Dmitry Klokov released his ebook and coaching videos today.
It’s called “Klokov: Training Methods of the Russian Champion” and you can currently get it for a discounted price of $27 US.
Note that this is not a sponsored post. I was not contacted by the Juggernaut guys and paid for my own copy.
Have you bought it? How did you like it? Leave your comments below (stay on topic, no hating!).
The Book
What It Is:
The book is an autobiography in which Dmitry recounts key moments of his career leading up to the Beijing Olympics.
It’s about growing up in the sport, and shows how Dmitry perceived his time in the national team. It also focuses on the rivalry within the team during the selection process (with other athletes and coaches) that pushed him into peak shape, as well as and the struggles that come with being a professional athlete (like injuries).
For example his most critical injury to date, when he wanted to beat his father’s best Jerk from rack. Not an easy task as Dmitry’s father Jerked a whopping 275kg from the rack. So in a training session where Dmitry aimed to go for 265kg, he injured himself on an attempt with 255kg.
This injury is the reason that even today, he often rotates clockwise with the bar overhead.
What’s remarkable is that even with this injury he showed up for the afternoon training session the next day and figured out the what exercises he was still able to do (squats with a long strap on the bar for example).
What the Book is Not:
The book is not a technical manual going over weekly schedules, or sets & rep schemes.
Verdict: It’s a short read and I wish it wouldn’t end with a “To be continued…” after the Beijing Olympics. Yet I really enjoyed to reliving those moments from Dmitry’s perspective.
The Videos
These are worth the money alone. In 16 videos Dmitry goes over important aspects of weightlifting technique as well as various drills (some of which you have already seen in the Klokov Seminar Exercise post). See full table of contents below.
Verdict: This is basically a lot of what he covers in his seminars. So it’s great for people that couldn’t make it to one of the seminars yet or even for people who attended a seminar and now want to have a condensed version of the topics covered.
What You Get
- a pdf with 100 pages (80 of which make up the autobiography section) with lots of pictures
- links + passwords to 16 videos on Vimeo (1 Hour 48 Min)
- This post previously mentioned that you can download the videos. That was an error by the juggernaut guys. Now videos can only be viewed online.
Table of Content
- The Early life of a champion
- The Lone Wolf
- Becoming World Champion
- On Top of the World
- The First Major Setback
- Bouncing Back
- Getting Back to the World Championships
- The 2007 World Championships
- Eyes on the Olympics
- Another Setback
- Qualifying For Beijing
- Making the Olympic Team
- The 2008 Olympic Games
Videos Table of Content
- Introduction & Snatch From Floor To Below Knees
- Snatch From Below To Above The Knees
- Hip Contact In The Snatch
- Special Exercises for Mobility In The Pull
- Special Exercises For Strengthening The First Pull
- Troubleshooting Technique Errors In The Snatch
- Training The Traps For The Snatch
- Clean From The Floor To Above The Knees
- Hip Contact In The Clean
- Clean Catch
- Flexibility For The Front Rack Position
- The Jerk Dip
- The Jerk
- Special Exercises For The Jerk
- Squat Tips
- Assistance Exercises
Flexibility For The Front Rack Position
Thanks for the breakdown Gregor. Looks like a good product. Does he go over he’s dynamic start, specifically on the snatch?
He does go over the starting position. Not sure what you mean by “dynamic start” though.
Its a small detail, but notice when he starts the snatch, he is in a deep squat and upright, then as he pulls the bar, he raises he’s butt first, creating an optimal back angle for the second pull……rather then keeping the same back angle from start to second pull.
Can you link to the Vimeo page? I just bought it but I can’t open it through the pdf on my phone
This is a short book. I read it in about 1.5-2 hours (not counting the videos).
Positive sides: I love this book style that talks about athlete’s life. I believe there is enough programming books out there already and such a book (written by an athlete rather than a coach) would not be that interesting for me. This book is very easy to read. Dmitry also admits that the team selection process involves some behind the scenes action and it was not his pure determination that got him to the Olympics. The videos seem to be very helpful and cover many topics from his seminars (judging by the 2 videos I watched).
Negative sides: The translation was a bit awkward sometimes (“scissor position” rather than “split position”, “Peking” rather than “Beijing”, “getting the bar on chest” rather than “clean”). Since I speak Russian, it makes sense to me and I can imaging what the Russian part looked like, but it may be a bit confusing to some people. Early in the book some people are mentioned without their names (“my teammate” rather than “Dmitry Berestov”). Those who know Russian weightlifting will know who Dmitry is talking about, but other will not. Later in the book all the names will be mentioned, but in the beginning it is still a mystery who is who besides Dmitry. Lastly, the book title is slightly misleading since the book is not about the training methods, but Dmitry’s life and technique.
Overall, definitely worth the money and an interesting read.
It’s funny because I bought the book “no questions asked” and when I downloaded it I was somewhat disappointed as I expected a weightlifting instruction manual. That was till i found the videos… Now I have a question. Those videos are not embedded (like in Greg Everett’s book) so you have to watch them on Vimeo. Is there any way to download them on my PC? Because that’s my main gripe with the e-book. I ‘d rather the videos were embedded in the pdf. A few more details on the squat section wouldn’t hurt either, I am guessing that the second part will touch on programming (maybe). All in all it’s a good read though not as extensive as Everett’s but with great tips and definitely worth the asking price.
From the post: “once you entered the password on Vimeo you can download the clips (in SD and HD quality)”
There is a “Download” button below each video.
Wow… It takes talent to …miss it. Thanks man. 🙂
doesn’t seem to be there anymore?
From the post: “This post previously mentioned that you can download the videos. That was an error by the juggernaut guys. Now videos can only be viewed online.”
thanks Gregor, I they assumed JTS removed that download option … I still found a way around to download (for personal use only)
Yeah inspect element + ctrf f “mp4” is always an option, just a little less convenient.
Re: Training The Traps For The Snatch video
Point 2 says: it is fine to bring the bar higher in these drills than you will during the snatch, as long as a forward elbow position is maintained and elbows stay higher than the bar
I don’t quite understand what is meant by forward elbow position…any ideas?