Olympic weightlifting can be a difficult thing to train for.

How often should you do the lifts, how do you balance strength work and accessories, and how do you improve your speed?

It can be a lot to manage, so I figured I’d share my 5-Day Olympic Weightlifting Split that I use in our OlyStrong Team! This split has helped me train multiple athletes to compete at the state, national, and international level. Feel free to try it yourself and let me know what you think!

Day 1: Volume Olympic Lifts

Day one we are going to do the highest skill work before we can accumulate too much fatigue from a week of training. I like to do either on of my favorite On-The-Minute Progressions for the snatch, clean, and sometimes clean and jerk, or 3-5 sets of doubles or triples. Aiming for anywhere between 8-15 total working weight reps. This allows us to get a high volume of skill work in for the olympic lifts, and you can modify this to be any variation you like. I then finish the session with some upper-body pulling and core exercises like pullups, rows, and plank holds.

Day 2: Skills and Strength

Day two will be focused on light technique work for one of the olympic lifts followed by a heavy emphasis on strength work. You can read more about this approach in this article here!

This is typically a drill or variation that focuses on speed, though the focus can shift depending on the needs of the athlete.

Then we shift over to focus on strength work, focusing on one squat exercise, one press exercise, and sometimes one pull exercise. I almost always follow our 12-Week Squat Program inside the OlyStrong team, but if you’re a beginner then you can’t go wrong with 5x5 for the press and squat, and 5x2 for the pull.

We then finish the day with some lower-body squatting and pulling, and upper-pressing accessories like split squats, single leg rdl’s, and arnold presses.

Day 3: Power and Speed

Day three is somewhat of an easier day as the volume is significantly reduced, however, the intensity is somewhat higher.

We are going to take a power variation of the snatch and clean and jerk such as a double pause power snatch or tempo power clean, and either build to a moderately heavy weight for 3-5 sets or build up to a heavy top single and end on that. The goal here is to get the body moving fast and snappy to recover from the last two high-volume days. These powers can also be done in complexes, however, I try to keep the total reps per set under four.

We then finish the session with some light core work as well as any upper or lower muscle group area that was neglected earlier in the week.

Rest Day

I highly recommend taking a rest day after day three, maybe doing some light cardio or stretching, but generally non-stressful work is the goal here. Allow yourself to recover from the week and attack the next two days of training hard!

Day 4: Heavy Olympic Lifts

Day four is a big day for the Olympic lifts!

We’ll take heavy singles, doubles, or triples in the snatch, clean, and jerk, or variations of the Olympic lifts. This does not always mean we are maxing out the Olympic lifts, but it may mean we are accumulating volume at our heaviest weights for the week. I may have someone take a heavy single each week, building in RPE, or I may have someone take 4 singles on week one, and each week drop one rep and increase the weight by a couple of kilos. If I use variations in the Olympic lifts on day three, I will typically do the full variation instead of the power variation. I will also often use Variation Complexes to make sure the lifter is not losing out on doing the competition lifts while still getting the benefits of improved technique from variations.

I usually do not include accessories on this day.

Day 5: Skills and Strength

Day five is similar to day two.

We start with one lighter olympic lift drill for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, typically focusing on one of the other two lifts that we did not use on day two. Then we’ll shift focus to one squat exercise, typically front squats as they are easier to recover from than back squats which sets you up for the next week, one press exercise, and one pull exercise, usually opposite the pull variation done on day two.

If you are a beginner and followed the 5x5 method for day two, then I would recommend doing 1x5 heavy on this day. Otherwise, the programming in my 12-Week Squat Program is my go-to.

We then finish up day five with some accessory work focused on either squatting or lower body pulling, upper pressing or pulling, and core work.

Rest Day

Resting after day five is absolutely imperative to allow you to feel recovered going into the next week of training. I like this day to be a complete rest day, with the only exercise being a walk once or twice that day.

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

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!

And if you’re looking for a weightlifting program based on this exact training split, then check out a FREE WEEK TRIAL of my 5-Day OlyStrong Team at the link below!