Olympic weightlifting and bodybuilding are often thought of as opposites.

In fact, many weightlifters and coaches STILL believe that bodybuilding will make you too stiff and immobile for the Olympic lifts, and completely write it off!

The key is to find the right training split that allows you to push the bodybuilding work as hard as you like WITHOUT letting it affect your Olympic weightlifting training.

After years of trying, I’ve finally found the PERFECT 3-day split for weightlifting and bodybuilding! P.S. if you want to check out my 8-Week OlyBuilding program, you can get there here!

Who Does This Work For?

This works best for those competent in the lifts who are not particularly interested in competing in Olympic weightlifting, or for competitive lifters in an off-season or needing a break from serious training.

Whether you are just interested in switching things up in your training, or you want to take a step back from the grind of hard weightlifting training, or you just want to get jacked for the summer, this split will work GREAT for you.

If you are a competitive lifter, or a beginner, this split may not be the best thing for you. The frequency of the lifts is VERY low, which is the biggest difference between this and most weightlifting programs.

The Split:

On Day 1, we’ll focus on snatch and legs. For snatches, I like to do an on-the-minute progression, sometimes with heavy singles after, sometimes not. After that we’ll move on to a moderately heavy squat triple, double, or single, then drop setting for 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This can be done on a normal squat, or modified to a leg press, hack squat, belt squat, or smith machine squat, depending on your goals. After that, I like to do some form of single-leg squatting like split squats, lunges, or step-ups for 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps. Finally, we’ll finish up with 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps on the leg extension to really finish off whatever steam the quads had left.

On Day 2, we’ll focus on jerks and upper body pressing. Because our legs are so fatigued, the main focus is on jerks, as you’ll learn how to be fast and make jerks under fatigue as you would after a heavy clean and jerk. I use the same on-the-minute progression from the snatches on day 1, and sometimes hit a few heavy singles afterward. Then, its time to move on to a heavy pressing exercise such as bench press, overhead press, incline press, or push press for a moderately heavy triple, double, or single, before drop setting for 3 sets of 10-15 reps on the same exercise you just did. After that, we’ll move on to a dumbbell or cable pressing exercise like DB bench, cable press, or DB shoulder press for 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps. Then we’ll finish up with a tricep isolation exercise like a skull crusher or katana extension for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps.

On Day 3, we’ll focus on cleans and upper body pulling. Because are arms are fatigued, we need to do a lift that requires zero arm strength, so the clean is our primary focus. We’ll use the same on-the-minute progression from days 1 and 2, then possibly take some heavy singles. After that we’ll move on to a heavy pulling exercise like a barbell row, t-bar row, or weighted pullup for 3 sets of 6-12 reps. Then we’ll move to either a cable or dumbbell pullover for 2-4 sets of 10-20 reps. (This is probably my favorite back exercise for weightlifters as it directly contributes to keeping the bar close in the first and second pull). After that we’ll do either a vertical or horizontal single-arm row such as a dumbbell row or single-arm pulldown. for 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps. We’ll then finish off with biceps, 3-6 sets of 10-20 reps with either a cable, dumbbell, or preacher curl.

Implementation

With the training split outlined above, you should have an appropriate balance of bodybuilding and weightlifting, and should never feel like one affects the other. The downsides to the split are the lack of posterior chain focus, but this can be done with an optional 4th day, or substituted in on the leg day, or switched bias from anterior to posterior chain every 4-8 weeks.

If you want to include variety in your bodybuilding, you can switch up exercise selection, rep ranges, or tempos. You can also use various intensity methods like myo-reps, drop sets, or forced reps.

If you need to shift focus on the Olympic lifts, you can try using different variations like pause, hang or block lifts. You can also implement phases in your training by adding or removing reps, and increasing weight as needed.

Hopefully, this clarified some things for you and maybe even gave you a lightbulb moment with your training. If so, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and ask any questions!

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!

If you want to follow this program, check out my 8-Week OlyBuilding Program!