If you’re looking for a lower body workout that builds serious strength and power, it’s hard to beat the way Olympic weightlifters train. Weightlifters are some of the strongest and most explosive in the world—and a huge part of their success comes from how often and how intentionally they squat. Olympic lifters rely on powerful legs, hips, and glutes to perform their lifts, and their training reflects that focus.

Even if you’re not trying to step onto a weightlifting platform, you can still benefit from training like one. Squatting like a weightlifter helps build a strong posterior chain, improves mobility, and develops the kind of lower body strength that carries over to other sports. In this blog, we’ll explain why squats are so central to Olympic weightlifting and show you how to use that same approach in your own workouts with a sample workout directly from the Peak Strength app. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why Olympic Weightlifters Need a Big Squat

How Often Should Olympic Weightlifters Squat? 

Lower Body Workout for Olympic Weightlifting

Full Olympic Weightlifting Program

Why Olympic Weightlifters Need a Big Squat

A strong squat is one of the most important foundations for success in Olympic weightlifting. Both the back squat and front squat help build absolute strength in the legs and hips, which are the main muscles responsible for producing power in the snatch and clean and jerk. These Olympic lifts happen quickly, but the strength needed to perform them starts with how much force your legs can create—and that comes from squatting heavily and often.

In most cases, an athlete’s snatch and clean and jerk are only a percentage of their squat. For example, many lifters can clean around 80–90% of their front squat and snatch about 60–70% of their back squat. This means that if you want to increase your Olympic lifts, you also need to increase your squatting strength. A weak squat will limit your ability to stand up out of the bottom of a clean or recover from a deep snatch catch.

This is why high-level lifters spend so much time training their squats. The stronger your base, the more potential you have to move heavy weights fast. Squats aren’t just an accessory—they are a key part of Olympic weightlifting success.

How Often Should Olympic Weightlifters Squat? 

Olympic weightlifters need to squat A LOT. From personal experience, Dane will have weightlifters squat a minimum of three times per week. Injury would be the only exception; in this case, a low-impact squat variation like goblet squat or single-leg squat might be incorporated instead of a front or back squat.

Squatting three days a week seems like a lot on top of the competitive variations of snatch and clean and jerk, but it’s necessary. Frequently, weightlifters train in competition order, snatch > clean and jerk > then into squats and accessories. Occasionally, athletes in an exposure phase, at Garage Strength, will squat at the beginning of their workout. This increases fatigue during the training lifts, but can provide a huge boost in training numbers by the end of a program.

Managing Fatigue With Variations

High frequency of squatting will fatigue your body, so recovery and exercise selection become paramount. Two out of the three squatting days will be at higher intensities. These days will be at the beginning and end of the training week.

The third day should be a squat variation such as paused, double bounce, or unbroken squats. The variation should be selected to target weaknesses in the athlete’s competitive variations. Here are some examples:

• Pause Squats: Helps with maintaining tension and control in the bottom of the catch for a snatch or clean.

• Double Bounce: Helps improve the stretch shortening cycle for athletes that tend to have a hard time standing up competitive lifts without bouncing multiple times in the hole. 

• Unbroken Squats: An all-around strategy to work on maintaining tension and bracing, while developing mental resilience to produce vertical force under fatigue. 

Using variations helps break up the monotony of high squatting frequency. This helps establish PRs through different movements and builds confidence for the other squat sessions throughout the week. 

Lower Body Workout for Olympic Weightlifting

Below is a lower body workout for Olympic weightlifting pulled straight from the Peak Strength app’s Olympic Weightlifting training plan. Keep in mind, this workout is meant to be in a high-volume phase of training. You would usually use these workouts like this 12-16 weeks out from a peak or competition. 

The goal of this workout is to prioritize competition lifts, then build strength and muscle in the lower body.

• Exercise 1: Snatch - 3 X 2, 1 X 4, 1 X 5

• Exercise 2: Clean and Jerk - 5 X 2 cleans + 1 jerk

• Exercise 3: Back Squat - 3 X 4, 2 X 7

• Exercise 4: Glute Ham Sit Ups - 3 X 12

• Exercise 5: Banded Back Extension - 1 X 50

Full Olympic Weightlifting Program

Lower body strength is a massive component of Olympic weightlifting training, but it’s not the only aspect. You also need to develop your core, upper body, and overall technical mastery of the movements. 

The best way to make progress in the Olympic lifts is to follow a consistent program, with periodization that prioritizes peaking multiple times throughout the year.

Get a personalized Olympic weightlifting plan ASAP by starting a free trial with Peak Strength.