I like the idea of training for a supertotal. I love strength and to me being strong means being strong in every major lift.

Two friends of mine are actually moving in that direction They are two powerlifters/strongman now working a lot on the olympic lifts.

The actual plan to do depends on your level of efficiency on the olympic lifts. That will determine how frequent you need to do these exercises as well as how you should train them at the moment (technical practice vs. training) as well as which assistance moves you should select.

What I told my friends is that at first they shouldn’t worry about building ‘specific-strength’, not before they are technically efficient in the full olympic lifts. Simply train to get strong even if it means continuing to do squats and deadlifs like a powerlifter (low bar squat with wider stance, higher hips deadlift). I feel that a lot of convert lose the advantage they have (being strong) by dropping what got them strong in the first place.

What they should do is:

Practice the full olympic lifts (I would focus mostly on the full squat variations, too many strong fellow do too much ‘‘power’’ variations of the lifts) until you become VERY technically efficient. Use olympic lifting assistance work to improve the key positions and strength/stability in these positions. Use the powerlifts to continue getting ‘‘overall strong’’

When you become so technically efficient that you ‘‘look like a competitive weightlifter’’ when lifting then you can begin to load more on the actual olympic lifts and switch to more ‘‘olympic liftining’’ style of squatting (high bar, narrower stance, more upright) and deadlift (lower hips).

The assistance lifts for the olympic lifts should be divided into 2 categories:

POSITION DRILLS (trained with moderate weights focusing oin postion not weight)

paused front squats

paused overhead squats

Snatch-grip deadlifts (with or without pauses)

clean or snatch pull from floor

strict press from a split position

WEAKNESS CORRECTION (trained for maximum speed of movement and precision)

*Normally a powerlifting covert is very strong from the floor but lack the explosiveness above the knees for the second pull

clean/snatch from blocks

clean/snatch from hang

jerk with a pause a the bottom of the dip

jerk from a half split position

snatch/clean pull from blocks or hang

Now, depending on your level of technical mastery he frequency of practice of olympic lifts will vary. At first it is best to do a variaton of the snatch and clean & jerk at every workout, to engrain the motor pattern. As you become more technically efficient you can focus on one lift per workout. It is possible to train both lifts in the same day 5-6 times a week at first because you will be practicing the lifts, not really training, which means using moderate weights.

Something like:

DAY 1

Snatch practice 20-30 minutes

Clean from blocks sets of 2-3 reps, moderate weight focusing on speed, 4-5 work sets

Snatch deadlift sets of 3 ramping to a heavy weight with perfect form

Snatch high pull from blocks just above knees sets of 2-3 very explosive, 4-5 sets

DAY 2

Clean & jerk practice 20-30 minutes

’‘Power*’’ snatch from blocks sets of 2-3 reps, moderate weight focusing on speed, 4-5 work sets

Paused front squat** sets of 3 ramping to a heavy weight with perfect form

Back squat 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1

*Here by power I mean catching in a half squat and pause at the catch position for 2 seconds

**I like to do front squats with the hands stapped to the bar to work on mobility

DAY 3

Snatch practice 20-30 minutes

Jerk from half split* sets of 2-3 reps, moderate weight focusing on speed, 4-5 work sets

Snatch pull pause below knees sets of 3 ramping to a heavy weight with perfect form

Bench press 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1

*Do your dip in a half split position and move into a full split when you move under the bar

DAY 4

Clean & jerk practice 20-30 minutes

Snatch from hang sets of 2-3 reps, moderate weight focusing on speed, 4-5 work sets

Strict press from split position ses of 3 reps, ramp up to a heavy weight with solid form

Back squat 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1

DAY 5

Snatch practice 20-30 minutes

’‘Power*’’ Clean from blocks sets of 2-3 reps, moderate weight focusing on speed, 4-5 work sets

Paused overhead squats sets of 3 reps focusing on perfect from 4-5 sets

Snatch high pull from hang just above knees sets of 2-3 very explosive, 4-5 sets

*Here by power I mean catching in a half squat and pause at the catch position for 2 seconds

DAY 6

Snatch practice 20-30 minutes

Clean & jerk praxtice 20-30 minutes

Deadlift 1x 5 ,1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1

Bench press 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1

DAY 7

Snatch practice 20-30 minutes

Clean & jerk praxtice 20-30 minutes