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The Simplest Olympic Weightlifting Program in the World
Greg Everett
January 5 2012



I've written down this same program so many times for so many people, I thought it would make sense to put it down here for other people to use. I'm sure things that look a lot like this have been floating around for decades because it makes perfect sense and is remarkably simple. I think I may have stuck it or something very similar in a newsletter at some point in the last couple years as well.

The basic structure is as follows:

Day 1
Snatch
Snatch Pull
Front Squat

Day 2
Jerk
Push Press
Overhead Squat

Day 3
Clean & Jerk
Clean Pull
Back Squat

The snatch, clean and jerk can be the classic lifts as written, or any variation of your choosing based on how you're feeling on a particular day, or based on what you need to address certain technical problems. This includes variations like powers, hangs, complexes, etc.

Snatch and clean pulls can be done as pulls as written, or you can substitute any pulling-related exercise such as halting deadlifts, partial pulls, segment pulls and pull complexes. Again, choose exercises that address your own needs with regard to technique and strength.

The push press on day 2 can be any kind of upper body press exercise that you decide is most effective: push press behind the neck, press, incline bench press, etc. Similarly, the overhead squat on day 2 can be replaced with a snatch balance variation, complex of snatch balance and overhead squat, snatch push press and overhead squat, etc.

Front squats and back squats on days 1 and 3 can be done with whatever sets and reps you choose. As a starting point, I would suggest 3s for the front squat and 5s for the back squat, 3-5 sets for each.

To this you can consider adding a technique exercise at the start of each day related to the classic lift of the day. For example, on day 1 if you have trouble with the turnover of the snatch, you might choose to do a few sets of muscle snatches or tall snatches before doing the snatches. Keep this exercise relatively light and easy.

Start the first week with fairly conservative weights and spend 3-4 weeks building the weights up, decreasing the reps or sets somewhat as you go if necessary. For example, you might do triples in the snatch, clean and jerk on week 1, doubles on week 2 and singles on week 3, increasing the weight by 5-10% each week.

Have fun with it and post any variations you use successfully here.
115 Comments
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John
January 5 2012
Hey Greg great post. Is this program done 3 days a week or could you do them in a row. I have followed some of your programs before and have great gains. I want to do something where I am doing the clean and jerk, and snatch or a variation twice a week for each pull. Thanks
Greg Everett
January 5 2012
David -Yes. After 3-4 weeks, drop the weights 10-20% and reduce the volume 20-40% before restarting.
Chris G
January 5 2012
This is exactly what I have been looking for. Thanks Greg! I'll get back to you in a month or two with some monster PR's.
-Chris
DC
January 5 2012
How often should you to 100%. Thanks
Greg Everett
January 5 2012
DC - How often one can do that productively varies a lot among athletes. If you're working in 4-week blocks on a program like this, hitting 100% single attempts on each lift once in each 4 week block is probably good, i.e. make the third or fourth week a max week.
Mark
January 6 2012
Greg

This program will fit my needs very well right now. I typically train about 4 days a week, but the next several months are be busier than normal for me. Can't wait to tweak this a little to fit my needs (my jerk is way behind my clean and my pulling is weak). Will try it starting Monday. Thanks Coach.
Andre
January 8 2012
Is it able to combine this with a running schedule or will that be to much of a load?
Luke
January 8 2012
Thanks Greg, Ill be done with S/S soon, and this is just what I was looking for.
John
January 8 2012
Thanks Greg for answering my question. Can you direct me to a percentage table to go off for the max clean and jerk and snatch on the last day? I want to go off that for m,t,and thur or is that getting too complicated?
msgt martin reeves usmc
January 8 2012
i am 45 years old and have a solid background in bodybuilding and strongman.people tell me i am too old to start and compete in masters class. improvise.overcome.adapt! i believe i can!but at the same time.i would greatly respect your opinion.so far i love all aspects of olympic lifting.please help me realize my dream like you have for so many others.with great respect and thanks.msgt martin reeves usmc.
Greg Everett
January 9 2012
Andre - You should be able to add some running in there.
Greg Everett
January 9 2012
John - Just take them up by feel on the last day. That may be 80% or it may be 102%.
Greg Everett
January 9 2012
msgt reeves - never too old. Just be smart about it and do what's necessary to avoid getting injured.
Andrew
January 10 2012
Greg,

Thinking of giving your program a try. Would like to do a short WOD after each lifting day. Do you recommend it?
Greg Everett
January 10 2012
Andrew - If you need to work on your conditioning, you can certainly do this. Just be aware of how much you're doing and be careful that one is not interfering with the other and preventing you from accomplishing what you want.
Seb
January 11 2012
Hi Greg,

you said "make the third or fourth week a max week."
Do you do a deload week before or after the max week ?

For a 4 weeks cycle :

Week 1 and 2 increase weight
Week 3 deload
Week 4 max

or

Week 1 and 2 increase weight
Week 3 max
Week 4 deload

Thanks
Tony
January 11 2012
Greg,

Lately I have been alternating between the Crossfit Football workouts and yours. I generally cycle between what seems to be kind of a push/pull regimine. I try to lift on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I noticed John seems to have a push/pull theme going, but he doesn't concentrate much on the O-Lifts. That is where you come in. I integrate your workouts on his "pull" days.

For example:

Mondays - Squats and Presses for the Strength WOD and then I follow his Daily WOD.
Tuesdays - Snatches/Cleans (maybe C&J) based off of your daily workouts and then I integrate a heavy pull like deadlifts at the end. I finish up with either John's Daily WOD or your conditioning workout, whichever sounds better to me.
Wednesday - Rest, but sometimes stretching, foam rolling, or walking
Thursday - Similar to Monday
Friday - Similar to Tuesday

Sometimes I will concentrate strictly on the snatch one day and strictly on the clean another. Other days I do both on both of my "pull" days. I have had some success with this over the past month or so. Does this sound pretty good to you? Is there anything I could better? Differently? Am I trying to do too much? Too little? Or am I way off base? Let me know either way. Thanks for everything.

Tony



Greg Everett
January 11 2012
Seb -

You can try either of those and see what works best for you. You can also try adding weight and reducing volume weeks 1-3 and then hitting maxes week 4. When you restart the next 4-week block, you'll be deloading automatically to some degree.
Greg Everett
January 11 2012
Tony - If you feel like you can keep track of all that and it seems to be working, then have at it. That's too complicated for a simpleton like me. I like one program. That said, I haven't looked much at John's workouts, but I do suspect they have considerably more upper body strength work than the ones I post here, so if that's a priority for you, it makes sense to add that in.
Seb
January 11 2012
Thanks Greg for your answer.
I'll try that and see how it feels

Regards from France
David Griffin
January 14 2012
I'm about to move from a more powerlifting style program and get really into the OLY lifts so this is exactly what I'm after.

Thanks!
Michelle
January 15 2012
Greg, for week 1, should I attempt to find 3RM for sn and cj, as I haven't focused on an oly-type training before and I am not sure what I am capable of right now. Thanks!
Greg Everett
January 16 2012
Michelle - You don't need to find 3RMs, just work up in triples until you find something you can do for maybe 5 sets of 3.
Mark Mawson
February 2 2012
Hi Greg,

A couple of quick questions; could you swap the days around? I was thinking of putting the back squats at the beginning of the week.

Also, how many sets should be used for the olympic lifts? I imagine somewhere between 5-8 but I've been wrong before!

Thanks
Mark Mawson
February 2 2012
*Actually you pretty much answered my second question in the post before mine.
Greg Everett
February 2 2012
Mark -You can switch the days if you want, but the way it's set up now, the idea is that you have a good break between your two squat days (not including OHS since that's not really heavy squatting) and then a 2 day break after back squats/CJs (assuming this is done Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thu-Sat), which will be the most taxing day.
Mark Mawson
February 3 2012
Thanks Greg, I'll leave them in order for now. I go to a coached class on Tuesdays (or Thursdays) so would a Monday, Thursday(or Tuesday), Friday setup be workable? Thanks for taking the time to answer.
Greg Everett
February 3 2012
Mark- That would be fine.
Jack
April 1 2012
Gregg,

If you were preparing/already serving in an military unit that requires a lot of running/rucking/swimming, would you implement this program to help Maintain/Increase strength? Or do you feel the volume is still to high to accomplish all necessary goals? Assuming one would run intervals twice a week, and swim twice a week then ruck once. Following week would alternate interval running with rucking. so on and so forth...
Greg Everett
April 2 2012
Jack -

In a case like that, this may be too much. I would probably lean more toward strength training 2x/wk and paring it down a bit by keeping the elements that address your primary weaknesses and dropping or limiting the ones that just play to your strengths.
Jack
April 2 2012
Gregg,

Thanks for the quick reply. Would you be abel to expand on how you would construct the schedule, or would it best I ask my specific questions via Email? Thanks!
Greg Everett
April 3 2012
Jack -

I would suggest posting on the forum - I'll try to get a response in there among anyone else who has info to offer.
Jack
April 14 2012
Gregg -

Sounds good, got verified via the forum and posted. Thanks for the help!
Tom
June 6 2012
Greg-

I'm an athlete with multiple priorities (rowing on the water, running, bodyweight exercises) and a demanding work/travel schedule. I can only consistently O-lift 1 day a week, some weeks I can do more but I also can go 2-3 weeks with no O-lifting opportunities. I've used this basic framework on a "as possible" basis. Each day I O-lift I do one of the workouts; my next opportunity to lift I do the next workout in the schedule and so on. I've seen good results, and supplement my O-lifting with pistols, body-weight plyo-metrics, and running hills throughout the week to keep a good balance of rest, frequency and volume.

I'm curious to hear if you've designed an O-lifting program for a "casual" O-lifter who spends the majority of his time on sport specific (rowing) and GPP training...?

Thanks,

Tom
Greg Everett
June 8 2012
Tom -

Sounds like you're doing the best you can in the circumstances. Honestly I wouldn't write a program for someone like you because, without being able to train consistently, it's impossible to promise success, so I would just steer you exactly in the direction you're already going. When you have to train around a lot of other training with an unreliable schedule, it's usually the best best to just wing it with a casual eye toward making sure you're working on your weakest points as regularly as possible.
Nick
February 13 2013
Hi. I was just wondering about the jerk on day 2. Is it a split jerk we should be doing?
Cheers
Steve Pan
February 14 2013
Nick -

Jerk will always be split jerk. It will specify power or push jerk if they are called for.
Lee
March 7 2013
I'm sure this is going to be deemed a stupid question, but what is the set/rep count for the snatch, jerk, c+j, push press, and the pulls? Thanks.
Steve Pan
March 8 2013
Lee -

For this program it is up to you to adjust how you want to do the sets and reps. The example in the article is to take triples of each of the olympic lifts in the first week, then add weight for the next week and take doubles, and go for singles at a heavier weight the following week.
Lee
March 10 2013
Steve-

Thanks for the response. I really appreciate it. Any guidance on warming up, and/or training sets?

Thanks,
Lee
Steve Pan
March 11 2013
Lee -

Take a few lighter sets and work your way up to a working weight. You will have to feel those weights out as you go and make judgement calls on the weights you are using. Another option would be to try the starter program that has some parameters for you to follow: catalystathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=131
Gregg
May 31 2013
Would it be appropriate to follow a 5/3/1 progression with this template? What modifications would you make if any?
Zack Nielsen
May 31 2013
For the press can bench press be used? I am a collegiate thrower and I am using this as a template, but my training does require bench press. Will it have a negative affect on my olympic lifts?
Steve Pan
June 3 2013
Zack -

You can substitute bench press for press. Make sure you keep stretching your shoulders and pecs to maintain good mobility for the snatch and jerk.
Steve Pan
June 3 2013
Gregg -

I would suggest against 5s in any of the olympic lifts. Otherwise you can feel out progressions that work with this general template.
Jort Kramer
January 3 2014
Hello,

what would be a good 2 day/week template excluding the snatch? im a waterpolo player and i like olympic lifts for the back/shoulder/leg strength (the 3 key muscle groups for waterpolo) but i dont have right gym to do risky stuff like snatches. Can some1 help me?
Brendon
February 11 2014
Jort-
Anything is risky if not done properly, but if it is in equipment issue then the risk is out of your control. Being that you are an overhead athlete, learning and practicing the snatch would be a great diagnostic for overhead shoulder function. My suggestion would be to complete Day 2's prescription on Day 1 (keeping front squat in lieu of overhead squat) and keep Day 3 as is. If you have other demands, keep 2 days rest (or other training) in between these olympic/power training days.
Mike k
February 16 2014
So I want to do a 4 day template, very similar to your 3day. Is this okay? and I dont know where to Jerk? on tues and take out push press? Should thur and fri have separate days for snatch,clean variations?
Mon. Snatch, snatch pull, front squat
Tue. Clean, clean pull, push press, back squat
Wed. Rest. or active rest?
Thur. Snatch & Clean: power or 3 position, front squat
Fri. Back squat, press/pushpress, deadlift

Thanks
Jort Kramer
March 7 2014
@Brendon - Thanks for the reply, but Gregg already gave me a nice program which im following right now :)
David L
May 28 2014
Its may seem as stupid question but i didnt understand why to do snatch and then pull snatch it will only exhaust me dont it?
Steve Pan
May 28 2014
David -

It allows you to strengthen the pull portion of the lift by allowing more weight to be used and you are able to focus on good positions.
James D
June 5 2014
Thanks guys this programme is great and i've been using it for some weeks now. Only just got to the point where I'm starting to lift more than previously.

Giving such a concentration to technique is also great, my question would be where do I go with this training once I start to plateau...
David L
June 8 2014
Steve thank you for the quick answer..another question should i do it 3x5 or 1x10 and should i lift more and more every train day or there is a scheme?
Steve Pan
June 9 2014
James -

I would reccomend one of the cycles from the Training Cycles tab next if you begin to stall on this program.

David -

I would recomend 3-5 sets in the 3-5 rep range for the pulls. The article recommends adding weight as you go and decreasing the reps from week to week as the weights go up.
James
June 17 2014
Thanks Steve for the advice, luckily I'm still making good progress but I have another question, what sort of weight do you use for the snatch pull and clean pull by that I mean is a certain % increase on the clean and snatch used to get the maximum effect from doing these lifts ?

currently I am snatching 60 and snatch pulling 75
clean 77.5 and clean pulling 95
does this sound correct ?
or should i be working higher ?
Steve Pan
June 17 2014
James -
It depends on how easy or hard those pulls feel. I think those numbers should be okay as long as they aren't too easy, and you are hitting good positions.
James
June 18 2014
Thanks again Steve,

I guess I'll have to play around with it and see how it goes, I'm not too sure on my form for the pulls as I'm currently not very experienced with it.
Patrick
September 5 2014

How long would you expect these workouts to take? I'm just beginning weightlifting using the multimedia guide and am trying to figure out a routine I can get done in the time I have before work.
Steve Pan
September 8 2014
Depending on how you put it together or what program you follow the workout can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. If you are using the template in this article you might be able to put something together that is about 1-2 hours.
Patrick
September 9 2014
Thanks. Sounds doable
janaka wannaku
October 10 2014
Thank you very much for this down to earth program for working people like us...kindly explain a little bit on rep and set scheme for this programm.
Andy
November 17 2014
Thanks for posting this! I saw it last month when I was getting back to lifting (after injury and time off) and this is the perfect template to restart. I'm combining it with the 3 days a week Russian squat template, but making every other session front squats. So far, it's working great, the comeback numbers are coming back very quickly. Will do this another 3 weeks and then modify the double day squat program to make it 4 days a week instead of 5. Great stuff here!
oscar
January 10 2015
currently attempting this variation. I'm a student, so I'm trying to limit my workouts to the most essential things. What do you think, Greg? Specifically, what do you think about the lack of push accessories?

Day 1
Snatch
Snatch Pull
Front Squat

Day 2
Clean & Jerk
Clean Pull
Back Squat
Planks

Day 3
Snatch
Clean & Jerk
Back Squat
Planks

Steve Pan
January 12 2015
Oscar -

That should be okay and you should be able to add some push/pull accessory work if you feel that is lacking.
Tae Kim
January 29 2015
I've completed your 4-week Starter Program two weeks ago and then started to play with this training template as this fits best in my schedule as a graduate student. As it is a "template", options are unlimited and I was a bit overwhelmed at first. But after two weeks of trials, I now seem to have a clearer idea of what to do with this: Keep it simple!

Set-rep scheme:
- 1st lifts (snatch, jerk, clean & jerk) : 4 x 3 (week 1), 5 x 2 (week 2), 6 x 1 (week 3), 3 x 3 (deload)
- 2nd lifts (pulls and push press) : 3 x 3
- 3rd lifts (squats) : 4 x 4

This is for the next month in which I will be focusing on simply getting used to the classic lifts and putting more weight on the barbell. After finishing this month-long cycle, I will then focus on the second lifts (i.e. pulls) by including some of the pull cycles from your other programs while keeping the others simple. After that, I will have a month with focused squats. I think I can continue in this manner until my imagination runs out.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say thank you, Greg and Catalyst Athletics, for posting this awesome customizable template and for sharing this wonderful collection of all the other resources at this site. I also wanted to share with those who visit this page some of my ideas of how to use this template.
Jimaco
March 12 2015
hmmf overhead squat
Anthony
March 17 2015
Hi - many thanks for all the great resources. One question though; why not put overhead squats on the snatch day and front squats on the clean day? I'm sure there's an excellent reason why the template is designed this way, and I'm curious as to why you haven't set it up so that the squat type specified for each day works the groove already greased, so to speak. Thanks.
Greg Everett
March 18 2015
Anthony -
This is a very minimal program, and 3 days/week is not much. So since we're already doing an overhead squat on the snatch day, why double up and do more when we can overhead squat on a second day and get more frequent exposure? Similar rationale for cleans/FS. Also, because the BS will likely be heavier than the FS, we can combine BS with snatches, which will be less taxing than clean & jerks, to spread the work more evenly across the days. Finally, placing the OHS on a day with no other squatting gives us some squat exposure 3 days instead of 2.
Raya
May 21 2015
Hi Greg,

I am Crossfitter who has done one of your 6 week programs. I am currently transitioning back to Crossfit but still realize that I need to work on my Olympic Lifts. In addition to WODs, I want to Olympic lift twice a week but don't really need to squat more. My problem is mostly technique with needs to add assistance exercises for both the Snatch and Cleans. If I want to Olympic lift two days in a row without adding heavy squating (The strength building for me will be part of the training programmed at my box), how should I go about using the model you provided?
Greg Everett
May 22 2015
Raya -



Day 1 - snatches and whatever snatch assistance exercises address your needs at the time



Day 2 - cleans and whatever clean assistance exercises address your needs at the time
Raya
May 25 2015
Hi Greg,

Thank you for the response and your help. If I wanted to use one of your programs from your book "A Complete Guide for Athletes and Coaches", for example, the Classic Lift Position/Technique Cycle, can I just combine and select the exercises from the program for clean & jerks + Snatches? If yes, how many exercises would you recommend in a given session? I noticed that you program about 3-4 depending on the load.

I'm really a novice lifter and am quite confused about programming for my specific needs and problems.
Greg Everett
May 26 2015
Raya -

Those programs are ready to be followed - you don't have to do anything other than what's written there.
Sha
May 31 2015
Hi Greg,

I recently got into Olympic lifting and I'm doing this program.I'm having some problems with the snatch. I'm finding the third pull of the snatch very difficult. When I make contact with the bar, the bar tends to fly out in front of me in an arch rather than straight up. I only recently noticed this after I filmed myself doing hang snatches. I went back to hang power snatches thinking that might remedy the problem. Any advice?

Thanks.
Greg Everett
June 2 2015
Sha -

Even if you hit the bar with your hips, you can control it with your arms. You have to actively be pushing the bar back toward your body as you extend, and you need to keep doing that in the third pull, pulling your elbows high and to the sides to pull under with the bar as close to you as possible. Tall snatches, dip snatches and muscle snatches will help.
Andrew
June 7 2015
Greg, I come from a powerlifting background and have learned that frequent repetition of the competition movements is a good thing. For instance, squat, bench and deadlifting 2-3x a week. Im confused a bit with this, as well as the starter program. Why such little frequency? Is it different when it comes to the Oly lifts? I know nothing so Im very willing to learn, thanks!
Greg Everett
June 9 2015
Andrew-
Yes, that's great, but the whole point of this program is that it's for people with limited time to train. 3 days/week is not ideal - I'd rather have 5-6, and even double days on 3 of those. In that case, you can get a lot more frequent exposure to the competition lifts. In the case of limited time, you have to make compromises. Look at the other programs on the site or in my book if you want more frequency.
Eric
July 7 2015
Gregg, What weights do you recommend when you start another 4 weeks cycle? + 10% from the first cycle?

Thanks
Greg Everett
July 7 2015
Eric -
Depends on where you finished the previous cycle. I would basically back track to the second to last week and use approximately those weights for week one of the subsequent cycle - set it up so you'll beat your best on week 2 or 3 the second time around.
Eric
July 8 2015
Thanks for the quick reply Greg, really appreciate it! Also, is it any problem when I also incorporate paused pin squats? Say front paused pin squats on jerk day and back paused pin squats on clean day?

What rep ranges do you recommend for accessory exercises like hamstring curls?

Thanks in advance!
Dan C
October 21 2015
Hi Gregg

Your site is a fantastic resource, i am learning loads. Quick question, in terms of working out sets and reps to use with this program i was going to use Prilepins table of loading. When applying that should i treat Snatch pulls as a seperate exercise or additional sets of the Snatch? Also should a similar approch be taken with regard to the clean pulls and the full clean and jerk?

Thanks

Dan
Pulls should be separate from snatch or clean. But Prilepin's table won't work too well for pulls, as they're traditionally prescribed as % of the associated competition lift, and you'll likely be doing intensities in the 90-110% range. Honestly Prilepin's table is of pretty limited utility - very broad and doesn't distinguish between types of lifts at all.


Greg Everett
testing
February 12 2016
testing
Jasmine
February 22 2016
Hey Greg! Thanks for the program!! I find I really feel it in my upper back for both front squats and overhead squats (my overhead squats are really weak). Would it be best to give it two days between workout 1 and 2 or will it just take time to get used to?

Thanks!
It should be good to keep it as is and possibly take the OHS down a bit. You should adapt with some time and you can push the weights up as you improve.

Steve Pan
Alister Rogers
March 17 2016
Hi Greg I'm looking to add this cycle to my crossfit program to improve my lifts and was wondering what rep scheme would suit best? Would one similar to the basic plan be ok or should I increase it?
Using the exercise selection should be okay to add to a program just consider the total volume for what you are doing. Keep the Olympic Lifts under 3 reps and 3-5 reps for the strength portions should be good.

Steve Pan
Christopher
July 11 2016
Hey Greg,

Love this work out and have been following your page for a while. I like the simplistic but not easy scheduling and wonder if you could expand this work out to 4 days a week M-T-TR-Fr and what would that look like.

Thanks
Nick Schreiter
July 13 2016
Greg,

First off, thank you so much for all of the content on this site. It's wonderful, as is your book.

I'm new to Oly training, and I'm using this program as my template because it's the maximum number of days per week I can be certain I'll get to train. Every so often I get an extra day (Saturday) to throw in some accessory work, but Monday-Wednesday-Friday is how I roll.

Based upon various life events, I've done this as a 4-week cycle, utilizing a 70%/80%/90%/PR week scheme for triples/doubles/singles respectively. Those have gone really well, but obviously I get smaller jumps in maxes because of the shorter time frame.

I've also done a 6-week cycle utilizing a 70/75/80/85/90/PR scheme, again for triples under 80%, doubles under 90% and singles at/over 90%.

With all that being said, I feel like 85% week is always a struggle in terms of technique, mainly for a few snatches here and there (usually 1 outright miss of the total reps, with a few nice saves thrown in) and rack jerks (never any misses, but a few where it feels like the D&D is a little forward, usually because it felt slow or not as powerful).

This is all a long way of asking at what percentages, in general, do you stop prescribing doubles and instead do singles (and also, if you're willing, when would you switch from triples to doubles)?

Thanks again for everything.

NS
I definitely don't have set %s where I would switch from triples to doubles to singles. With my own lifters, I rely on my records of their previous training cycles to know what their best 3s, 2s, complexes, etc are, and I aim to get them past those numbers as the program progresses. Since you have those records yourself, I'd recommend you do the same. For example, if your best snatch double is at 100kg, maybe work doubles and aim to beat that the last week of doubles; that is, once you've PRed the double, switch to singles the following week.

Greg Everett
Nick Schreiter
July 14 2016
Excellent! Thanks again, Greg.
Matt Crollard
August 8 2016
Greg, simple question that I should know the answer to. In a set/rep scheme of 3sets X 5reps or what ever the # of reps, are these touch and go between each rep or do you put the bar down and reset your feet for the 2nd and 3 Rd rep ? Thanks for the clarification. What is the max rest between reps?
Matt
Matt - The reps should not be touch and go. You should re-set between each rep to make sure your set up is perfect. You should rest 1.5-2 minutes between sets. 

Alyssa Sulay
Giancarlo Salton
September 12 2016
Hello coach, thanks for this great post. It is exactly what I was looking for to start in OL. If I want to throw in some bodybuilding work following the other articles I have written in the past, which is better: do 2 or 3 bodybuilding exercises at the end of each of these OL workouts or keep the focus on the OL on these 3 days and add a 4th day to do only these bodybuilding exercises?

Thanks again for the really useful workout!
You can do either way. I would probably do 2 days with BB after the Olympic workout and then a third day on its own if you want to do that much.

Greg Everett
Giancarlo Salton
September 12 2016
On my previous comment, it should be "...following the other articles YOU have written in the past" and not I. Sorry about the typo.
Arturo Esquivel
September 18 2016
Hi Greg. Can i combine this 3 day programa with my daily crossfit programa?

how long it should last the daily weightlifting training routine ?
Thanks Greg you're awesome
Pepito Sevilla
October 4 2016
Hi, Greg.

Thanks for this template. I'm confused a to how sets and reps for the accessories should be performed. Should I also decrease the volume and increase the weights for the front/back squats and clean/snatch pulls for the second, third, and fourth weeks? (assuming that my main goal for adding these exercises in the program is to build strength) Or should one of the variables (weights or volume) remain constant and the other one adjusted?
Pick reps for each exercise and you can keep these the same for 3-4 weeks while increasing the weights each week. When you reach a point where you can't increase, reduce the weight for a week and start again with lower reps and/or different exercise variations.

Greg Everett
Arturo
October 20 2016
can i do weightlifthing by the morning and crossfit by the night?
Sylvia
April 27 2017
What's Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely helpful
and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to contribute & aid different users like its
aided me. Great job.
Maglia Juve 2017
Rich Wood
June 11 2017
Thanks for the 3 day program, as a very old lifter this seems to be working out well for me, I am working this program with the 5 week block cycle that I got from Matt Foremans masters book,my question is should I be doing the second day of the cycle, which I'm doing more as an assistance day,with the same percentage as I go into week four/90+% or keep that middle day light
Rich Wood
June 12 2017
Sorry, I meant the 2nd day of the 3 day program thanks
RUDY
December 24 2018
Hi Greg, nice program ! what do you think of a pull push leg program for weightlifting, I think something like this : Pull : clean/snatch variation, deadlift variation, row and pull up + biceps. Push : jerk variation, bench press, shoulder and triceps exercice. Legs = Squat and accessories lower bodies exercice. One day off and repeat. Thanks in advance!
That's basically what this program is, which is how Kyle Pierce does it.

Greg Everett
Andre Barros
February 17 2019
Congratulations for this and other contributions, Greg! Thanks for the patience to stay answering this thread along all these seven years.

You gave details about the sets and reps for squats, but I have a doubt regarding a master 50+yo volume for the classic lifts.

I want to stay the volume fixed: 15 reps for snatch/day #1 snatch and 10 reps for jerk/CJ on days #2 and #3. Depending on the intensity, I pretend to autoregulate the sets and reps, but allways finishing a 10/15 scheme.

My question is: what is the magic number to beging counting my 10/15 reps? 50%? 65%?
Johann Chancey
December 28 2019
Has anyone had success doing a supertotal with this format? How might that look?
Miguel Angel
January 9 2020
¿Hay algún programa enfocado más al acondicionamiento que al levantamiento puro y único de pesas?
Miguel - the programs listed on our site are all weightlifting specific.

Alyssa Sulay
Josh
January 23 2020
I struggle with the catch in the snatch and still misses the lift even on lower weights. I know I need to work on stability with my overhead position and a general advice seems to be that you add more OHS work and snatch balance and try to push those weights higher that the snatch to build confidence with the weights as well.

I wonder if it’s a good idea to add complex of
Snatch balance + OHS after the BS on day 3 to get more work on my overhead stability or perhaps replace the BS and try to push the weights more on the complex?
Josh - I definatley would not skip the back squats, but rather do the complex as a warm up or on a rest day. During this cycle I wouldn't go to crazy with the weights just because it could interfere with the results of this cycle.

Alyssa Sulay
Anders
January 27 2020
I am very new to Olympic weightlifting and I have a hard time figuring out which variations I should use in the program. I definitely need to work on every aspects of the lifts, but do not know where to start. Do you have any suggestions?
Anders - Have you done the starter parogram yet? I would start there.

Alyssa Sulay
William Hurst
September 28 2020
Greg,

Love your content and wanted to get your opinion. I have a background in powerlifting, but made the switch to oly lifting a couple of years ago. I love oly lifting, but still don't want to let go of powerlifting entirely (I enjoy benching/deadlifting/etc). For the past year I have been doing my olympic lifts before going into your normal powerlifting workout (I am lucky to have 2+ hours of time to lift each day). I am considering using this program and "doubling up" 3 days a week. Meaning I plan on doing an oly workout in the morning and then a powerlifting workout at night 3 days a week and then a normal workout the other 3 days (excluding 1 rest day). I have doubled up on workouts in the past, but never matching oly with powerlifting. Is this a bad idea? Like I said, I still love both sports, though I understand it will be hard to excel in either unless I commit 100%. thanks.
I don't think it'll work long term to truly double the work - you need to balance the two in some way. You'd need to keep the WL work to strictly competition lift variants or say related work like snatch balance, etc. and use the PL for strength... but you'll likely run into problems of position strength, so just be aware of not allowing the more PC-dominant positions/motions of PL to influence the WL movements.

Greg Everett
Ian Rea
October 9 2023
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