Olympic Weightlifting: Cuban Method

[crackyflipside]

Just had a competition recently so decided to start another journal to make it easy to see the training cycle leading up to competition a bit better for people trying to figure out the Cuban method of weightlifting programming. The coach has almost 40 years of experience, a few pan am champs, and some top 5 finishers at worlds and Olympic games under his belt. I just had a competition and got 97/120 @ 83 for a new best total. Today starts the new training cycle.

My maxes as of June 20, 2011
Snatch: 97kg (214lbs)
Clean and jerk: 120kg (264lbs)
Front squat: 160kg (352lbs)
Back squat: 170kg (374lbs)



Monday, June 20, 2011
First Session
Rack jerks: 40 x 3r x 2 / 50 x 3r / 60 x 3r / 75 x 3r / 85 x 3r x 3 [1.560 tons / 24 lifts][70% 3/3]

Adding in double sessions Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The second sessions will usually be the main training sessions of the day.

[ViKtoricus]

Hi.

What is the "cuban method?"

Care to share?

Thanks.

[adoboandryce]

subbed! love your vids, cracky. also nice lifts man. how long have you been training?

[crackyflipside]

What is the "cuban method?"

My coach trained and coached 40 years in the Cuban system of training, which is extremely similar to the modern Russian and Chinese training systems. He lifted for Cuba on the junior national team then got injured and coached there as well as Venezuela.

subbed! love your vids, cracky. also nice lifts man. how long have you been training?

I did my first barbell back squat in August of 2007 and got pinned with 52 kilos; so almost four years.

Monday, June 20, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 6r / 100 x 6r / 120 x 6r x 4 [3.840 tons / 36 lifts][70% 4/6]
Hypers: 40 x 10r x 3 [1.200 tons / 30 lifts]
BTN press: b x 10r x 3
Curls: b x 20r

Change of plans with what I wanted to do, coach has a different plan of action to make me better. He says that my legs need to get stronger to give me the confidence to have solid technique at limit weights, that my low leg strength is killing me on the platform. He's not really talking about single rep max strength, rather the ability to perform volume which has always been a huge issue with me. That means double daily volume squatting M,W,F and once on T,Th,Sa. Time to get swole up.

[crackyflipside]

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Front squat: 60 x 3r / 80 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 110 x 3r x 5 [2.370 tons / 24 lifts][70% 5/3]
Snatch pull: 60 x 3r x 2 / 70 x 3r x 4 [1.200 tons / 18 lifts][70% 4/3]

Front squats were rough after yesterday's volume. Did first two sets of the 110 squats before back was complaining so threw on the belt and the last three sets went down fairly easy. Legs felt like noodles during the snatch pulls but got the weight pretty high. As a reminder, snatch pulls are not regularly done like most Americans, they are finished with knees bent, knees pointing out, and bar to neck. They are called 'technical pulls' and are done with weights 50-80% like this:





The only time we do pulls like most American coach's teach is with weights 90%+, where it is more like a deadlift with a shrug on top and finishing standing high on toes. Those are done must less frequently than the technical pulls and are called 'strength pulls'.

[crackyflipside]

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
First Session
Front squat: 70 x 3r x 2 / 90 x 3r / 100 x 3r x 3 [1.590 tons / 18 lifts][60% 3/3]
Power snatch: 50 x 3r x 2 / 60 x 3r x 3 [0.840 tons / 15 lifts][60% 3/3]

Easy workout, legs were tight making the lifting a bit more difficult. Power snatches and cleans also have their own technique that must be followed to get the most out of them. It's no coincidence when you see the pro's doing power lifts that they are very consistent and solid. The technique for powers is the same pull as the full lift, the catch is what is different. On the finish of a power the knees must be pointing out and bent, this is the most important part as it translates directly to the full lift. If you catch powers with legs straight and knees point forward, you are not getting good carry over to the full lift. In the full lift the knees go out so why do different. Another less important aspect is that the feet should spread open as you catch the weight, in addition to the things listed above, but there are some cases (such as jumping) where the coach may want the athlete to not let his feet leave the ground.

[crackyflipside]

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 110 x 3r / 120 x 3r / 130 x 3r x 6 [3.510 tons / 30 lifts][75% 6/3]
Clean pull: 50 x 3r / 70 x 3r x 4 [0.990 tons / 15 lifts][60% 4/3]
Glute-ham raise: bw x 7r x 3

It's funny that squats get easier the more volume you do. The further I got into the volume today, it was like my body would just fall into the groove easier, I could feel the weight better, there was no surprise heaviness. It was just the same weight. After the second set, everything just feels monotonous, the same tempo and speed just moving through the volume. Coach was telling us about blood doping at the top levels of weightlifting. That the guys would get blood drawn when they were at their highest performance levels during training and right before the main competitions they would get the blood pumped into their system. Crazy stories make the sessions go by faster.

[crackyflipside]

Friday, June 24, 2011
First session
Front squat: 60 x 3r / 90 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 110 x 3r x 5 [2.400 tons / 24 lifts][70% 5/3]

So many squats!! My legs are now numb. Yesterday the coach told me to take the day off and relax, did that and went swimming at the beach for a few hours.

[crackyflipside]

Friday, June 24, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 125 x 3r / 135 x 3r / 143 x 2r x 4 [2.404 tons / 20 lifts][80% 4/2]
Power snatch: 50 x 3r x 5 [0.750 tons / 15 lifts][50% 5/3]
Toes to bar (abs): bw x 5r x 3
Hypers: bw x 5r x 2
Reverse hypers: bw x 5r x 2

Back squats were pretty easy. The coach wanted to keep the weight low on power snatches because all he wanted me to work on was speed and spreading my feet more on the catch.

[crackyflipside]

Sunday, June 26, 2011
Back squat: 70 x 6r / 110 x 6r / 130 x 6r x 4 [4.200 tons / 36 lifts][75% 4/6]

Wasn't able to lift yesterday because my cousin was getting baptized. Ended up jumping in the pool and swimming for a few hours. Wanted to PR on these monster volume squats the coach gives so went up ten kilos to 130k. I want to try 140k with this volume real soon. The hardest part of the squats was fighting the urge to vomit after the third set before doing the last one, actually felt pretty easy on legs and core. I can definitely feel everything getting more solid. By the first week of last training cycle, my squatting tonnage was 8.550 tons...

Squat totals this week: 20.314 tons / 188 lifts (65% Back Squat, 35% Front Squat)

[crackyflipside]

Monday, June 27, 2011
First Session
Front squat: 70 x 3r x 2 / 100 x 3r / 120 x 3r x 3 [1.800 tons / 18 lifts][75% 3/3]
Low hang power clean: 70 x 3r x 4 [0.840 tons / 12 lifts][60% 4/3]
Curls: b x 20r
Overhead tricep extension: b x 10r x 3

Front squats were easy even from doing all the volume yesterday. The low hang power cleans were ridiculously easy and done so quick, the 70 feels like 40 after the squatting, didn't even bother to hook grip. Hopefully tonight is some more competition loads, squatting is getting a little boring.

[crackyflipside]

Monday, June 27, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 120 x 3r / 130 x 3r x 4 [2.400 tons / 21 lifts][75% 4/3]
Muscle snatch: 50 x 3r
Power snatch: 50 x 3r / 60 x 3r / 70 x 3r x 3 [1.110 tons / 18 lifts][70% 3/3]
Clean deadlift: 100 x 3r x 2 / 110 x 3r / 120 x 3r / 130 x 2r [1.550 tons / 14 lifts][110% 2]

Disappointed because I was supposed to do three sets of those pulls at 130 but it was so damn hard. My main problem there is my butt shoots up instead of my chest staying up in the pull. It's really aggravating. Everything else was a breeze. To clarify things, we don't do powerlifting style deadlifts, it's supposed to be just like the pull except the arms stay relaxed the whole time and finish is on toes with a little shrug at the top.

[crackyflipside]

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Front squat: 70 x 3r x 2 / 90 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 110 x 3r x 5 [2.640 tons / 27 lifts][70% 5/3]
Power clean + push press: 70 x (1+1r)3r x 2 / 80 x (1+1r)3r / 90 x (1+1r)3r x 3 [2.940 tons / 36 lifts][75% 3/3]
Snatch deadlift: 90 x 3r x 2 / 100 x 3r x 3 [1.440 tons / 15 lifts][100% 3/3]

Felt totally wrecked today. The workout was not so difficult on my body as much as it was wanting to rest longer and longer. The heavy clean pulls really destroyed my body yesterday. Went and jumped into a cold 'hot' tub after, because it was cloudy and wouldn't warm up the heater.

[crackyflipside]

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
First session
Front squat: 80 x 3r x 2 / 100 x 3r / 110 x 2r x 3 [1.440 tons / 15 lifts][70% 3/2]
Muscle snatch: 50 x 3r x 2 / 60 x 3r x 3 [0.840 tons / 15 lifts][60% 3/3]

Light session, don't know how the evening session will turn out. Muscle snatches were done with high speed. Front squats were tough but it was only doubles so it was not a big issue.

[crackyflipside]

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 130 x 3r x 4 [2.040 tons / 18 lifts][75% 4/3]
Power snatch: 50 x 2r
Snatch: 50 x 2r / 60 x 3r / 70 x 3r / 80 x 2r [0.750 tons / 12 lifts][80% 2]
Snatch deadlift: 90 x 3r x 2 / 100 x 3r x 3 [1.440 tons / 15 lifts][100% 3/3]
Snatch press: b x 10r

The technique felt awesome in the snatches but my damn quads were so tired I couldn't go heavier today. The snatch deadlifts weren't any easier, really wimpy leg strength. It's a funny thing because the squats today were very easy to do.

[crackyflipside]

Friday, July 1, 2011
First Session
Front squat: 70 x 3r x 2 / 100 x 3r / 115 x 3r / 130 x 3r x 3 [2.235 tons / 21 lifts][80% 3/3]
Muscle snatch: 50 x 3r x 2 / 60 x 3r x 3 [0.840 tons / 15 lifts][60% 3/3]
Clean deadlift: 110 x 3r x 2 / 120 x 3r x 2 / 130 x 3r [1.770 tons / 15 lifts][110% 3]

Was supposed to do two more sets with the front squats at 130 but just had nothing left in me. Muscle snatches were absurdly fast. I'm definitely feeling progress in the clean deadlifts, it wasn't a total mess like last time we went heavy. It's almost like my body forgot how to lift weights higher than what I normally clean and jerk, my deadlift must be terrible right now.

[crackyflipside]

Friday, July 1, 2011
Second Session
Back squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 140 x 3r / 150 x 2r x 3 [1.800 tons / 15 lifts][90% 3/2]
Clean and jerk: 50 x 1r / 75 x 1r / 90 x 1r x 3 [0.410 tons / 5 lifts][75% 3/1]

Was dead tired after the squats today. Was supposed to do a lot more competition lift stuff but had no drive at all.

[crackyflipside]

Saturday, July 2, 2011
Front squat: 60 x 3r / 100 x 3r / 125 x 1r / 143 x 1r x 2 / 143 x 2r x 2 [1.445 tons / 13 lifts][90% 3/2]
Hypers: 10 x 10r x 3

My body was wrecked from all the work done yesterday. Went in today with my back hurting so bad. Front squats were torture. After crunching up the numbers below, it's obvious the point of this week was to introduce a higher competition load. To accommodate the increase in competition load, squatting volume decreased 20%; however intensity was increased so that the average training weights stayed constant both weeks. Competition load saw a tremendous 160% increase where volume showed an increase of 98%, which means intensity had gone up dramatically. In fact, the average training weight increased 20kg, showing how much intensity had affected it.

Squat load last week: 20.314 tons / 188 lifts = 108kg (65% Back Squat, 35% Front Squat)
Competition load last week: 5.340 tons / 87 lifts = 61kg (38% Pulls, 28% CJ, 34% Snatch)

Squat load this week: 15.800 tons / 148 lifts = 107kg (35% Back Squat, 65% Front Squat)
Competition load this week: 13.930 tons / 172 lifts = 81kg (34% Pulls, 31% CJ, 35% Snatch)

[crackyflipside]

Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Back squat: 70 x 3r / 110 x 3r / 140 x 2r / 160 x 1r [0.980 tons / 9 lifts][95% 1]
Low snatch balance: b x 3r / 40 x 3r x 3

The holidays have really screwed up training. Just decided to run up to a quick max. 160 was extremely easy, so I stupidly went up to 182 and missed it. Low snatch balance is taking snatch grip with bar behind the neck, squatting to bottom, then giving a little push up on the bar to lock out sitting as low as possible in the squat position, catching the bar back to shoulders in the bottom of the squat and repeat.

[slowman41]

Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Back squat: 70 x 3r / 110 x 3r / 140 x 2r / 160 x 1r [0.980 tons / 9 lifts][95% 1]
Low snatch balance: b x 3r / 40 x 3r x 3

The holidays have really screwed up training. Just decided to run up to a quick max. 160 was extremely easy, so I stupidly went up to 182 and missed it. Low snatch balance is taking snatch grip with bar behind the neck, squatting to bottom, then giving a little push up on the bar to lock out sitting as low as possible in the squat position, catching the bar back to shoulders in the bottom of the squat and repeat.

22kg jump to max attempt is pretty insane!

may have been more manageable with a 5-10kg jump though...

[crackyflipside]

22kg jump to max attempt is pretty insane!

may have been more manageable with a 5-10kg jump though...

Hahaha, yeah, but I was way too amped after the 160 went so easy.

[slowman41]

Hahaha, yeah, but I was way too amped after the 160 went so easy.

understandable, I've done it too haha

[crackyflipside]

Miserable today. Felt like I had a fever in the morning but later in the afternoon I spent the rest of the day on the toilet. So no training.

[slowman41]

Low snatch balance is taking snatch grip with bar behind the neck, squatting to bottom, then giving a little push up on the bar to lock out sitting as low as possible in the squat position, catching the bar back to shoulders in the bottom of the squat and repeat.

One of the guys I train with is russian, and was talking about this exercise. The medvedyev text I have has "press btn in squat, snatch grip" but he was saying a lot of times it was translated incorrectly, and it was actually supposed to be the exercise you described (he called it basically a push press from squat) although he said it varies by weight class.

The theory is that the lighter class athletes move around the bar, while the heavier classes move the bar. So a heavier class would press, while a lighter class would push-jerk, so-to-speak. Kind of interesting.

[crackyflipside]

Friday, July 8, 2011
Hang power snatch not moving feet: 50 x 3r x 2 / 60 x 2r x 3 / 70 x 1r / 80 x 1r [0.810 tons / 14 lifts][60% 4/2]
Power clean not moving feet: 80 x 2r x 3 / 90 x 2r / 95 x 2r x 3 [1.230 tons / 14 lifts][80% 3/2]
Front squat: 110 x 3r / 130 x 1r / 140 x 1r [0.600 tons / 5 lifts][90% 3/2]

Too tired to be able to front squat today. Most likely the couple days off threw off the squatting. The lighter weights in the snatch and not moving the feet was to correct technical issues. Coach said technique is made with light weights to apply to heavy weights. The issue in the snatch was to keep the bar closer to the body and explode more through the legs and really relax the arms in the pull. Both the snatches and cleans felt so easy today.

[slowman41]

Zyggy has that exercise too, when it says "w/o moving feet" does it mean your heels don't come off the ground, or just that you dont move them but can go up on toes a bit?

[crackyflipside]

Zyggy has that exercise too, when it says "w/o moving feet" does it mean your heels don't come off the ground, or just that you dont move them but can go up on toes a bit?

It's without moving the feet from your starting position or lifting feet off the platform, you can raise onto toes but never move feet. The point is to focus on the movement of the bar, when you don't move your feet it forces you to do perfect bar path or you miss it.

Saturday, July 9, 2011
Snatch: 50 x 3r x 2 / 60 x 3r x 2 / 70 x 3r x 2 / 75 x 1r [1.155 tons / 19 lifts][80% 3/2]
Clean and jerk: 85 x (1+1r)2r x 2 / 90 x (1+1r)2r / 95 x 1+1r x 3 [1.610 tons / 18 lifts][80% 3/1]
Back squat: 70 x 3r / 110 x 3r / 130 x 2r / 140 x 1r / 140 x 2r [1.220 tons / 11 lifts][80% 3/1]
Triceps extension: b x 10r

The weather sucked today. It had been raining all morning and the sun came out before we started lifting so it just got hot and humid as hell. My snatch technique was all messed up today. Clean and jerk technique felt great. Squat could have been better but it was not as hard as I thought it would be.

[someonefat]

whats your diet like right now with all that volume? Also what kind of techniques does the cuban guy recommend to help with recovery?

wish I had time to train twice a day-2 jobs 80 hour a week are brutal hard to get in just one training session- good stuff though

[crackyflipside]

whats your diet like right now with all that volume? Also what kind of techniques does the cuban guy recommend to help with recovery?

wish I had time to train twice a day-2 jobs 80 hour a week are brutal hard to get in just one training session- good stuff though

Regular diet, I take 2g vitamin c daily along with multi. Also drink 50-100g of supplemental protein from shakes daily on top of regular protein from eating. Only recovery he talks about is icing, cold water stuff, and sleep. We still foam roll and stretch.

[crackyflipside]

Sunday, July 10, 2011
Back squat: 70 x 6r / 120 x 6r x 4 [3.300 tons / 30 lifts][70% 4/6]

Just did a quick session today to make up for missing half of this week's sessions. Comparing this week to last week is kind of pointless because I missed a bunch of sessions. Anyways, here are the numbers.

Squat load last week: 15.800 tons / 148 lifts = 107kg (35% Back Squat, 65% Front Squat)
Competition load last week: 13.930 tons / 172 lifts = 81kg (34% Pulls, 31% CJ, 35% Snatch)

Squat load this week: 6.100 tons / 55 lifts = 111kg (90% Back Squat, 10% Front Squat)
Competition load this week: 4.805 tons / 65 lifts = 74kg (0% Pulls, 49% CJ, 51% Snatch)