A Look Behind The Gold of Chinese Weightlifting

 

Photo Credit - Yatin Parasher

RECRUITMENT

In China every government district is asked to test and assess children from ages 8 to 13, and select candidates for sports schools. Children that show promise move on to bigger government training academies when they are teenagers. They also send recruiters out around the country looking for children of certain body types and going to their parents and getting them to send them to national training centers.

Doctors measure height, arm span, bone density, flexibility and other things to predict what a child will be like in the future. X-rays and bone tests are used to determine bone density and structure and predict future growth. Believe it or not they also measure testicle size in men and breast size in females. They look for small breasted women with thin triceps and belly fat, because that shows a higher amount of testosterone. They also look for women, with a squarish jawline because that indicates high testosterone levels and ability to build muscle.

An 8 year-old Chinese boy training with his coach

A Chinese girls callused hands

China has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on sports academies, talent scouts, psychologists, foreign coaches and latest technology and science. China puts particular emphasis on developing programs in sports that have a lot events and give lots of medals such as shooting, gymnastics, swimming, rowing and track and field.

In preparation for the Beijing Olympics more than 30,000 Chinese athletes are training full time, five times more than the number who will actually compete in the Olympics.

WORDS FROM THE CHINESE ATHLETES

China-born, Los Angeles Times journalist Ni Ching Ching wrote: “When I was in the first grade, scouts from the Communist sports machinery came to our school to hunt for future champions. The event was diving. Never mind that I couldn’t swim and had no desire to be an athlete, I was told I had the right proportions and good feet. Chosen from a field of thousands to train at a state sports school, I was supposed to be thrilled to serve my country.”

Liu Huana, a player from the countryside who earned a place on China’s national women’s soccer team, told the Washington Post, “I had never heard of soccer until I was 13, when I moved to the county for my fifth-grade studies. One day people from the local athletic school came to our school to select new members. The teacher recommended me because I was the fastest runner in the class. I wore a skirt and sandal shoes that day, and I just took off my shoes and ran.”

Yao Ming - Former NBA Player

Yao was sent to a full-time sports academy when he was 12. At that age he was already 6 foot, five inches. By measuring his knuckles sports officials predicted he would grow to 7 foot five inches and special attention was given to groom him to be a future star. Yao later said he didn’t even like playing the game until he 18 or 19. “My parents would probably prefer for me to go to college and play basketball only as a hobby.” To make sure he didn’t skip practice his coach went to his house and accompanied him to practice everyday.

TRAINING

1.  The Chinese have no specific routine, but more like an outline of what certain days will be focused on.
2. China demands and expects to be the best in the world, so the pressure to be great is very high.
3.  Coaches work on finding weaknesses the athletes need to work on. Absolute strength is more important than speed strength.  They don’t care how fast the athletes squat or pull is.  One must be fast regardless of how they train.
4. The athletes train roughly 25hrs/week and spend another 12 on recovery
5. Advanced lifters usually train 8 sessions/week with each day being focused on a particular lift (Snatch, Clean, Jerk, etc.) Heavy Squats and Pulls are not done in the same session due to back fatigue.
6.  Very short rest periods, work done at 85-90% 2 mins of rest at most.
7. They perform a lot of “bodybuilding” accessory work post lift. This may include 1-arm DB presses, Dips, Handstand Push-ups, Lat Pull Downs, Back Extensions, and tons of core work. All these usually performed in the 10-15 rep range. “Bigger muscles mean more strength”
8.  On their recovery days they consider running, jumping and other accessory work as recovery. I will go more in depth with in the recovery section.

Here is a typical training week they use:

Monday Morning:

Power Clean + 3 Push Press

Heavy Back Squat - 3 reps

Accessory Work

Evening:

Clean + 2 Jerks - Going into heavy (90%)

Clean Pulls 3 reps, 5-6 sets (110%-115%)

Accessory Work

Tuesday Morning:

Muscle Snatch, 2 reps

Front Squat, 3 reps

Press, 3-5 reps

Accessory Work

Evening:

Snatch, 2reps (80%-85%)

Snatch Pull 3 reps, (110%-115%)

Snatch Accessory, Hangs or complex.

Accessory Work

Wednesday:

Clean & Jerk (80%)

Clean Pulls 2-3 reps

Jerk Dips

Thursday: Accessory Work or unrelated activity. 

Friday: Max Day - Heavy lifting for both lifts. Depending on the phase they may focus more on the one for weight and do one lighter.  

Saturday:

Power Clean + Push Press

Heavy Back Squat, 3-5 reps

Sunday: Rest Day 

Photo Credit - Yatin Parasher

INCENTIVES

Basically if you win, you get taken care of…

• Most athletes make anywhere from $500 to $1500 per month to live on
• All food, housing, supplements and therapy are covered
• Pay increases with success, so the more medals the more money the athlete will receive
• Almost every Friday the athletes will max out, and the team manager will put money on the table and make a bet with the athletes. If the athletes hit a new personal best they get the money that was put up. This ranges anywhere from $1200 to $1500. So elite lifters like Lu Xiaojun and Liao Hui can double their stipend.  These bets are usually done on the professional teams, not the younger athletes
• Athletes that win gold receives over 2 million dollars, and anything after that is usually $80,000 to $100,000.  
• Rich business men from Hong Kong and China send money or big gold bricks to show appreciation to their medal winners
• The hometown or district of the athletes will often give them a house or land if they win 

RECOVERY METHODS

Photo Credit - Yatin Parasher

Below I will list several methods the Chinese use and believe in, some seem a little out there but I guess if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.

Cupping Therapy- An ancient Chinese form of medicine to promote healing

Hydrotherapy/Massaging- Under water massages and mineral baths

Herbal Tea- Addresses fat levels within the body, aids in proper sleep and  overall body relaxation.

Horny Goat Weed- HGW is an herb that has been a traditional remedy in China for centuries. It’s used for low libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, pain, and other conditions. The Chinese claim this to be a natural testosterone booster.

Icing of the Testicles – YES YOU READ IT RIGHT, the Chinese have research that shows icing your testicles 2x a day for about 10mins speeds up recovery and helps increase testosterone. GOOD LUCK


References

Gregor (2013, Aug 12). Chinese Weightlifting Experience. Retrieved from
http://www.allthingsgym.com/chinese-weightlifting-experience/

Yatin Parasher (2013, Aug 12). Cheap Recovery. Retrieved from http://thoughtsinthedayof.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/cheap-recovery/

Tyrone Brennand (2014, Feb 16). Chinese Weightlifting. Retrieved from http://www.bethefittest.co.uk/fitness-blog/chinese-weightlifting