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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