This document provides an overview of various tools used for human performance training, including their advantages and disadvantages. It discusses Olympic lifts, powerlifts, kettlebells, heavy ropes, and suspension training. For each tool, it describes common exercises, programming guidelines, advantages such as developing power and muscle engagement, and cautions such as technical requirements and limited research support for some claims.

1. John M. Cissik
Human Performance Services, LLC

2. Overview
 What they are
 Advantages/Disadvantages
 How they are used
 Training for goals

3. Tools
 Olympic lifts
 Powerlifts
 Assistance exercises
 Kettlebells
 Heavy ropes
 Suspension training

4. Olympic Lifts
 Exercises that are variations of the
snatch, clean, and jerk.
 Barbell moves at 2-4 meters/second,
elite lifters are generating 31-50 watts of
power/kg of body weight.

5. Olympic Lifting: Advantages
 Little eccentric phase in these lifts, can
be done daily.
 Uses most of the muscles in the body.
 Triple extension of hips, knees, and
ankles.
 Done very quickly, develops power.

6. Olympic Lifting: Cautions
 Very fast, not forgiving of mistakes
 Requires specialized equipment
 Requires specialized instruction
 Very technical, takes a long time to learn

7. Olympic Lifting: Cautions
Distance
(m)
Release Velocity
(m/s)
Discus, Men 67.648 24.46
Discus, Women 63.704 23.64
Hammer, Men 78.094 27.68
Hammer,
Women 75.18 27.42
Javelin, Men 84.648 29.46
Javelin, Women 65.726 25.3
Shot Put, Men 21.54 13.98
2009 IAAF World Championships, top five
performances in each event. From New Studies in
Athletics (2010), volume 25(3/4)

8. Olympic Lifting: Cautions
 Bar velocity of 2-4 meters/second. 100
meter sprinter may be moving at 10-12
meters/second.
 2nd Pull Snatch/Clean & Drive Phase of
Jerk: Power output of 31-50 watts/kg of
body weight (Garhammer, 1981)
 100 meter sprinting: Power output of 60
watts/kg of body weight (Majumdar and
Robergs, 2011)

9. Powerlifts
 Exercises meant to increase strength on
the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
 Possible to work up to very heavy weights
(International Powerlifting Federation world
records as of 8/22/13):
 Squat: 465 kilograms (1023 pounds); Andrey
Konovalov
 Bench Press: 360 kilograms (792 pounds);
Viktor Testsov
 Deadlift: 397.5 kilograms (874.5 pounds); Brad
Gillingham

10. Kettlebells
 Weighted metal
balls with handles.
 If an exercise can
be done with a
barbell or dumbbell,
it can be done with a
kettlebell.

11. Kettlebells
 Most free weight exercises can be done
with kettlebells
 Many kettlebell specific exercises:
 Swings
 Overhead squats
 Get ups
 Windmills

12. Kettlebells: Programing
Guidelines
 Depends upon goal.
 Strength/power: Mirror programming
guidelines for Olympic lifts or powerlifts
 Endurance/conditioning: Generally done for
time (i.e. swing for 40 seconds, rest for 20)
or circuit-style

13. Kettlebells: Advantages
 Kettlebell has mass, so it can increase
hypertrophy, strength, and power.
 Requires each side of the body to work
independently.
 Variety, fun.

14. Kettlebells: Cautions
 Cost between US$1.40 and $3.00/kilogram
 A lot of bad information out there,
marketing/hype vs. substance.
 Requires a lot of equipment to use for track
and field athletes.
 Skill component, takes awhile to learn
many of these exercises.
 Not conducive to some exercises (snatch)

15. Kettlebells: Cautions
 A lot of anecdotal information, no
research foundation:
 Farrar, et al (2010): Swinging a 16kg
kettlebell for 12 minutes increases heart rate
and oxygen consumption…
 Manocchia et al (2010): A 10 week, 2x/week
program increases 3-RM barbell bench
press (9%), 3-RM barbell clean and jerk
(25%), and low back endurance (20%).
Untrained population…

16. Heavy Ropes
 AKA battle ropes,
training ropes
 30-200 feet of thick
rope.
 Used for total body
conditioning.
 Exercises are often
variations of slams,
woodchoppers, and
oblique movements.

17. Heavy Ropes: Programming
Guidelines
 Approached as a conditioning or warm-
up tool, so exercises are done for time.
 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off most
common approach.
 Can be done circuit-style.
 Can be tailored to individual needs.
 Can be combined with other exercises
(for example: slam for 60 seconds,
kettlebell swing for 60 seconds)

18. Heavy Ropes: Advantages
 Fun.
 Great warm-up exercise.
 Good tool for absolute beginners.

19. Heavy Ropes: Cautions
 Cost US$100-$400 each if you purchase
the premium equipment.
 Home improvement store ropes: $20…
 Very limited overload potential.
 Zero research.

20. Suspension Training
 Bodyweight
exercises where part
of the body is
suspended in the
air.