For years, Olympic lifting has been worked into training programs of athletes looking to get stronger. What most people do not realize is that Olympic lifting is a huge component of speed development. While Olympic lifters do not have to add a speed development program to their regimen, athletes looking to get faster need to add Olympic lifting to theirs. This speaks highly to those athletes who compete in the Olympic lifting realm.

There are few concrete things we must look at when talking about speed development. First, speed is needed and is a game changer in all sports. It can make or break an athlete looking to get a scholarship. Second, plyometrics is a key ingredient that all athletes, including Olympic athletes, can use to benefit or complement power and become more elastic. Finally, science tells us that the output in sprinting directly correlates to the vertical jump. This is important when trying to show that Olympic lifting is vital to sprinting. We use the vertical jump as a test of power. We know that the vertical jump is a triple extension movement and shows the elastic ability of the athlete. With that being said, Olympic lifting is directly correlated to power output and increasing the vertical jump. These direct correlations from lifting to jumping to speed development speaks highly of why Olympic lifting is needed in your program.

In order to understand why Olympic lifts need to be added to an athlete’s program, we first have to understand power and its job within sports performance. Power is the rate in which work is being done. What does this mean for athlete? The more efficient the work is being done, the faster the work will get done. When we look at sprinting, jumping, and lifting, we look at the ability to overcome gravity. In all movements previously mentioned the athlete starts from a static (non-moving) stance. This stance or potential energy needs to be activated as quickly as possible. Whether it’s for a box jump, a power clean or a 40-yard dash start, the reaction needs to be fast and responsive. The mixture of these different movements is a cascading event. Speed is a very technical movement to learn because of all the moving parts and, unlike lifting or jumping, the movement takes place over a distance in a linear fashion. With Olympic lifting and jumping, most of the movement is measured in time of reaction or weight lifted as fast as possible. Olympic lifting is also a very technical. Whether teaching the snatch, clean, or jerk, it takes years to master theses movements. There is a reason why Olympic lifting is a sport unto itself. Having a qualified coach teaching these movements is essential to the success of the athletes.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association released a study on the effects of the hang clean relative to speed in March of 2008. The result of the test determined that the athletes who tested well in the hang clean were faster because of the gained power through the Olympic movement. The test also concluded as mentioned above that the athletes with better hang cleans had better vertical jumps. This correlation again speaks to the fact that explosiveness is a key component to increasing an athlete’s speed. With this being said, every program designed to create faster athletes needs to incorporate Olympic weightlifting. So how do we program this into the sports performance realm?

When looking at a sports performance program, we must first recognize that athletes training for soccer and other various sports are not Olympic athletes. The base of the program will be geared to movement quality, injury prevention and increasing speed and agility. It is important to note that while they are not Olympic athletes, there needs to be time dedicated to teaching the Olympic movements correctly. This could take a few weeks in teaching new athletes proper positions. You must relay this message to the athletes in order for them to buy into the system. Letting them know it’s a process in learning a highly technical movement. The proper order of gross movements would be the following:

Full Warm Up, including:
a. Foam rolling
b. Activation
c. Mobility
d. Dynamic warm up (including some ladder drills)

Plyometrics and Core
a. Focus on the landing component first, then progress to more elastic movements when the athlete is ready
b. Superset core with some jump work to allow legs proper rest

Speed Development
a. Focus on technical movements, then apply the movements to actual speed work
b. Focus on reaction last and skill movements specifically for the sport

Power Development
a. The first portion of lifting will be your explosive lifts

i. Hang/power cleans
ii. Snatch
iii. Squat

b. Type of lift will depend on the day and the program in which they are involved. Remember, train based on the athlete and not just your program.

Core Lifts

a. Various squat, bench and major muscle movements
b. Again depends on the athlete and sport

Accessory Lifts
a. Work on single leg training and smaller muscle groups

Having the proper order of movement and lifting is crucial to the correct outcome that one is seeking as an athlete. Setting up the program for the athlete to succeed is the goal of every strength and conditioning coach. Within the structure that the coach sets up for the athlete, teaching proper form in the Olympic movements and combining the above mentioned areas of sports performance results are sure to be gained.

As you can note from above, Olympic lifting is a key cog in a sports performance program. Understanding why these lifts are crucial to speed development and overall power development will encourage you to learn and add these movements into your program. Taking proper time in teaching the movements is needed because of how technical they are. Understanding that the mixture of plyometrics, Olympic lifting and speed development are all needed in creating the best and most dominant athletes. When a complete program is created, progressed and mastered the athlete will become more explosive, and therefore faster.