Post on 03-Jun-2018
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Ivan Abadjiev and the Bulgarian System
History
Ivan Abadjiev was a world class weightlifter having placed 2ndin the World
Championships in 1953. After retiring from the sport he too an administrative positionin !"lgaria b"t was vocal in his criticism of the team#s training methods. In 19$9%
following their disappointing performance in the &e'ico (l)mpics% he was appointed
national coach. *"st three )ears later% at the games in &"nich% !"lgarian lifters won threegold and three silver medals% their first medals in an) sport in (l)mpic competition. +his
medal co"nt was d"plicated fo"r )ears later in &ontreal and in &oscow increased to two
golds% fo"r silvers and two bron,es. In 19- /astern /"ropean co"ntries bo)cotted the
0os Angeles games in retaliation for the American#s bo)cott in &oscow b"t at theriendship C"p !"lgaria proved themselves the best weightlifting nation in the world b)
winning in $ weight categories vers"s the oviets 4. In his 2 )ears ten"re as national
coach% Abadjiev coached 9 (l)mpic Champions% 5674 World Champions and $
/"ropean Champions. All this was achieved in a co"ntr) with a pop"lation of j"st -million people 8 less than that of reater 0ondon.
Abadjiev#s most famo"s athlete was :aim "le)manogl" who act"all) defected from
!"lgaria to +"re) in ;ecember 19-$. (ver the ne't 1 )ears :aim became the greatest
lifter in the histor) of the sport. "at4 and e'cl"sivel) for single repetitions. +hro"gho"t this
period the team?s res"lts in International competition contin"ed to improve and the)became indisp"tabl) n"mber 1 in the world.
=op"lar weightlifting #assistance e'ercises# s"ch as p"lls% deadlifts and bac s>"ats areomitted beca"se the movement path and speed of e'ec"tion does not s"fficientl) mirror
that "sed in the competition lifts themselves. Abadjiev states that an athlete has limited
reso"rces available for adaptation and therefore the training stim"l"s m"st be foc"sed one'ercises with the highest cross over. !ac s>"ats% p"lls and deadlifts are generall)
performed with loads e'ceeding those possible on the competition lifts and often for high
vol"mes. +he high intensit) and vol"me4 significantl) impacts on seletal and ne"ral
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fatig"e which is liel) to have a detrimental effect on woro"ts later in the wee or in
the da)74.
It sho"ld however be noted that when inj"r) precl"des a lifter from performing the f"ll
lifts% assistance e'ercises are sometimes emplo)ed@
Our athletes do not do any "supportive exercises" they stay with full clean and jerk,
snatch, and front squat We have found that taking back squat out is more effective for the
healthy lifter !ticking with the three lifts named above as the only training for theadvanced and healthy lifter #f the athlete is injured they will do back squat or parts of
the lift the full lifts $ie high pulls, push press, etc% &ust as in any sport you must be
extremely careful with the stresses you put on your athletes 'ou must have direct
benefits from each exercise because the athlete has limited recovery capacity( #)
+he principle "sed to j"stif) these changes is often called pecific Adaptation to
Imposed ;emands? AI;4. In simple terms this effectivel) means that the snatch and
clean and jers are best improved b) performing single ma'im"ms in the snatch andclean and jer7
Why singles?
Aside from the AI; arg"ment% there are other reasons to emplo) e'cl"sivel) singles.
+he (l)mpic lifts are precise movements and techni>"e degrades rapidl) "nder the
fatig"e of m"ltiple repetitions. +his means that the lifter is act"all) rehearsing a s"b
ma'im"m movement pattern. +here are man) lifters who have flawless techni>"e ats"bma'imal loads b"t that techni>"e deteriorates "nder ma'imal loading. +he !"lgarian
method obvio"sl) re>"ires the lifter to attempt ma'im"m loads on a reg"lar basis. +his
can translate into greater confidence with these weights% a more consistent competitionperformance% pl"s the advantages gained from selecting higher opening attempts.
Besearch shows that high threshold motor "nits are onl) activated at near ma'imalloadings. (ne can therefore ded"ce that "nless these t)pes of loadings are emplo)ed on a
reg"lar basis% fast twitch fibres will remain "ntrained and optimal performance will never
be achieved. Athletes who emplo) a significant vol"me of repetition wor% e.g. sets of 2%
3 or 5 repetitions are effectivel) training lower threshold motor "nits. Contin"ed trainingwith repetitions can increase repetition ma'im"ms witho"t necessaril) a significant
benefit to the absol"te ma'im"m. If a graph were drawn of repetition n"mber against
intensit) this t)pe of training wo"ld )ield a flatter graph (see diagram).In addition thereis evidence that m"scle fibres can be converted either to faster or slower versions
depending on the training stim"l"s. :at"rall) ma'imal loading ca"ses the most
significant conversion whilst moderate intensities ma) act"all) have the opposite effect.
SAID Vs eriodi!ation
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Abadjiev "sed an e'tension of this arg"ment to challenge the validit) of classic
periodi,ation@
#n *ulgaria, many other sports disciplines were built on the methods developed by the
!oviet experts +he main concept is distinct periodiation, preparation stage, interim
stage and competition stage # threw it away #s it logical to achieve outstandingresults by hard work and then stop and go back to a lower level-(
In simple terms classic periodi,ation involves a grad"al progression from high vol"melow intensit) to lower vol"mes and higher intensit). nfort"natel)% an) improvements
)ielded b) the high intensit) period will >"icl) be lost when the athlete s"bse>"entl)
reverts bac to the higher vol"me and lower intensit) wor.
SAID Vs Variation
+his e'treme application of the AI; principle has been criticised for it?s lac ofvariation and variation is regarded as essential if long term progress is to be contin"ed. At
first glance% the small pool of e'ercises and the e'cl"sive "se of singles does appear tos"pport this arg"ment. "ired. inall)%the coach might change the fre>"enc) of sessions in a given wee to permit greater time
for rec"peration. +hese and other variables can be contin"all) adj"sted to eep training
both mentall) and ph)sicall) demanding (see A""endi# I $or e#am"les).
It has been reported that Abadjiev favo"red a se>"ence of three hard wees followed b)
one lighter wee. ome have described the light wee as involving a red"ction inintensit) whilst others s"ggested the) simpl) involved a red"ction in the training
fre>"enc) with no red"ction in intensit). It is liel) that Abadjiev e'perimented with all
the possible variables and adopted different ones to s"it different sit"ations.
%a"ering $or &om"etition
Abadjiev has stated that it is #paramo"nt# to maintain the intensit) of training when
preparing for competition. +apering is therefore achieved b) red"cing training fre>"enc)
over the final two wees. +)picall) he wo"ld have his lifter#s drop to fo"r sessions in thepen"ltimate wee and then two sessions d"ring the final wee. (f co"rse athletes in his
s)stem were alread) ver) tolerant of s"ch training.
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"#t is extremely important to maintain the adaptive state and keep the lifter used to the
heavy poundage.s that will be experienced on competition day On the off( days the
lifter should do a generalied warm/up and no more"
%he %raining Day ' % D
%here have been many e#am"les o$ an average Bulgarian training ee*. Some
involve or*ing to absolute ma#imum only on a +onday, Wednesday and -riday
evenings and using "oer versions on %uesday, %hursday and Saturday. ther
e#am"les sho daily ma#imums
Abadjievs argument $o/used on maintaining the u" most 0uality o$ ea/h training
segment . -or this reason he also insisted on 12 3 45 minute brea*s beteen
e#er/ises to allo a degree o$ "hysi/al and mental re/u"eration. Abadjiev has
/laimed that testosterone /an only remain elevated $or short "eriods but in light o$
the "robable use o$ e#ogenous $orms o$ the drug, this e#"lanation is li*ely a 6redherring.
%here is eviden/e that a light session in the morning /an a/tually in/rease the
0uality o$ the evening session.
It has been suggested by some $ormer athletes that so/ial reasons ere as im"ortant
to Abadjiev as "hysiologi/al ones hen ma*ing the de/ision to divide the or*load
through the day a//ounted $or Abadjiev dividing the or*load throughout the day..
$ /ourse the Bulgarian athletes ere "ro$essionals ho ere re0uired to live at the
national training $a/ility. %hese are $a/tors that must be /onsidered hen ada"ting
the system $or "art time Western athletes.
sy/hology
When an American lifter ased Abadjiev what he looed for in an athlete% he replied
simpl)% Ewill powerF. Another lifter described !"lgarian training as Ea state of mind... a
wa) of life..F. +he idea obvio"sl) is to minimise o"tside stresses s"ch that the ma'imal
adaptive energ) is available for weightlifting. ome have s"ggested that Abadjiev?sdecision to divide the dail) load across the da) was as m"ch determined b) social factors
as it was ph)siological ones. If a lifter has several short dail) woro"ts he has less time
available for activities that might detract from the training stim"l"s7
When one first starts emplo)ing ma'im"m lifts in training% the woro"t re>"ires several
da)s to recover from. As these t)pe of sessions are emplo)ed on a more reg"lar basis thelifter begins to #tae them in his stride#. +his effectivel) means the) re>"ire less aro"sal to
mae heav) attempts and hence the res"lting nervo"s fatig"e is red"ced.
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7estoratives
As additional sessions are added finding methods to ma'imise recover) becomeincreasingl) important. 0egal4 methods that have s"pporting scientific evidence incl"de
creatine% post wor o"t ice baths and recover) drins% massage% and high >"alit) omega 3
oils. I will leave the reader to investigate these separatel)
A89DI:
We have found more success putting the traditional lifts first, followed by front squat in
the daily sessions +his allows the athlete to focus on their lifts in a fresh state and then
worry about generating power in the final lift$s% of the session # do feel that in your case
a back squat may be of assistance, perhaps at the end of the session in place of the front
squat several times per week as this will get !age used to the heavier loads 0owever youmust be careful not to over use the back squat since the power generated is not as
applicable to the clean and jerk as the front squat is 1emember that power takes time$years% to generate is most individuals One last suggestion is that if !age is only able to
train once per day at this time you can put two squat sessions at the end of the workout
separated by 23 minutes of rest time )t our facility we are blessed with the ability totrain several times per day and # know this is not reality for everyone
+his Article was ac>"ired thro"gh C* tocel and incl"des inp"t b) &ie !"rgenerG both
ver) well respected Coaches.
Caleb is a World Champion Powerlifter and an Elite Olympic Weightlifter who hascompeted in the Olympic Trials and is a Pan American Team Member. He has helpednumerous athletes achiee better results on their respectie sports through his personaltraining in !uluth" #A. Email info$pea%performanceweightlifting.com for details
mailto:info@peakperformanceweightlifting.commailto:info@peakperformanceweightlifting.com