Best 5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program
Olympic Weightlifting programs are somewhat of a mystery to most people.
But there are only a few real things that need to be considered when writing an Olympic weightlifting program.
In this article I’ll break down the 5-day training split I use in our 5-Day OlyStrong Program as well as a few ways to modify it to fit your goals.
The Split
The training split I use was first developed by my coach and mentor Glenn Pendlay, and I have since adjusted it as I’ve found certain things to be more effective.
The training week looks like this:
Monday: High-Volume Olympic Lifts
Tuesday: Skills and Strength
Wednesday: Moderate Powers or Complexes
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Heavy Olympic Lifts
Saturday: Skills and Strength
Let’s dive deep into each day.
Monday: High-Volume Olympic Lifts
This day has the highest volume of Olympic lifts, and consequently is usually the lightest day of Olympic lifts, but not always. I rarely change the exercise selection on this day as I’ve found it useful to always keep at least one day of competition snatch and clean & jerk per week, however, you can include variations or complexes on this day if you so desire.
When it comes to volume work, I usually prefer to program one of my On-The-Minute Progressions, however if you are not interested in using OTM Work, then you can do more traditional volume work anywhere for 3-6 sets of 2-3 reps from 70-85% should do the trick. P.S. If you start lighter with more sets on week one, and each week remove a set or two and increase the weight, you can’t really go wrong.
While we do the majority of our strength work on Tuesday and Saturday, for the sake of time and fatigue, I’ve found placing Snatch Pulls or Snatch Deadlifts on this workout to be most effective.
Here’s what a workout might look like:
Snatch: 10 Min EMOM at 70%, 2x1@75%, 2x1@80%
Clean & Jerk: 10 Min EMOM at 70%, 2x1@75%, 2x1@80%
Snatch Pull: 3-5x2 at 90%
Accessories: 3 Sets of DB Rows, DB RDL’s, and Weighted Planks
Tuesday: Skills & Strength
The Skills & Strength day is almost exclusively dedicated to strength development, however, I usually start the session with a light technique drill or primer specific to the athlete’s weaknesses. If an athlete struggles with balance in the split jerk, then it might be Jerk from Split like in the example below. If they struggle with speed under the bar in the snatch, then it might be Tall Snatches instead.
After the technique primer, we will then move into the strength portion of the workout.
For this day I recommend prioritizing the Push Press and Back Squat as the two main strength exercises as we will have two days to recover before our next heavy Olympic lifting session, and these exercises are inherently heavier and harder to recover from. One thing I’d keep in mind is to prioritize your weak points first. If you struggle with leg strength, then squat first. If you struggle with shoulder strength, do push presses first. This way we are the most fresh and feel strong and are able to push harder on the area that needs the most work. As far as rep schemes go, I almost always follow the exact programming in my 12-Week Squat Program (for both squats and presses).
Here’s what a workout might look like:
Jerk From Split: 4x5 reps building in weight
Push Press: Heavy Double followed by 3x6 at 70-80% of your heavy double
Back Squat: Heavy Double followed by 3x6 at 70-80% of your heavy double
Accessories: 3 sets of DB Bench, Split Squats, and Back Extensions
Wednesday: Powers or Complexes
This day is the most variable from athlete to athlete, but I’ve found that it’s almost always a good idea to stick with power variations of the Olympic lifts as your legs will be pretty sore and weak from yesterday’s squats. Along with this, I recommend avoiding going overhead with jerks or accessories on this day as the shoulders will be pretty fatigued.
With that being said, a normal workout here will typically be power snatch, power clean, and some accessories. For the power snatch and power cleans I typically perform 3-5 doubles about 5% heavier than our base percentage on Monday’s session.
Another option besides just plain power snatch and power cleans is to take the opportunity to work on specific weaknesses in your technique by using a variation complex, which you can read more about in this article. For example, if you struggle with speed past the knee, you could do a Pause ATK Power Snatch + Power Snatch complex, and the same for the power cleans. Or maybe you tend to rush your pull, so you could do a Tempo Power Snatch + Power Snatch complex. Either way, variation complexes are a great option to put here for some moderate-intensity work.
Here’s what a workout might look like:
Tempo Power Snatch + Power Snatch: 5x at 75-80%
Tempo Power Clean + Power Clean: 5x at 75-80%
Accessories: 3 sets of Rear Delt Fly’s, Hamstring Curls, and Ab Wheels
Friday: Heavy Olympic Lifting Day
If you’ve followed weightlifting for any period of time, you’ll know it is a common tradition to go heavy on Fridays. I’ve found it useful to have one heavy day of training in most programs every week. It gives athletes something to look forward to and can be a great opportunity to get hyped and set PRs.
Depending on the phase of training and the needs of the athlete, I will usually have athletes build up to a heavy triple, double, or single snatch and clean and jerk. I might also include some sort of variation to build to a heavy top set.
For example, if an athlete struggles with making jerks under fatigue, then we may do a grit complex of 2 Cleans + 1 Jerk with the goal of hitting a max for the complex. If an athlete needs more practice with the overhead squat, then I may program a Snatch + OHS to hit a max on.
Variations can be a great way to kill two birds with one stone. By choosing your variation carefully, we can effectively limit the weight that is used by choosing a harder variation like power position snatches, or push the weight by choosing a variation that the lifter can go heavier on like block snatches. We can also work on specific weaknesses of the athlete by choosing the variation that the athlete would benefit most from.
Along with the Olympic lifts, I also recommend doing clean pulls or clean deadlifts on this day as well, anywhere from 3-5 sets of 2 about 10-20lbs heavier than your last set of clean and jerks should do the trick. I typically don’t program any accessories on this workout because frankly, most athletes will skip them, and it’s nice to have a day where there’s nothing else to do besides lift heavy weights.
Now, it’s not always a great idea to have athletes maxing out every week, so I will frequently increase the weight each week by prescribing a level of effort for the day. An example of this would be to work up to a “moderate” weight on week one, a “moderately heavy” weight on week two, a “heavy” weight on week three, and a “max” weight on week four before starting a new training block.
Here’s what a workout may look like:
Snatch: Build to a heavy single
2 Cleans + 1 Jerk: Build to a heavy weight for the complex
Clean Pull: 5x2 @90% of best clean
Saturday: Skills & Strength
This day follows the same structure as Tuesday’s workout, though I use different exercises.
First, we’ll perform a light technique primer specific to the athlete’s weak points that is different from the one performed on Tuesday for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. After the primer we’ll move into the strength work with front squats and strict presses as the main focus, following the Top-Set Drop-Set Method I outline in this article. These are lighter and therefore easier to recover from, and with only one day of rest before the next week of training, are best placed here rather than on Tuesday.
Just like I mentioned in the Tuesday section, leg-strength-limited lifters should squat first, and overhead-strength-limited athletes should press first to ensure the most energy is directed to the area that needs the most focus. I almost always include more pressing, squatting, and core work in the accessories.
Here’s what a workout may look like:
Tall Snatch: 4x3 reps building in weight
Strict Press: Heavy Double followed by 3x6 at 70-80% of your heavy double
Front Squat: Heavy Double followed by 3x6 at 70-80% of your heavy double
Accessories: 3 sets of Incline DB Bench, Walking Lunges, and Weighted Tempo GHD Sit-Ups
Hopefully, you found this article helpful and at the very least got a few ideas for your own training program. If you’d like to see what this looks like for yourself, then make sure to check out a free week of my OlyStrong 5-Day Program here!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or ask in my free discord here and you can even drop a video in the #form-checks channel for a form check!
By the way, I’ve got a free beginner weightlifting guide and a 6-week program! If you’re new to the olympic lifts, then check it out here!