Here is a little profile on Khadzhimurat Akkaev as he prepares for London 2012.
Update 11.09.2014: Read Akkaev’s 2014 Interview on ATG.
It’s in Russian. So if any of you Russian speaking readers (what’s up Brandon) wants to enlighten us about the secret training methods they talk about, please leave a comment. But they show were they eat, sleep and train (same gym /camp as Dmitry Klokov in Taganrog) Looks pretty simplistic.
- train 2 times a day
- 2 hours each session
- move 10 tons each session
Update: Thanks to Soiren for translating what was said.
“The strongest athletes of Russia live in Taganrog. The main russian weightlifting camp is situated right there.Before competition it becomes a home for weightlifters, but there are some who literally live there all the time. There is just about half of a year before London 2012, therefore it’s time for intensive training now. The champion of the World and Europe, Khadzhimurat Akkaev, told us about how it is to live before competition.”
Then it is told that after 1st place in Paris he visited his family just for one day and headed to Taganrog to camp. He tells to cameraman that he is allowed to live in a room for two persons (and shows a giant bed for him lol).
The narrator talks about how he is unpretentious in his living habits (there are just a notebook and TV in his room). He admits that he spends more time in the Internet than on the weightlifting platform [reading All Things Gym of course, what’s up Khadzhimurat!], but he never uses his real name in russian social network (the analogue of facebook). Then they proceed to a training room.
| Ad: WL Shoes from Rogue |
 |
They wake up at 9:00, have a breakfast and a little rest before a training at 11:00.
Akkaev isn’t so hard on the regimen and often sleeps longer.
Cameraman: “What are the primary movers of the weight?”
Akkaev: “It’s leg, back and shoulder muscles” (seems like a coach): “And a head” A: “yeah, right, and the head of course. It is about 50 percents of a success.
Because physical capacities of the weightlifters are… mm… about 40%” Russian lifters train 2 times a day, about 2 hours each session. Akkaev manage to finish his routine in just 40 minutes. They move about 10 tons each session.
Akkaev: “In addition to our discussion about primary movers… Legs, back and shoulders. Here, arms are there just to hold the bar.
Back must be tight like a string, otherwise you’ll get injured. The movement starts with legs. You see, I stand up just with my legs, my arms aren’t doing anything, just holding the weight. So, I stand up with legs, it is the 1st phase. 2nd phase is “podryv” [it is a russian word, the nearest meaning of it would be a “snap”, which is actually a 2nd explosive pull in english].
You must explosively pop it up, you won’t be able to muscle up much. And then when the bar reaches chest level you must sit under it and take it on your chest. *clean* Here is why we need the legs and back.
Shoulders are to push the bar up. *jerk* Here is how a classical C&J looks like” Then a menu of athletes is described.
They are not restricted to any certain portions. They eat pretty much a basic traditional food. Solyanka (Russian spicy, salty and sour soup), meat broth, cooked meat with mushrooms, rice, vegetables, fruits, salads.
Chef says that Akkaev doesn’t eat much and he is definitely not a picky eater.
“Right now there are preparations before London in Moscow, but Akkaev doesn’t want to leave Taganrog and coaches let him follow his individual routine.” “He got to take a gold after bronze and silver medals on the previous games.”
Oh and while we are talking about Akkayev. 190 kg Snatch for a double
“The strongest athletes of Russia live in Taganrog. The main russian weightlifting camp is situated right there. Before competetion it becomes a home for weightlifters, but there are some who literally live there all the time. There is just about half of a year before London 2012, therefore it’s time for intensive training now. The champion of the World and Europe, Khadzhimurat Akkayev, told us about how it is to live before competetion.”
Then it is told that after 1st place in Paris he visited his family just for one day and headed to Taganrog to camp.
He tells to cameraman that he is allowed to live in a room for two persons (and shows a giant bed for him lol).
The teller talks about how he is unpretentious in his living habits (there are just a notebook and TV in his room). He admits that he spends more time in the Internet than at the weightlifting stage, but he never uses his real name in russian social network (the analogue of facebook).
Then they proceed to a training room. They wake up at 9:00, have a breakfast and a little rest before a training at 11:00. Akkaev isn’t so hard on the regimen and often sleeps longer.
Cameraman: “What are the primary movers of the weight?”
Akkaev: “It’s leg, back and shoulder muscles”
(seems like a coach): “And a head”
A: “yeah, right, and the head of course. It is about 50 percents of a success. Because physical capacities of the weightlifters are… mm… about 40%”
Russian lifters train 2 times a day, about 2 hours each session. Akkaev manage to finish his routine in just 40 minutes. They move about 10 tons each session.
A: “In addition to our discussion about primary movers… Legs, back and shoulders. Here, arms are there just to hold the bar. Back must be tight like a string, otherwise you’ll get injured. The movement starts with legs. You see, i stand up just with my legs, my arms aren’t doing anything, just holding the weight. So, i standed up with legs, it is the 1st phase. 2nd phase is “podryv” (//it is a russian word, the nearest meaning of it would be a “snap”, which is actually a 2nd explosive pull in english). You must explosively pop it up, you won’t be able to musle up much. And then when the bar reaches chest level you must sit under it and take it on your chest. *clean* Here is why we need the legs and back. Shoulders are to push the bar up. *jerk* Here is how a classical C&J looks like”
Then a menu of athletes is described. They are not restricted to any certain porions. They eat pretty much a basic traditional food. Solyanka (russian spicy, salty and sour soup), meat broth, cooked meat with mushrooms, rice, vegetables, fruits, salads. Chief says that Akkaev don’t eat much and he is definitely not a picky eater.
“Right now there are preparations before London in Moscow, but Akkaev don’t want to live Taganrog and coaches let him follow his individual routine.”
“He got to take a gold after bronze and silver medals on the previous games.”
That’s pretty much it.
Soiren, thanks a lot. Thanks for taking the time.
People like you make the site so much better.
i appreciate the kind words, and want to thank you for this blog. It’s a shame that there isn’t essentially any weightlifting resource like that in our country going on:(