Ivan Abadjiev and the Bulgarian System History Ivan Abadjiev was a world class weightlifter having placed

2nd in the World Championships in 1953. After retiring from the sport he too an administrative position in !"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 three gold 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 the 1riendship C"p !"lgaria proved themselves the best weightlifting nation in the world b) winning in $ weight categories 2vers"s the 3oviets .4. In his 25 )ears ten"re as national coach% Abadjiev coached 9 (l)mpic Champions% 56274 World Champions and $. /"ropean Champions. All this was achieved in a co"ntr) with a pop"lation of j"st million people 8 less than that of 9reater 0ondon. Abadjiev#s most famo"s athlete was :aim 3"le)manogl" who act"all) defected from !"lgaria to +"r e) in ;ecember 19-$. (ver the ne't 15 )ears :aim became the greatest lifter in the histor) of the sport. <e was a senior world record holder at 15 and at 1$ became onl) the second ever lifter to jer three times bod) weight. ;espite missing the 0os Angeles games% where he wo"ld have been an overwhelming favo"rite% he went on to win three (l)mpic gold medals pl"s 6 World and $ /"ropean Championships. In 3eo"l he bro e . world and $ (l)mpic records and won gold b) 35 g. <is total wo"ld have been eno"gh to win the lightweight categor) above. SAID In 19$9 when Abadjiev too over as national coach the team "sed 19 e'ercises in their training. (ver the ne't 25 )ears% as he contin"all) adapted his program% e'ercises were removed "ntil% 19-$ when his lifters "sed j"st 5 23natch% =ower 3natch% Clean and *er % =ower Clean and 1ront 3>"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 are omitted 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 on e'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) 2and vol"me4 significantl) impacts on s eletal and ne"ral

fatig"e which is li el) to have a detrimental effect on wor o"ts later in the wee 2or 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 the advanced 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 A3pecific Adaptation to Imposed ;emands? 23AI;4. In simple terms this effectivel) means that the snatch and clean and jer s are best improved b) performing single ma'im"ms in the snatch and clean and jer 7 Why singles? Aside from the 3AI; 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 at s"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 competition performance% pl"s the advantages gained from selecting higher opening attempts. Besearch shows that high threshold motor "nits are onl) activated at near ma'imal loadings. (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 training with 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 there is 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

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 periodi,ation, preparation stage, interim stage and competition stage # threw it away #s it logical to achieve outstanding results 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"me low intensit) to lower vol"mes and higher intensit). Cnfort"natel)% an) improvements )ielded b) the high intensit) period will >"ic l) 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 3AI; principle has been criticised for it?s lac of variation 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 to s"pport this arg"ment. <owever% if one loo s closer% s"btle b"t ver) significant variation is act"all) ver) evident. 0ifters might ta e as little as 1 or as man) as 15 attempts at ma'im"m. +he) might hit ma'im"m and immediatel) drop bac to -5D before progressing bac to ma'im"m sometimes with minor adj"stments in weights attempted. Alternativel)% after one or more ma'im"m attempts the) ma) perform drop down #fl"shing# sets at vario"s intensities. Additionall) lifters change the order of e'ercises or repeat e'ercises within the same session to add e'tra stim"l"s where re>"ired. 1inall)% 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 wee s followed b) one lighter wee . 3ome have described the light wee as involving a red"ction in intensit) whilst others s"ggested the) simpl) involved a red"ction in the training fre>"enc) with no red"ction in intensit). It is li el) 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 wee s. +)picall) he wo"ld have his lifter#s drop to fo"r sessions in the pen"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.

"#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 generali,ed 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 "o)er versions on %uesday, %hursday and Saturday. (ther e#am"les sho) daily ma#imums Abadjiev.s 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 bet)een 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 6red herring.. %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 as ed Abadjiev what he loo ed 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. 3ome have s"ggested that Abadjiev?s decision 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) wor o"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 wor o"t re>"ires several da)s to recover from. As these t)pe of sessions are emplo)ed on a more reg"lar basis the lifter begins to #ta e them in his stride#. +his effectivel) means the) re>"ire less aro"sal to ma e heav) attempts and hence the res"lting nervo"s fatig"e is red"ced.

7estoratives As additional sessions are added finding methods to ma'imise recover) become increasingl) important. 20egal4 methods that have s"pporting scientific evidence incl"de creatine% post wor o"t ice baths and recover) drin s% massage% and high >"alit) omega 3 oils. I will leave the reader to investigate these separatel) A 89DI:

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 you must 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 $years% to generate is most individuals One last suggestion is that if !age is only able to train once per day at this time you can put two squat sessions at the end of the workout separated by 23 minutes of rest time )t our facility we are blessed with the ability to train several times per day and # know this is not reality for everyone +his Article was ac>"ired thro"gh C* 3toc el and incl"des inp"t b) &i e !"rgenerG both ver) well respected C3 Coaches.
Caleb is a World Champion Powerlifter and an Elite Olympic Weightlifter who has competed in the Olympic Trials and is a Pan American Team Member. He has helped numerous athletes achie e better results on their respecti e sports through his personal training in !uluth" #A. Email info$pea%performanceweightlifting.com for details