When and How to Train Skills

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One of the most misunderstood areas in the fitness industry today is the proper implementation of strength and power skills into a well-rounded general fitness and performance program. On one end of the spectrum we have programs and training methodologies that preach a high intensity mindset at all costs, incorporating some of the most technically advanced loaded movements known to man, such as the Olympic lift variations, into workouts at hugely non-advantageous times. And on the other end of this polarized skill spectrum we have coaches and programs that fail to even address the need to develop full body strength and power capacity based movements.

While it’s clear that neither end of the spectrum is ideal, it begs the question, what is optimal in terms of developing skills in a strength and conditioning program that not only have the ability to get better over time, but also transfer into other aspects of human performance and enhancing the human lifestyle in general?

Here’s the simple process of how to maximize the benefits of training skill based loaded movements like the Olympic lifts, and why programming these king movements at the right times will not only streamline results, but bulletproof against injuries in the process.

The skill of full body strength transcends populations, sport specialties and unique goal sets. Simply put, being able to coordinate your entire body synergistically to work as a functional unit together in a smooth and sequenced way to move load is the motor task of all motor tasks.

Not only are full body velocity based barbell movements like the clean, snatch and their derivatives a powerful stimulus for the mechanical and muscular systems, they provide an even more powerful neural stimulus in order to hard wire motor patterns and new skills into one’s movement library.

You can think of the muscular system as the hardware of a computer, and the neuromuscular system as the software which is necessary in order to get the very most out of the functionality and performance of the machine, which in this case, is the human body.

As a practice component is implemented into high-level motor tasks such as the Olympic lift variations, we are able to fine tune the neuromuscular system’s response to coordinating full body human movement. And when load is introduced into the equation, these tasks are not only challenged to a higher degree, but they are also more likely to have the save button hit to maintain that pattern and skill set in a motor library.

Since velocity based barbell movements are truly the single most advanced lifting variations known to man due to mixing load with accelerative force through huge degrees of range of motion and multiple biomechanical regions and muscular groups all working in coordination with one another, we must ensure that we are prepped and ready to PERFORM these skill based lifts, rather than simply just getting by and hoping for the best.

This is why it’s paramount that the skill blocks of a program are introduced near the front end of a training day, preferably directly after a proper dynamic warm up sequence that prepared the body to train while working on weak links in the process.

We want to be as mechanically and neurologically fresh as possible in order to perform at the highest degrees possible. Because at the end of the day, a movements is nothing more than a skill that we just practice with high amounts of proficiency and focus.

The programming of skill movements needs to be treated differently than strength, hypertrophy or conditioning based exercises. Contrary to popular belief, these are NOT all the same, and need to be respected for their key differences to yield the maximal benefit while helping reduce the likelihood of otherwise preventable injuries.

Since the focus and executional requisite is so high on a skill-based movement, we must focus in on keeping reps pristine at all costs. That means avoiding stringing too many consecutive reps together, and instead using singles, doubles and triples with a conscious reset between reps in order to repeat motor tasks and the skills of the lifts with mechanics that can be mirrored together rep to rep.

Notoriously speaking, as rep counts get higher in a set, or when time is used as the indicator of work, our movement quality and skill proficiency is reduced. This is simply due to the buildup of metabolic stress, generalized fatigue and the inability to mentally prepare and rehearse every rep with quality in mind.

This is the reason why using near max effort loads in the Olympic lifts during metabolic conditioning is less than advantageous for athletic development, and to maintain your general orthopedic health for the long term.

While there are many different methods to build power skills, one of the most recognized modality of training are the Olympic lifts. The clean and jerk, along with the snatch is barbell-based movements that incorporate pristine mechanics, technique and feel that also challenge moving a load at increased speed and control.

The Olympic lifts can be thought of as combining many of the body’s foundational movement patterns together in a sequenced way. From the squat, to the deadlift, the pull to the push, the Olympic lift variations truly have synergistic full body skill based training covered, hence why they are the lifts of choice among a wide array of athletes and lifters.