Strength coaches have long debated whether powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting methods are better for athletic performance enhancement. It’s a bit of a silly debate because most athletes are neither powerlifters nor Olympic weightlifters, so there’s no need to be married to one method or the other.
And while the Olympic lifts build power and explosiveness that carries over to athletic performance, they’re hard to learn, coach and perform. I’ll be the first to admit that I have limited experience with the Clean and Snatch. Pair that with the fact that I work primarily with baseball players (who are poor candidates for the Olympic lifts) and I simply don’t coach the Olympic lifts very often, if at all.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get athletes more explosive without the Olympic lifts. One of my favorite ways to do that is with the Dynamic Effort Method.
Plucked from the playbooks of strength training pioneers such as Vladimir Zatsiorsky and Louie Simmons, the Dynamic Effort Method teaches athletes to lift submaximal weights with maximal speed, leading to tremendous gains in power.
My latest article for Stack.com shows you exactly how to incorporate the Dynamic Effort Method into your training. Check it out:
