Topic: DISCUSSION OF COACH SCHMITZ INTERVIEW

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I hope you all get a chance to read our latest Weightlifting Exchange interview (in exclusives) with USAW Senior International Coach, former USAW President, and former Olympic Team Coach Jim Schmitz:

http://www.weightliftingexchange.com/viewtopic.php?t=1681

Thanks for your support.

[Scott Safe]

Nice interview with Schmitz. Definately interesting to hear his point of view. So much we don't know. The three day a week part is especially interesting. I'm really torn on how many workouts per week is a good average amount of workouts based on drug free athletes.  He's had some excellent lifters with this method.  Anybody else using something similar?

[Don Weideman]

I think Jim wouldn't hesitate to train four or five days if the needs of the
lifter and their ability dictated. Three is a base minimum for progress and
the volume is adjusted for fewer sessions. Consideration of our cultural
demands played a part in the three day a week philosophy also.
I don't speak for Jim, but that's my understanding. Personally at my age I do
well with 5X every 2 weeks.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

My basic training program is three times per week, but it really depends on how many the lifter can do.

I agree with Don Weideman, who trained under Jim. The way I read this statement was that three workouts a week is where he starts beginners. This makes sense to me in a lot of ways. First, you don't overload beginners with massive physical punishment right out of the gate, and second the coach doesn't need to spend as much time on someone that very may well quit at any moment. This is a very tough sport after all.

I would be very surprised if Dan Cantore, Ken Patera, Bruce Wilhelm, Butch Curry, Tom Hirtz, Tom Stock, Ken Clark, Mario Martinez, John Bergman, David Langon, Thanh Nguyen, Rachel Silverman, Giselle Shepatin, and Carol Cady averaged three days a week training or less over the course of their career. I think Jim means here that he may increase training frequency as the lifter progresses, just as he also says in the interview that he will gradually raise volume and intensity over time, as appropriate for each individual's needs and as their life circumstances allow.

It is a great point to clarify. Perhaps Jim will jump in here if I have misstated anything.  :D  But, in my opinion, it is not possible to achieve a lifter's optimum results without at least 5 years of at least 5 workouts a week. And, some, I believe, will do much better with significantly more training sessions in a week. I saw pretty almost all of my fellow residents at the OTC prosper under a program that averaged about 7-8 sessions a week although a couple of the guys that tried this for the first time as "older" lifters couldn't take it, got hurt, and had to back off to a more conservative approach.