the implementation of the world's most intensive training program, Bulgaria quickly became a contender. With their success at the 1972 Olympics, they stood head-to-head with the Soviet Union at the top of World Weightlifting. In 1975, Carl Miller, who had been recently appointed the U.S. National Coach, went to Bulgaria to attend the European coaches clinic and brought back with him a picture of what the Bulgarian system was really like. This further added to the mystique of Bulgarian weightlifting. Their success in the 1980's boosted them to mythological status. The great question in the United States since those times has been "how should we train?" Should we do as the Soviets did, as some of the leaders today do? Or should we go the road less traveled and train as the mighty Bulgarians? Let's compare the two systems and then coaches can make their own assessment.

First, a disclaimer regarding the Soviet “system". I put system in quotations because there really is no Soviet training system. The Soviet Union was a massive country both geographically and population-wise. Therefore, each club/region/republic trained in their own manner, depending on the coach. Even the members of the National Team would train in their hometown facilities until it was time to gather together for the World or European training camps. These camps were more or less a gathering of potential candidates for the teams, but each would train in their own manner. The main idea was to gather the talent together to increase their quality of preparation.




There is also an important point to remember when discussing the Bulgarian training system (noticed I wrote system without quotes. This truly was a system of training). For the most part, when coaches listen to Ivan Abadjiev speak, he is talking about the training of his elite team. Recently there was a discussion on an internet chat board where it was reported that Ivan Abadjiev stated the back squat was essentially useless in the training of weightlifters. This caused near panic on the board with people bashing Ivan, and some were even speaking words boarding blasphemy saying he had "lost his mind" and "did not know what he was talking about." I highly doubt that a man who coached 9 Olympic Champions, 57 World Champions, and 64 European Champions, suddenly forgot what he was doing. You have to remember that for the most part Ivan Abadjiev coached the elite Senior National Team. While the team usually consisted of a fair number of Junior lifters and even some lifters who would be Youth lifters, they were good enough to compete in the Senior World Championships, they had no use for other exercises. If you have ever read Naim Suleymanoglu: The Pocket Hercules written by Yazan Enver Turkileri and published by Sportivy Press, you will see in the training section that in Naim's early training he did many exercises. However, it is stated in the book that the exercises were chosen for his development in the snatch and clean and jerk and by the time he was 15 and on the Senior National Team he was training with THE Bulgarian system. No doubt a lifter of lesser ability would be on these education programs for far longer.

General Training Program

For the purpose of this discussion, we will use for examination the classic Soviet model of periodization which begins with periods of low intensity and high volume gradually progressing to high intensity and low volume as the next competition approaches. This system of training requires a great deal of planning. You begin the program doing many reps in the exercises, usually about 5 reps per set. Once you reach a certain percentage, the reps drop from 5 to 3 and then down to singles. By this time, approximately twelve weeks have passed and the next competition is approaching. You would then have a light week of training which involves almost no training at all, and then you would lift in the contest. After the contest you would have new maxes of which to base your training.

The Senior Club Coaching Manual from USAW has a generic plan listed in it using the classic model of periodization. The outline is as follows:

	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Pre-Comp
week	1  2   3  4	5   6   7  8	9   10   11   12	13
Intensity of top sets	70  75   65   80%	75   85   70   90%	85   95  75   100%	80%
reps per set	5	3	2/1

This program is a simplistic outline of the total program. To list each individual week with reps and sets would take up too much space and also is outside of the scope of this compare/contrast article. However, it does allow an insight into what the Soviet style of training is like. While the exact percentages may have been added later to give the learner of the program a general picture of the weights that should be lifted, the general idea is start with more reps and work your way down to heavy singles, hopefully with 100%. There would also be cycles where twice daily training was common, but usually for a shorter amount of time, say one month here and there, as opposed to the Bulgarians who almost always train more than once a day.
The Bulgarian system has a much more intuitive approach to it. The lifter trains up to a max each day; this could be a true max or it could be the max weight that can be lifted on that day. The lifter then may back off and work back up or drop down for some doubles with sub-maximum weights. This basic workout would be done several times a day in small increments. First would be squats followed by a break, then snatches followed by a break and finally clean and jerks. The afternoon would start with snatches, break, clean and jerks, break, and more squats. A third session later in the evening could be added if more work is needed. When lifters begin the training year, they may only reach 85%-90% of their best, but gradually as the year progresses they begin to lift closer to their true max more often. Also, at the beginning of the year they may only train once a day and then twice a day and then finally during the heaviest periods of training three times a day. As the major competition draws near (i.e. the World Championships) they begin to reduce the amount of training, but continue to lift maximum weights. The total training time during the lighter periods would be approximately 3-4 hours a day and the training time during the heavy periods would be around 6-8 hours a day. This would include the breaks.

Exercise Selection

Exercise selection is a hotly debated topic among weightlifting coaches and the Soviet and Bulgarian systems could not be further apart in their opinions on the exercises necessary in the training of weightlifters. The Soviets prefer a plethora of exercises and the selection really depends on the lifter and their personal coach. The Bulgarians, on the other hand, stick primarily with the snatch, clean and jerk and squats.

Again we will use the USA Weightlifting Senior Coaching Manual as our reference to the generic Soviet approach to weightlifting. The Senior Manual lists 38 individual exercises that can be used in training and this does not include combination lifts such as one clean + one front squat + one jerk. The exercises are subdivided into the categories Competition Lifts, Semi-competition lifts; Lift related exercises; Exercises for power and strength; and Remedial exercises. The exercises included range from snatch/clean shrugs, jerk recoveries, jerk dips, pulls, squats, snatch/clean and jerk down to medicine ball throws and abdominal work.

They do not suggest that all 38 exercises should be used during every training cycle. Rather, these exercises are on the menu from which the coach can select in order to tailor the training program to address each individual athlete. When the lifter is far out from a major competition, their training would primarily focus on the power and strength exercises as well as the remedial exercises. During the middle cycle, the training would incorporate more lift related exercises and semi-competition lifts. Finally during the last phases of training, there would be further inclusion of the competition and semi-competition lifts in order to get prepared to lift in the contest.

In contrast to the Soviet à la carte of exercises, in Bulgaria there is only one meal choice - snatches, clean and jerks, and squats and plenty of them. During the lighter phases of training, and by light I mean only training once a day for approximately three hours, the workout would consist of snatches, clean and jerks and squats to max. Sometimes when the lifters are very tired or have a minor injury, they will do the power versions of the lifts. As the year moves on and the program progresses, the lifters move from training once a day and begins to train twice daily, again to max both sessions (although heavier lifts are usually achieved in the afternoon). No matter how many times the lifters train in a given day, the program always stays the same - snatches, clean and jerks, and squats.

Another word regarding the Bulgarian system; the system has been ever evolving. Yes, the Bulgarians at one time did pulls, jerk from the rack and power jerks. However, as Ivan Abadjiev constantly reviewed his system and looked for more ways to improve it, he eventually began to throw out certain exercises and focus on the ones he knew would improve results. If you think about it logically, there is no definitive proof that hang snatches improve the snatch, or that lifts from blocks improve the competition lifts. Some people are able to lift 90% or more of their competition lifts in the partial lifts, while others can barely do 80%. However, if I snatch a new PR then I can say, yes I got better. A new PR in the hang snatch is useless if I still snatch the same. Since you only have a limited recovery potential, the Bulgarians would rather spend all of their energy on lifts they know they will get a return on instead of hoping the other exercises will result in gains.

What should you do?

So how should U.S. lifters train? Some coaches advocate the Soviet system because it provides plenty of variety in terms of exercises and because the training is not constantly at max effort, so it should allow for an extended athletic career. The Bulgarian system, on the other hand, is rumored to be only for the best-of-the-best--in other words it takes a special kind of athlete to handle the monotony and intensity of the training. While the Bulgarian system is incredibly difficult and it does take a special athlete to handle the system, it takes a special athlete in general to become a World or Olympic Champion.
If you need help deciding which system/style of training you should take up you should consider your personality first. Are you the type that cannot wait to "go heavy" in training, or do you prefer to have a specific plan for your training that you can follow like a road map? If you are the type of person who wants to know what you are lifting on a certain day, and you want a specific dates for when you should try to PR, then I would suggest using the Soviet system. However, if you do not mind lifting heavy day after day nor mind missing PR attempts on a regular basis, then try the Bulgarian system.

Warning: Do not read this next paragraph if you do not want my opinion.

That previous paragraph was intended for the everyday lifter (aka the hobbyist). Now I will give my personal opinion. When it comes to our elite lifters in this country, I think they should all be training in the Bulgarian style. Many people argue that we should train like the Soviets because we have a small talent pool of athletes and we need to make sure their careers are longer. Because we have a small pool of athletes we should be training them as hard as possible. We really need to have the cream rise to the top. If they run, they were not meant to be a champion. We do not have the luxury of being able to throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks like the mainstream sports in the U.S. We literally need to build mountains out of molehills in some cases, so we must push our athletes harder than anyone else. In 1972, Bruce Jenner placed 10th at the Olympics in the decathlon. He took a few weeks off after the Olympics and began training for the next games: six to eight hours a day every day for the next four years. The result - A GOLD MEDAL! How do we expect our lifters to win the Senior World Championships or the Olympics when they are only training five days a week for two hours. It is almost comical that anyone considers this difficult training. There are people in local health clubs who work out more, but we expect to win in World Weightlifting with such little training. The Bulgarian system does not guarantee progress through formulas or various set and rep schemes. It only guarantees progress through incredibly hard work and dedication. I was talking to a former Bulgarian lifter once and I asked him how much he trained (he was a Junior lifter at the time). He said they trained at least twelve times a week. Then he asked me how much we train in the U.S. I said some of our lifters only train five times a week. He told me this is no good. My response was that if you looked at our lack of medals, it is obvious it is no good. Then in eight words he told me the secret to weightlifting: "Exercise more, and there will be more medals." All of U.S. lifting needs to step back and evaluate if they are exercising as much as they can.

Works Cited

Jones, L. (1991). USWF Coaching Accredidation Course Senior Coach Manual. Colorado Springs: U.S. Weightlifting Federatoin.
Turkileri, Y. E. (2004). Naim Suleymanoglu: The Pocket Hercules. Livonia: Sportivny Press.