The System: Soviet Periodization Adapted for the American Strength Coach Paperback – October 15, 2018

I liked the mathematical approach to prevent overtraining and to prioritize the lifts. The math can be overwhelming to work out a program so I set up a spreadsheet that calculates reps and volume from the macro to micro programming approach outlined in the book.The movement training is similar in its approach but it is harder to understand the volumes that should be used. 3/4’s of the book speaks to lifting with almost a painful amount of detail but I appreciated that level of compassion to try and address every question. I wish there was more detail to the movement portion (speed, agility, quickness).My athlete completed the month prep cycle recommended and then we chose a 900 rep target for the next monthly phase. We used a 30% squat, 25% explosive, 25% press, 20% posterior allocation. The are some auxiliary pulling and core lifts also but when you read the book you’ll understand why they don’t fall into the 900 reps. My athlete also practices or plays 5 times a week in his sport so it was impossible to incorporate the the movement portion of the program.My athlete likes the program and we are seeing improvement. He is highly motivated so it can be a challenge to keep him from overtraining. That is one of the main reasons why we decided to follow this approach. It’s only been 2 months and this is a long term approach that I don’t feel qualified to criticize yet. But I can say it follows common sense, allows for flexibility, and prevents overtraining.

I have bought many books about training with weights (though I am not an athlet, I am an avid reader and when I develop an interest I tend to go very deep in the topic). Often they are a set of recipees that you can apply without a deep understanding. This text gives a kind of compass to plan trainning and assess results accordingly. Of course it comes with recipees too, but it is clear that they are just templates that must be adapted to people.What I would like is the addition of few pages about the proportion of the weight lifts; example given you squat 100 how much should you lift in a power clean. I would appreciate it also based on the sport you are training for.It is not a book targeting bodybuilders; it would be interesting to know if they find it useful too. The various tables from Prilepin look useful whatever is you goal and they seem to contraddict some widespread knowledge in the bodybuiliding area.

In the 1980s, two Hall of Fame NFL Strength Coaches, Johnny Parker, and Al Miller, gained access to advanced Soviet training methods that had not yet become available to most of us in the industry. The authors learned this model of training for strength and power directly from elite Soviet researchers and World Champion Olympic weightlifting coaches. Parker, Miller, and Panariello had the wisdom of application due to their combined strength coaching and research experiences.I believe their expert use of "The System" served the players on the seven Super Bowl teams coached by Johnny Parker and Al Miller well.The book is well written and easy to understand. The principles apply to high school athletes as well as professionals. "The System" is safe, it's effective and proven. I highly recommend it.

A great book that really turns traditional fitness and strength training methods their head.

The goodFirstly this book is gold for anyone interested in programming. seriously you will learn more about managing volume, intensity and exercise selection in these pages then any other book I've come across. Its also a fairly safe method using a variety of movement patterns and intestines to keep you progressing without injury.The potentially badIf your bad at math, sorry this isn't for you. a big part of this style of programming is dividing total repetions among 4 weeks and then 3-4 days. without getting into it its never an even diversion of 25% every 4 weeks. so busting out a calculator will be helpful.the long and short of itIf you want to learn about programming for your self BUY this book!

This single book distills much of the 1980's Soviet research into a practical, usable, manual for American strength coaches. It is American Football centered (the American authors all come from American Football) but it easily translates to all other sports - hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball...and, of course, Olympic Weightlifting.

A great book for programming. It basically takes all of the Soviet WL texts and puts them in one experience proven respirce that is easy to read and implement. This is scaleable from competitive teams teams to the garage lifter.

that is the first time through. It will remain an ongoing reference at my gym.I was blessed to see that much of what I was already doing lined up well with this book.In other ways, I was freshly challenged to improve my coaching in several different areas.If you are an uncommitted or impatient person, don't buy this book.