Training methods and planning
Predicting Competition Results from the Training Intensity of Weightlifters
English summary of Tyazhelaya Atletika. Ezhegodnik 1984 (Moscow: Fizkultura i Sport, 1984), pp. 48–49: the text is paraphrased, not translated.
Heavier loads demand more of the body, so optimal limits of intensity must be defined and the realistic result predicted from the training work done.
Mathematical methods are widely used to choose intensity zones suited to each lifter (Medvedev, Roman, Vorobyov, Chernyak, Falameyev and others). Medvedev (1967) recommends the formula
Ki = Bav × 100 / total (1)
where Ki is the load-intensity coefficient (for a month or year), Bav the average training weight over the same period and total the two-lift total (originally the three-lift total). Medvedev and Chernyak found special-preparation means most effective at Ki of 35–41%.
We see a shortcoming in this formula: it uses the total rather than individual exercises, and an average weight that includes pulls, squats, presses and other exercises less related to the result. The strongest link probably comes from calculating intensity for the competition lifts and close assistance exercises: snatch, snatch from blocks and from the hang; clean and jerk, jerk, power jerk, clean, clean from blocks and from the hang. Their optimal intensity gives a predictive model of the result and load dosages for lagging aspects of fitness. We transformed formula (1) to predict snatch and clean and jerk results:
P = Bav(S,J) × 100 / (2Ki) (2)
where P is the competition result in the snatch or the clean and jerk, Bav(S,J) the average weight in snatch or jerk-type exercises for a month or week, Ki the coefficient from (1), 35–41%, and 2 a constant. Practice at the Zarya sports school, Voroshilovgrad, confirmed it; rearranged, it also plans intensity from a planned result.