A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to have Mike Nackoul, US Junior Worlds competitor in Weightlifting, stop in the gym for a training session. Mike is one of the top young lifters out there – he was two time School Age National Champion and recently totaled 327kg to take 7th at Junior Worlds – so I took the opportunity to get some good video footage of his impressive lifts and ask him some questions about the sport of Weightlifting and what it takes to build the kind of strength and power that it takes to compete on an international level.
Joel: First, thanks for doing the interview Mike. Can you start by telling everyone how you got started in the sport of Weightlifting to begin with?
Mike: I started at a fairly small gym, kind of like this place actually (my gym). At the gym there was a weightlifting club and my brother started first when he was 13 and then I got started lifting there a few years later when I was about the same age.
Joel: Was Weightlifting something you naturally excelled at right from the beginning, or did it take some time and training before you began to realize that you had the potential to be successful in the sport?
Mike: Actually, I wasn’t really a strong kid. I wrestled when I was younger and I would often lose matches because I was not nearly as strong as the other kids. I really had to build up my strength over the years; it definitely wasn’t something that I was naturally good at to begin with.
Joel: Can you give us an example of what a current training week looks like for you?
Mike: When I’m at the OTC, I’ll wake up every morning and do a weigh in and general warm-up at 7:30am. When I’m training twice per day, I’ll get my two lifting sessions in at 10:15am and 4:15pm. I do this on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and then on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I only train once per day.
Joel: How many of those days are high intensity?
Mike: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday I will do snatches in the AM and cleans in the PM workout at a minimum of 85-90% intensity. Tues, Thurs, Saturday more heavily focused on the assistance lifts and I’ll do fairly heavy power cleans and squats on those days.
Joel: That’s obviously quite a high volume of training so I’m assuming you’ve had to work up to it over a long period of time. How has your training volume changed as you’re progressed in training experience over the years?
Mike: Someone told me, actually it was Alex Krychev I think, that he started training twice a week and was really sore. Then three times a week and was really sore. Then four times, then five. Eventually he was at twice a day every day and was a world champ. Big thing is to keep pushing and see how you respond. If you’re improving and respond well, add more. If not back off.
Joel: What are some common mistakes that athletes who incorporate the Olympic lifts into their training that aren’t full-time Weightlifters make?
Mike: The biggest thing I think people need to work on is more exercises and more drills to hit the correct positions. Their shoulders need to be a little more over the bar; they need more overhead flexibility, more weight taken with full front squats, etc. Once you’re strong in the positions your lifts will improve. I think this accessory work is missing from a lot of programs.
Joel: What do you think about using Olympic Lifts at very high repetitions or for time?
Mike: I think the big difference is that whenever you do the lifts for time and repetition, it’s sort of like survival. You just turn your brain off and just do. When you do heavy singles, you need a lot more concentration and intensity. It’s a different mindset completely.
Joel: Can you give us an idea of sets and reps you’ll use in a typical workout?
Mike: Let me grab my book. I’ll usually do 4-6 warm-up sets of a position assistance exercise and about 10-12 sets where the last 4-5 are close to 85% and up. Work sets are doubles and singles, always three reps or below.
Joel: Your goal is obviously to build strength and explosive power and you do a lot of low reps, yet it’s common to see people performing the Olympic lifts for much higher reps these days while trying to develop strength and power. What are your thoughts on that?
Mike: To get really strong, you need to move heavy weight. You can’t move high weight for high reps. You won’t see any weightlifters doing sets of 30 on the lifts
Joel: Do you use active regeneration and recovery in your training?
Mike: Sauna, ice baths, lots of sleep. I try to get a lot of quality sleep and at normal times. 10-7 is a lot different than 2-11. You have to keep your body in rhythm.
Joel: What do you think are the most important keys to getting stronger?
Mike: The absolute most important thing is consistency. You have to always be pushing because strength is a perishable thing. If you stop, it goes away. Something my coach told me is that if you want to be a great lifter, you need to be training hard 300 days a year and I take Sunday’s off so that doesn’t leave too many vacation days.
Joel: Can you give us a quick overview on your nutrition and any supplementation?
Mike: USADA has very strict policy on supplements so I try to confirm everything I get. I take a lot of the basics: Fish oil, vitamins, creatine. For diet, I eat smaller meals throughout the day – it’s easier to keep weight down that way. I don’t really count calories because it’s not really practical, but I try to keep ½ fruits and veggies, a ¼ grain and a ¼ protein.
Joel: What do you think are the biggest obstacles that the US faces as they try to improve their performance against the top countries in the world?
Mike: There are a lot of good coaches and lifters, we just need numbers. The sport obviously doesn’t have the same numbers as football, basketball, etc. Once we get there, everything will take care of itself.
Joel: For the average guy that wants to learn the Olympic lifts and doesn’t have access to a great Weightlifting coach, what would you recommend they do?
Mike: If I was in their shoes, I’d go on USA Weightlifting’s website and look at the list of all of the registered coaches and clubs in their state and try to find someone to learn from. If that doesn’t work, then watching a lot of world class lifters never hurts. Seeing it done properly is much more practical than reading about it.
Joel: What do you like most about the sport? What gets you up every morning to train?
Mike: There’s no feeling like when you compete. It’s just you and the bar trying to do something you’ve probably never done before while everyone watches in silence. It’s a pretty big adrenaline rush. Another thing is, the best motivation is improvement. When you see yourself getting better, you get really motivated. The flip side is that it’s easy to lose your motivation when you’re not improving. That’s when you have to push yourself the hardest.
Joel: When can we expect to see you in the Olympics?
Mike: 2016 is the dream.
Joel: Any way people can follow you?
Mike: USA Weightlifting’s site and Facebook. We have a good crop of up and coming lifters, so you can follow them all there.
Joel i am interested in what your training advice for Mike would be. He trains 2x day, 6 days a week with a very high cns demand on his system. This seems to be the norm in olympic lifting circles. He must be making improvements or he wouldn’t do it??????
Mike is working with some top Weightlifting coaches, I’m sure they know more about training for that particular sport than I do so I’ll leave the training to them. Every day isn’t the highest CNS demands, but it’s certainly a lot of CNS demanding work no doubt. I’d say first that I’ve seen a huge amount of individuality in how much CNS work people can handle and some can handle much more than others, so my guess is that athletes who are successful in Weightlifting would likely fall into this category. Second, as Mike said, he’s worked up to this training volume over many years of training so it’s also a matter of developing the work capacity that it takes to handle this volume of CNS intensive work. It’s amazing what the body can adapt to given good genetics and enough time.
It’s amazing what you can do when you really have someone who knows what they’re doing at the helm. Mike’s had access to some great coaching through the years (both at and away from the OTC), so even though his programs have a lot of volume, they are well thought out. If Mike were to keep the same volume and pick random exercises every day it would be a much different outcome. He also does the little things that he needs to do to maintain that pace. Proper nutrition, the right supplements, and plenty of rest go a long way.
Thanks for the reply joel and dave really good points