Olympic lifting vs. traditional lifting methods for North American high school football players

Year 2018, Volume: 4 Issue: 3, 91 - 100, 20.09.2018

Matt Roberts Mark Debeliso

https://doi.org/10.31459/turkjkin.439870

Cited By: 2

Abstract

A stronger emphasis has been placed on increasing strength, power, size, and speed for today’s football player. The key to obtaining these abilities and skills are accomplished in the weight room. There are various types of lifting methods when it comes to resistance training (RT) for football. Two types of lifting styles that are often used for high school football weight training programs are the traditional lifting or core training programs and Olympic style lifting. It is thought that Olympic lifts help to increase power, which is something that can be transferred onto the playing field and help improve overall performance. This study compared two different styles of RT (traditional vs. Olympic) in North American High School football athletes in order to determine if one RT protocol was superior at improving measures of speed, strength, and power. Forty male, high school football players ranging from 14 to 18 years old participated in an eight week, off-season, early morning football resistance training program. Each participant was randomly selected into either the traditional resistance protocol (TR: n = 20) or Four Quarters protocol (FQ: n = 20) experimental groups. The players each had the same weight lifting/conditioning routine, however, twice a week the FQ group performed an Olympic lift variation and the TR group performed a dead lift. Pre- and post-assessment scores were obtained and compared in the 1-RM squat, 1-RM power clean, vertical jump (VJ) and 9.14 meter sprint. Pre- post- scores were compared with in each group with a dependent t-test. A gain score was also calculated for each dependent variable (post-pre score) and compared between the experimental groups with an independent t-tests (p≤0.05). Both groups made improvements in pre to post assessments in the 1-RM squat, 1-RM power clean, and VJ (p<0.05). The gain scores for the 1-RM squat, 1-RM power clean were significantly greater for the FQ group (p<0.05). Neither group improved 9.14 meter sprint times (p>0.05). The results of this study are consistent with those found in previous literature demonstrating that increases in both the 1-RM squat and 1-RM power clean are better achieved using an Olympic lift variations when compared to using a traditional lifting method. Resistance training programs for athletes are designed with the goal of improving physical performance on the field of play. The results of this study suggest that improvements in muscular strength and power as measured by the 1-RM squat and 1-RM power clean are best achieved with a RT protocol that includes the Olympic lift variation of the power clean.

Keywords

High school athletes, Olympic lifting, power, strength, traditional lifting

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