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Starter Program for Catalyst C atalyst Athletics Online Online Workouts by Greg Gre g Everett
Starter Program Program fo r Catalyst Catalyst Athletics Online Online Workout s Greg Everet Everet t | Training Training Programs | May 21 2012 The f ollowing is is a 4-week t raining raining program program that can be used to get st arted with the t raining raining program post ed on this website. website. This is is a goo d cycle cycle t o st art with if you have not previously been doing the Olympic lifts frequently in your t raining. raining. Ab work should be do ne every training day, along with an y supplemental wo rk, e.g. e.g. back extensions, upper body beach work, work, etc that you want t o do. IfIf yo u plan plan to do the co nditioning port port ion of the program, add brief brief conditioning workouts 2 t imes imes per week aft er the workout s below. Keep them to about 5 minutes or less and generally stay away from leg-intensive exercises.
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Please Please post questions and comments below to help other readers. Week 1 Choo se weights by f eel. Use a single single weight f or all prescribed prescribed sets. Weights Weights sho uld be challeng challenging ing this week, but but comfo rtably below below max ef fo rts. Monday Clean & Jerk – 5 x 2+1 Clean Pull – 3 x 3 Back Back Squat – 3 x 5 Wednesday Snatch – 5 x 2 Snatch Pull – 3 x 3 Front Front Squat – 3 x 3 Thursday Power Snatch Snatch – 5 x 2 Power Clean & Power Jerk – 5 x 2(1+1) Overhead Overhead Squat – 3 x 3 Saturday Snatch – heavy single Clean & Jerk – heavy single Front Squat – heavy single Week 2 Use same or similar similar weights as w eek 1 with t his increased increased volume. Monday Clean & Jerk – 5 x 3+1 Clean Pull – 4 x 3 Back Back Squat – 5 x 5 Wednesday Snatch – 5 x 3 Snatch Pull – 4 x 3 Front Front Squat – 5 x 3 Thursday Power Snatch Snatch – 5 x 3 Power Clean & Power Jerk – 5 x 3(1+1) Overhead Overhead Squat – 5 x 3 Saturday
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Snatch – 6 x 1 Clean & Jerk – 6 x 1 Front Squat – 3 x 1 Week 3 Up the weights fro m last week as you’re able to. Monday Clean & Jerk – 5 x 1 Clean Pull – 3 x 3 Back Squat – 5 x 3 Tuesday Power Snatch – 5 x 3 Hang Clean – 5 x 2 Wednesday Snatch – 5 x 1 Snatch Pull – 3 x 3 Front Squat – 5 x 2 Thursday Hang Snatch – 5 x 3 Power Clean & Power Jerk – 5 x 1+1 Overhead Squat – 5 x 1 Saturday Snatch – heavy single Clean & Jerk – heavy single Front Squat – heavy single Week 4 Up the weights fro m last week as you’re able to. Monday Clean & Jerk – 5 x 1 Clean Pull – 3 x 2 Back Squat – 5 x 2 Tuesday Power Snatch – 5 x 2 Power Clean – 5 x 2 Wednesday Snatch – 5 x 1 Snatch Pull – 3 x 2 Front Squat – 3 x 2 Thursday Hang Snatch – 5 x 2 Power Clean & Power Jerk – 4 x 1+1 Overhead Squat – 3 x 1 Saturday Snatch – heavy single Clean & Jerk – heavy single Front Squat – heavy single Greg Everett is the o wner of Catalyst Athletics, publisher of The Performance Menu and author of Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches. Find him on Faceboo k at www.facebook.com/GregEverettCA and sign up fo r his free newslett er here. Sign up fo r our free newslett er to get training tips and stay up to dat e on Catalyst At hletics, and get a FREE issue of t he Perf ormance Menu journal.
76 Comments Robert 1 | 2012-05-21 Coach, thanks f or post ing this. Could you clarify what exactly should be done f or t he "+" prescriptions (2+1, 2(1+1), 1+1, etc.)? Thank you.
Greg Everet t 2 | 2012-05-21 Tho se numbers represent, in order, the exercises in the set . For example, clean and jerk 2+1 means 2 cleans followed by 1 jerk each set. 2(1+1) for CJ would mean each set is clean, jerk, clean, jerk - 1 of each but 2 times through. Jared ray 3 | 2012-05-21 Looks great, coach!! Just t o make sure, when you say "5x3", do yo u mean 5 sets of 3 reps? That 's always conf used me Greg Everet t Jared - Yes, 5 x 3 is 5 set s of 3 reps.
4 | 2012-05-21
Danny 5 | 2012-05-21 thanks for posting. Yes 5x3 means 5 sets of 3 reps. You may also see it written 225x3x5. It means the exact same thing but it includes the load. That conf uses a lot people Matt 6 | 2012-05-21 Thanks Greg! Do you consider Pull ups to be "beach work" or supplemental? For a super heavyweight, If I can knock out 5-7 strict pull ups, should that be a daily, 2x weekly, or never supplemental act ivity? Maybe its worth generalizing t hat once a lift er can do "X" pull ups, its not that helpful t o keep doing them, or do pull ups not co rrelate well to weightlif ting...done w/ my ADD rambling semi quest ion. Greg Everet t 7 | 2012-05-21 Matt - I like pull-ups - I'd say do t hem 2-3x/wk and just knock out maybe 30 t ot al on one day, 40 to tal o n anot her day, staying away f rom f ailed reps. They're only beach work if you do them as close-grip chins to fo cus on your guns. Confused 8 | 2012-05-21 I hope I don't sound like a total noob when I say this, but ummm, where is the conditioning part of this program? Or is it something that we have to add in ourselves? Thanks fo r posting t his up Greg. Rikke 9 | 2012-05-21 Brilliant! I've tried some of your other workouts, but as I'm (obviously) new to o-lifting, I've had "issues" with t he loads, as I 1) don't really know my 1RMs, and 2) my technique (on f ull lifts) still lacks so much that the prescribed loading on fragment exercises doesn't really feel challenging enough. Will try to stick with t his one and get my lift s bett er developed! Confused: I imagine you should manage the co nditioning stuff , yourself ;) Greg Everet t 10 | 2012-05-21 Confused - In the intro, I mean the conditioning portion of the site wo rkouts, not this program. For t his program, you need t o co ok up yo ur own. Trapp 11 | 2012-05-22 When you say use the same weight, do you mean fo r the day or f or t he week? Thanks Billy 12 | 2012-05-23 I want to do this routine plus Mainpage CrossFit to get in some conditioning. I am also going to be doing some running for an upcoming half marathon and I have BJJ practice 4 thimes a week. Should I run it as written or scale it back some? Thanks! Greg Everet t 13 | 2012-05-23 Trapp - Use the same weight for all sets of a given exercise, e.g. 5 sets of 3 snatch all at the same weight. Greg Everet t 14 | 2012-05-23 Billy - You're not going to make much progress. Way too much shit going on. Why don't you st ick w BJJ and running f or your conditioning, and this fo r your strength/power work? Why add CF on top o f it ? Billy 15 | 2012-05-23 A lot o f really strong guys I know do CrossFit...one of t hem has a 350# squat and cand deadlift almost 400# . I like your prog ram because it do esn't have any bench...I used to bench a lot (225), but it's no t very functional right? Greg Everet t 16 | 2012-05-23 Billy - Are they doing everything else you plan on doing in addition to CF? Is it the CF that made them strong, or t he lift ing weights t hat so metimes is done with CF that made them strong? Are 350/400# big lift s fo r strength athletes? Leon Greg, Thanks for this and all the great info yo u put o ut f or f ree.
17 | 2012-05-24
Michael
18 | 2012-05-24
I love this program and am just about to go o ut fo r day 3. But I wonder if you could share some tho ughts on so meone doing the power snatch when the f ull snatch is still not a well-engrained movement pattern. I'm pretty new to the Oly lifts and I still feel like about 50% of the t ime even if I have the intent of doing a snatch, I end up catching it above parallel in a power position (it's not a flexibility issue, my OHS position is very comfortable at rock bo tt om). Would it be more helpful f or someone like me t o instead o f training power snatches, just do more snatching in order to get the proper moto r pattern down f or catching it at the bot to m? Steve Pan Michael -
19 | 2012-05-24
You will be doing enough snatching and cleaning in the program that you will be okay doing the po wer versions on t he 3rd day. I believe the intent of that day is to have a slight back off during the week to recover a litt le for t he Saturday workout . As fo r receiving the bar, you shouldn't be hit t ing rock bot t om as you lock out th e bar. You want t o receive the bar at its highest point and use the rest o f t hat squat t o st abilize the bar over head. You will have to t ry to meet t he bar lower and lower as the weights go up. You will have to dial back the pull slightly on your warm ups so you won't be power snatching the beginning but meeting the bar high and squatt ing under it should be o kay. Just continue to wo rk on pulling yourself under into t hat squat. Michael Thanks Steve, t hat's helpful advice
20 | 2012-05-24
Greg Everet t 21 | 2012-05-24 MIchael - What Steve said. If you're really struggling, instead of power snatches, you can do high or mid-hang snatches at t he same weight yo u'd be doing power snatches with, focusing on pulling down under the bar. This will keep things light on those days as desired and let you wo rk on one o f your weaknesses. That said, even with po wer snatches, you should be focusing on pulling down hard and punching under the bar the same way you do in the snatch. Billy 22 | 2012-05-26 Your are probably right...I'm doing t oo much. I will dial th e CF back to only f ive days a week. Mags 23 | 2012-05-28 5 metcons a week is still probably t oo much -- just my t wo cent s. Greg -- am I to understand t hat o n week two we do 5 sets of 3 cleans + 1 jerk on Monday? Thanks. Greg Everet t Mags -
24 | 2012-05-28
Yes, that 's correct. Alena 25 | 2012-05-28 Curious, I have programed back squats twice a week, and over head and front once a week. Are you front squatt ing twice a week to wo rk on the cleans catching in the ho le, or the explosiveness t o catch and drive? Why not the heavy back squats twice a week? * Billy - still to o much? Greg Everet t 26 | 2012-05-29 Alena - More front squat s because typically peop le new to weight lift ing don't have adequate quad and trunk strength t o squat upright as they need to . It's meant t o begin shift ing their strength t o be more in tune with weightlift ing rather t han more general lift ing. Aust in Is t he "heavy single" a 1RM?
27 | 2012-06-21
Steve Pan 28 | 2012-06-21 The Heavy Single will be a 1RM for the day. It will be the heaviest you can go on that given day. brandon green 29 | 2012-06-27 Nice article but i must be missing some things. Where's the conditioning program that goes with this ? Why abdominal work every day ? Brandon Green Kathleen 30 | 2012-07-04 Hi, I've been using Starting Strength since Feb and was able to follow a pretty strict schedule with rest days. My job has changed and now am not able to schedule days off between wo rkouts. I'm looking for a something new and was hoping to try t his program. Is this program still goo d if I have to schedule diff erently? (ie 2 on, 2 of f, 3 o n) Steve Pan Kathleen -
31 | 2012-07-04
The program is planned to give you rest at certain times. You should be able to adjust it as
needed but I would say to listen t o yo ur body and see how you respond and adjust f rom there. Guy 32 | 2012-07-05 Coach I have pain in my shoulders and drop the bar though the weight is low what can I do to improve? Greg Everet t 33 | 2012-07-06 Guy - You need t o f igure out what t he problem with your shoulders is before you can figure out how t o f ix it. Guy 34 | 2012-07-07 Ok than cause I used to shoulder press and work on shoulders no problem but ohs/snatchs hurt sometimes thanks you and guy is my name just saying Oskar 35 | 2012-07-07 Hi yea like guy said I drop t he weight at bot to m tho ugh its light is it my flexability and wat could do I do Amanda 36 | 2012-07-18 When there is more than 1 rep per set are you supposed to cont rol it o n the way down then reset and do anot her rep or can you drop it f rom the t op (guiding it do wn, nothing crazy)? Alyssa Sulay Amanda -
37 | 2012-07-19
When you are doing snatches, cleans and/or jerks dropping it from the top and guiding it down is ok. With pulls and deadlift s you should control it on t he way down. Mel 38 | 2012-07-24 Greg, about to ramp on with t he above program prior t o f ollowing your main site program, from my oly garage set up in a small town by the beach in Australia. Quick Q - would it be too much to program in a sand dune hill sprint sessions once or twice a week in addition to some chins et c. I'm able to split sessions every t raining day when required. As per previous comments thank you for making your programming available online. Greg Everet t Mel -
39 | 2012-07-24
That should be fine. Patrick 40 | 2012-07-24 Greg, I am new to your site, but like what I see. I am not so sure about what t o do with supplemental exercises or beach work. How many exercises, what bo dy groups, what should the set/rep range be? Also what is the benef it t o do ing this, is it strength o r size? Greg Everet t Patrick -
41 | 2012-07-26
Add th at st uf f as needed. It may no t be. Def initely ab/lower back work each training day. If you f eel like you need t o add some size t o yo ur upper body, add some lift s in that vein, 35 set s of 8-12 reps, 1-3 exercises. If you ne ed lower bo dy size, you can add some SLDL, good mornings, weighted lunges and/or add extra higher volume squat sets (e.g. 2-4 sets of 8-10 reps) aft er your normal squats. Tyler 42 | 2012-07-26 Deadlifts - Do you believe they are necessary with this program? - How can you incorporate t hem into the program? Jonathon 43 | 2012-08-03 Greg, I've just started weightlifting at 37 years old. I've had some coaching and plan to go back when f inances and time permits. In t he meant ime, I have my garage set- up. Would you recommend for someone at my age- where learning curve is longer, recovery not as quick, to fo cus on just learning the snatch? Or is there a cross over benefit of working on the snat ch and clean/jerk at t he same time? If I should fo cus just o n t he snatch, how would you modify t he starter program? James 44 | 2012-08-04 Greg - T hanks for t he "intro" program. I've recently decided to transition t o the olympic lift s from t he "power" lift s. At t his point st rength in the lift s is not a concern of mine, only technique. I'm having difficulty with the receiving position of the clean (finding the groove without shattering a clavicle). Any suggestions? Also, any suggestions regarding improving the 2nd/3rd pulls in the lifts (I conventional DL 465lbs at 148lbs, but snatch with 185 puts me t o shame!). Thank you Joe
45 | 2012-08-05
Hey Greg and thanks fo r this intro. I have been doing crossfit fo r quite some time but f or the upcoming mont hs I want t o get a lot st ronger so t hinking about changing the workout s. Im thinking about fo llowing this program and then move o ver to the daily workout s. However I wonder if it is t oo much to also incorporate st ronglift 5x5 program (one of the excercises per day)? Would that be beneficial or is it best t o just st ick to t he workout s posted here for best strength gains? Greg Everet t Jonathan -
46 | 2012-08-06
You should be able to manage this as-is. No need to only work on one lift at a time. Travis 47 | 2012-08-09 Thanks fo r all of this great info rmation Greg. I was wondering, do yo u t hink it is beneficial/necessary for a novice weightlifter who has never done Olympic lifts before, to focus on building strength with basic compound lifts (ie. Squats, Presses, Deadlifts) prior to att empting this starter program? Jamie 48 | 2012-08-13 What wo uld you say the general rest period bet ween sets is? Particularly on t he 5x1 etc. Program loo ks great i'm excited t o st art t omorrow. Steve Pan Jamie -
49 | 2012-08-13
You should rest at least 2 minutes between sets o r until you f eel fresh enough t o t ake the next lift. Try not t o go overboard and focus on making every lift goo d. Greg Everet t Travis -
50 | 2012-08-15
It's goo d to have a reasonable base with t hat st uff but t here's no magic threshold you need to reach. You'll be squatt ing and puling anyway so it 's not as if you won't be doing strength work. Ant on Viberg 51 | 2012-08-16 Hey! First; t hanks fo r the great routine f or us beginners and second, what do es Power Clean & Power Jerk – 5 x 2(1+1) mean? I'm curious abo ut t he (1+1) Alyssa Sulay Ant on -
52 | 2012-08-16
The 1+1 means that you do 1 power clean + 1 power jerk. So when it says 5X2 (1+1) it just means to do 5 set s of 1 power clean + 1 Power Jerk at you r working weight . Johnny 53 | 2012-08-21 Thanks fo r this. I have fo llowed some o f your programs and have worked up to a body weight snatch at 185 and a clean and jerk to 255. Would you say that I am still a beginner and can I use this template but go by percentages or stay with it as is. I want t o st art o ver and fo cus strictly on f orm but no t go t o f ancy adding lift s. I currently only snatch,fs,squat,snatch f rom t he hip, clean and jerk, jerk f or t he hip. Thanks f or any input. Also I t end to dive on all my lift s and it drives me crazy. My power snat ch is pushing 225 and I don't think it should be like that . Greg Everet t Johnny -
54 | 2012-08-24
Yes I'd st ill consider you a beginner. You can use t his templat e as-is, no %s nee ded. You're bett er off going by feel at t his stage anyway. Just be careful with pulls not to go t oo heavy - correct posture, balance and speed. Johnny Thanks Greg f or t he response
55 | 2012-08-25
James S. 56 | 2012-08-27 Just want ed t o say thanks fo r posting t his great starter program. Aft er leaving CrossFit programming to start your Oly cycles I'm amazed at the gains t hat can be made when you slow things down. I'm itching to finish this last week up and get going with t he Strength by Feel cycle. Thanks! Miguel From Spain, thanks for the article.
57 | 2012-08-28
Shawn 58 | 2012-09-06 Coach, thanks for the programming! I've CFing since December with some exposure to oly lift s, can I jump right into the main programming or sould I run a mont h of intro t o t ighen up technique? If i'm having diff iculty with a movement should I post video in comments o r the fo rum portion o f t he site? Cheers! Shawn
Steve Pan Shawn -
59 | 2012-09-06
It wo uld be goo d to run through this starter program befo re you jump into the main programing. Posting in the f orum would also be t he best way t o get some feedback on your lift s. Tim 60 | 2012-09-08 Hey, just completed Week 1 of this program, and have to tell you I'm loving it so far. I've been a CrossFit athlete and co ach fo r 3 years or so no w and have been constantly frustrat ed by my plateau in Oly lift ing. Already not iced a huge diff erence just by shift ing fo cus ont o O ly lift ing and fitt ing CF metco ns around my lift ing. PR's on bo th lift s already at t he end of week 1 (76kg snatch 94kg c&j.) had plenty more in the t ank but t rying to be patient and stick to a plan. Looking forward to posting some BIG pr's soon :) 1 question... can i post videos f or some o nline coaching? Steve Pan Tim -
61 | 2012-09-08
I would suggest po sting videos in the f orum to get f eedback on your lift s. Sean 62 | 2012-09-24 Hey Coach, I started doing Oly style couple of month ago, I have a severe pain in my right elbow everytime I try t o Lock! I been off gym of 5 days now t rying to fix it, any tips or hints? (I iced, I f lossed, I st retched, I to ok Ibuprof en, the re's still a slight pain if I squeeze my triceps near the elbow) Greg Everet t Sean -
63 | 2012-09-24
See a good chiro or manual therapist and get it f ixed right. Gregory L. Johnso n 64 | 2012-10-19 When moving from o ne cycle to the next should there be a rest week. Aft er completing the St arter cycle can I just st art t he Strength by Feel cycle? And af ter t hat cycle would I just st art ano t her cycle or rest a week first ? Steve Pan Gregory -
65 | 2012-10-22
You should be able to start anot her cycle if you f eel good. If you are feeling a litt le beat up you can take a transition week and then get st arted on t he next cycle. Zach 66 | 2012-10-25 Coach, thanks fo r post ing this! I'm looking fo rward t o fo llowing your program. I'm an exercise science major, hoping to work in the st rength and conditioning field at t he collegiate level. The Olympic lifts are certainly something I need to get dialed in, and this program looks great. Just a f ew questions. I need to cont inue to wo rk on my upper body due t o my sport (Javelin), both anterior and post erior. What days would you recommend inserting bench, rows, pullovers? Or is that something I should play by feel? Would you recommend any supplement al hamstring wo rk like RDL variations o r physio ball hamcurls? And last, what t ypically makes up your core rout ine? I usually will do a medball/KB core, but I'm always interested in hear what other people are doing. Thanks a lot! Greg Everet t 67 | 2012-10-26 zach Tuesdays/Thursdays fo r that stuf f usually, but it f it's really heavy, it may be better o n Mon/Wed/Sat. Same w hamst ring work. Core work f or us is usually some heavy back w ork like SLDL, RDL or go od mo rnings, lighter back work like back extensions / hypers, and a variety of ab work from light high-volume stuf f like sit -ups, crunches, reverse crunches, jacknives, V-ups etc, plank varieties, and heavy stuff like weighted sit-ups. I typically have people do something different every day. Michelle 68 | 2012-11-01 This says its a goo d program fo r people who have not done much lift ing before. What's a good "next program up" f rom t his? T he daily programming? Michelle 69 | 2012-11-01 Also, fo r core work, how much would be done? One f rom each heavy back, light b ack and situp variety? 3 sets o f 10-12 reps ish? Steve Pan Michelle -
70 | 2012-11-01
The next program from this would be to st art on week one o f o ne of the daily cycles. You can take a loo k at t he cycles from t he Workouts tab. Core work is usually programmed in, however you may add in abs and back work if it is not
listed and if it do esn't interefere with yo ur recovery. Zach 71 | 2012-11-02 Coach, just curious when you say heavy singles how many sets should you do to lead up to your 1RM for t he day, and then once you reach that RM how many sets of that RM should you do? Thanks. Zach 72 | 2012-11-02 ^EDIT: Answered my f irst quest ion, by reading your Program Help & Info page. Last question st ill remains though, how many sets once we reach that RM for t he day should we do? T hanks. Steve Pan Zach -
73 | 2012-11-02
Once you hit your RM that will be your last set fo r that exercise. Jason 74 | 2012-11-21 I just lift ed in my first competit ion last week (100 + 110 f or a 210 t ot al). It was a blast, but it's time t o add so me structure to my training so I am starting t his. With conditioning I have a few options at home. Between a skipping rope, kettle bell (60lb) and a c2 rower, I have a number of ways to get my heart rate up, but I'm wondering if t he rower is going to be t oo leg intensive to go along with t his program. I don't usually go to o long (2000m at t he most) or I do 500m intervals. Thanks! Shawn Furbish 75 | 2012-11-25 I just finished week one of the starter program, well kind of. I still cant go heavy over head due t o a sho ulder impingment issue which I'm nursing back t o healt hy. So o n heavy single day I did heavy front squat, heavy dead and some scap work. Any tho ughts o n modifications that would be beneficail to the program. I was thinking maybe Pendaly rows and good mornings but wasn't really sure on rep scheme. Thanks! Shawn Furbish 76 | 2012-11-25 I t hink it will loo k like heavy single clean, no jerk, snatch grip heavy dead and heavy f ront squat. Just needed to think logicly f or a moment .Thanks Leave a Comment
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