Maximum Load

Frank Rothwell\’s 1972 Olympic Weightlifting Flashback

Coaches Dave Spitz and Alex Krychev with Stephen

Stephen has some big numbers on his lifts – 230 kg back squat, 145kg Power Clean, 175kg front squat and 150kg split jerk – amazing numbers for a 17 year old. He is hitting 54′-55′ in his throws and should hit 57′-58′ in January, putting him in good position to close in on 60′+. He’s hitting 150′ to 160′ in the discus as well. My son Christopher, now at University of Texas, was a senior when Steve was a freshman and we are all happy to see what happens when you dedicate yourself like he has.  Stephen used my son as a role model and it shows the power of having good role models to help a young man develop. Stephen has a modified lifting regimen, not all Olympic lifts but many of the auxiliary lifts are used 4 times per week. There is a tremendous focus on leg strength since that is the primary driver of success in the throws together with a good stretch reflex.

This is a great summary of the “Bulgarian Method” which was designed by Coach Abadzhiev and put Bulgaria “on the map” as a dominant player in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting.

http://everything2.com/title/the+Bulgarian+method

- Coach Krychev

This is a program designed by my coach which I use to prepare competitive lifters.

http://csanutrition.com/guides_training.htm

- Coach Krychev

I’m excited to host the CSA Nutrition blog. This blog is going to focus primarily on Olympic Weightlifting with an emphasis on training, technique and some of the auxiliary lifts used to support the snatch and the clean and jerk. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a former three-time World Championship Olympic Weightlifting medalist and Silver Medalist from the 1972 Munich Olympics. My coach during my prime was Ivan Abadzhiev, one of the elite coaches in Olympic history, the former Bulgarian Weightlifting Coach responsible for 12 Olympic Champions, 57 World Champions and 64 European Champions and author of the famous “Bulgarian Method of Training”. From time to time, we will do live blog casts with Coach Abadzhiev as he is still very active and serves on the Board of my new company, CSA Nutrition, Inc.

I still coach on a daily basis and over the next few weeks, I will introduce my team to you and most likely use them to demonstrate technique.  Thanks for visiting and I welcome you to our site.

Alex