Help required, please!

[Sharif Jomaa]

I've been on TTM for about 7 months or so and have made excellent gains.

I want to change direction a bit now and start Oly lifting. I found a good program and hopefully it'll help me get stronger in the Oly lifts. My issue is, I'm concerned with losing the strength I've gained on TTM since this program kind of takes me back to square one.

To explain, I won't be deadlifting for one (my deadlift is my biggest lift), squats are not as big a part of this program as they were on TTM, and I'm basically starting the Oly lifts from scratch, although TTM had cleans in it which will help me out a bit.

Thoughts?

[Pete Gordon]

You have to be strong to do weightlifting

[Derek Weaver]

Sharif, I'm not a Oly guy, but could you link or provide some sort of overview of the new program?

[Sharif Jomaa]

Originally Posted by Pete Gordon

You have to be strong to do weightlifting

Thanks, I had no idea. What gives you the impression I'm not strong?

Here's the program Derek:

http://www.pendlay.com/A-Training-Sy...ers_df_47.html

[Ryan Lyman]

Originally Posted by Pete Gordon

You have to be strong to do weightlifting

sure its nice, but not completely necessary.

Glenn's program is a good place to start with. relatively simple, but by no means easy. you will NOT lose strength on that program + the complexes will provide a bit of hypertrophy work. you can't really think that GP (or any respectable strength coach) would develop a program that will make you weaker (follow CF if you want to do that). and your strength will not stagnant either, so there is only one place it can go....

[Sharif Jomaa]

Thanks for the reply Ryan.

I will admit I don't know much about Oly lifting, I'm still new to it, so correct me where I'm wrong. I just figured that since I'm not pulling as much weight anymore, and I don't necessarily have set volume and intensity days for squats, overall strength would go down.

I assume the O lifts are mainly pulls, so since I'd be starting off with roughly 40-70 kg for the two lifts, wouldn't that affect my pulling strength since it is in the 200 kg range now?

[Ryan Lyman]

Originally Posted by Sharif Jomaa

Thanks for the reply Ryan.

I will admit I don't know much about Oly lifting, I'm still new to it, so correct me where I'm wrong. I just figured that since I'm not pulling as much weight anymore, and I don't necessarily have set volume and intensity days for squats, overall strength would go down.

I assume the O lifts are mainly pulls, so since I'd be starting off with roughly 40-70 kg for the two lifts, wouldn't that affect my pulling strength since it is in the 200 kg range now?

your squats will continue to climb. the volume on the squats will decrease, but the intensity certainly will not. i hope you are already going high bar, vertical back and deep. front squats are key.

as for pulling strength (i assume you are referring to the DL), to be honest, i don't have a clue what weightlifting has done to mine...i haven't tested it in just over a year. Sn/C&J are so technical, i will not risk jeopardizing the proper mechanics that i already occasionally misplace.

nonetheless, i am fairly confident my DL hasn't changed much or it has gone up. you may want to ask GP directly via his forum or even Greg as they may craft a better more thorough reply, but i suspect both will tell that you have little to fear.

here is a link to thread that may be of interest. it doesn't directly talk about the DL strength, but does address it a few times. i wouldn't read every response, but john broz has some great insights:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121212081
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=122395951

[Ryan Lyman]

BTW, i don't know what your goals are, but here is another program that still keeps the DL in it:

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2010/02/

for the record, i feel GP's program is a better place to start, particularly if you really want to spend some time learning the lifts. but the above alternative is not bad either, just be careful with your mechanics.

that being said, the absolute best case scenario is with a respectable coachs' eyes on you and telling you what to do. i can almost guarantee (depending on the coach) that you will learn the proper mechanics and get stronger, w/o spinning your wheels ... is this an option for you?

[John P. Walsh]

Originally Posted by Sharif Jomaa

I've been on TTM for about 7 months or so and have made excellent gains.

I want to change direction a bit now and start Oly lifting. I found a good program and hopefully it'll help me get stronger in the Oly lifts. My issue is, I'm concerned with losing the strength I've gained on TTM since this program kind of takes me back to square one.

To explain, I won't be deadlifting for one (my deadlift is my biggest lift), squats are not as big a part of this program as they were on TTM, and I'm basically starting the Oly lifts from scratch, although TTM had cleans in it which will help me out a bit.

Thoughts?

I don't know what TTM means but you won't loose strength. I would recommend a coach. Oly lifting is a lot more complex than the PL lifts.

[Derek Weaver]

Originally Posted by Sharif Jomaa

Thanks, I had no idea. What gives you the impression I'm not strong?

Here's the program Derek:

http://www.pendlay.com/A-Training-Sy...ers_df_47.html

I'm guessing that Pete's veiled attempt at a response was indicating more that a good weightlifting program will increase or at least maintain strength. Not necessarily a direct indictment of your strength levels.

You should be fine on that program. Like everyone else said Glenn isn't going to program, especially for beginners, in a way that would result in a strength drop off.

Re: Pulling. You're going to get a lot of pulling with a lot more frequency, but you'll be doing most of them in the forms of cleans (and variations) and snatches (and variations). There was a good article in the Pmenu a year ago (maybe longer?) about PL and Oly. Squatting often and doing the classic lifts with frequency should have your bases covered. You'll be fine.