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Talking Papers: Alexander Krychev

Insight into what made Bulgarian weightlifters a world power for two decades

In the 1968 Olympics not a single Bulgarian won a medal in any of the seven bodyweight classes, which is in contrast to the Soviet Union, which took home three gold and three silver. But that was to be expected when you consider that at the time Bulgaria had a population of 8 million people compared to the Soviet Union’s 128 million. But between 1968 and 1972, a paradigm shift occurred in the way that Bulgarian lifters trained, and the result was that in the 1972 Olympics the Bulgarians captured three gold and three silver medals to defeat what had come to be known as the Big Red Machine. And one Bulgarian who was a part of that team and that radically new training methodology was Alexander Krychev.

After experiencing such disappointing results in the 1968 Olympics, Bulgaria decided to develop a special sports school for young Olympic hopefuls in several sports, including weightlifting. There were 10 boys in the weightlifting groups, ages 14 to 16. Krychev, who was 16 years old at the time, was a member of this first group of lifters who were to become the core of the 1972 Bulgarian Olympic team. Ivan Abadjiev, who had been a silver medalist in the 1957 World Championships but was then working in an administrative capacity for sports, was selected as the coach of this team.

Abadjiev administered a program that involved multiple training sessions per day at extremely high intensities. Many of the grassroots coaches of the junior lifters, who were still communicating with their athletes, objected to these methods – some gave him the nickname “The Butcher.” But critics soon were silenced, because during that first year his junior athletes were breaking senior national records. Such results led Abadjiev to be promoted to head coach of the senior national team.

Krychev continued to progress, and in 1970, still a teenager, he placed second in the world championships with a 187.5-kilo press, 152.5 snatch, and 195 clean and jerk for a 535 total in the 110-kilo bodyweight class. At the following world championships he totaled 545, and then earned the silver in the Olympics with 562.5 (197.5 press, 162.5 snatch and 202.5 clean and jerk). His teammates who won gold were Norair Nurikian (60 kilos bodyweight), Yordan Bikov (75 kilos) and Andon Nikolov (90 kilos). The most famous Bulgarian was Naim Suleymanoglu, who broke his first world record at age 15. Suleymanoglu won three gold medals and clean and jerked triple bodyweight, and his lifts recognized him as pound-for-pound the best weightlifter in the history of the sport.

Just before the 1973 European Championships, Krychev, at the age of 21, suffered an elbow dislocation and was not able to return to the sport at a high level. In 1977 he was hired as Abadjiev’s first assistant coach, and in 1988 Krychev emigrated to the United States. When he arrived, he lived with US weightlifting coach Marty Schnorf, who at the time was training Stewart Thornburg, who represented the US five times at the Junior World Championships, and Olympian Curt White. Krychev says that these two lifters were the closest in following the training methods advocated by Abadjiev.

In 2009 Krychev became a distributor for Eleiko Barbell Company, working out of his facility in San Ramon, California. “When I started lifting in Bulgaria, we only had Russian barbells. Later we got a few more, such as one from Germany, but the Eleiko was far superior to any of the others we tried. Every weightlifter then, and still I would say today, would prefer to train with Eleiko given the opportunity.”

Krychev will also be opening a special training center for weightlifters in Danville, California. This center will use Abadjiev’s training methodology to help promising US lifters fulfill their physical potential, and it will also sponsor training camps. The center is expected to open its doors in January 2011.

Bulgarian Secrets Revealed!
A talking paper is a list of important ideas that someone wants to make in a presentation. These papers are usually short, seldom more than one page, with each major idea presented in short paragraphs. Because Krychev has so many important ideas and observations about weightlifting that he wanted to share with American lifters and their coaches, I decided to present them in talking paper format. Here goes:

On the weightlifters Krychev admired when he took up the sport. “My role model was Bob Bednarski. I was 14 years of age when I watched him in the 1966 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. He was tall and had a good physique, not like his competitors, who outweighed him by 20 kilos or more and were often very fat.” Krychev was also impressed with Joe Dube from the US after watching him win the 1969 World Championships.

His favorite Bulgarian lifters. The teammate that Krychev most admired from the junior school that he was a part of was Norair Nurikian, who won the gold medal in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Krychev also had a great deal of respect for Andon Nikolov, who won a gold medal in 1972 in the 90-kilo bodyweight division. In 1974 Nikolov broke world records held by the famous Russian David Rigert, among his most impressive being a snatch of 175 kilos at 90 kilos bodyweight. “Nikolov is probably the most athletic person I’ve ever seen in Olympic lifting. On weekends, track and field coaches were taking him to the meets so he could compete in track and field.” Nikokov injured his knee in a soccer game, and he eventually required 11 surgeries to return to lifting. In 1978, lifting in what Krychev called a “handicapped condition,” Nikokov placed fourth at the World Championships, snatching 170 and clean and jerking 195 (his best in 1974 was 210) while weighing 90 kilos. “If not for the injury, I do not believe Rigert would have been an Olympic champion in 1976.”

What made Ivan Abadjiev a great coach. “Ivan Abadjiev was a genius, and an innovator – he was always thinking ahead. At first his training was met with resistance, but once the athletes embraced his training methods they achieved unbelievable progress, and now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.”

Why Abadjiev’s method were controversial. “Some of the lifters who Abadjiev first began training were still communicating with their personal coaches. These coaches were resistance to the new methodology, complaining that ‘Abadjiev was killing our boys!’ Abadjiev was my personal coach and I didn’t know anything better, and he was like a father to me. After six months the athletes I was training with who were 16 and 17 years of age were breaking senior records, and this helped to silence his critics.”

Mistakes coaches from other countries made in understanding the Bulgarian system. Krychev says that to fully understand how a training system works, you have to take a long-term approach. “You cannot just watch what these athletes are doing the week before a competition and think you know the system. You also need to see what they are doing three weeks and even three months before a major competition.”

Which US coaches followed the Bulgarian system. When he first came to the United States, Krychev saw that Marty Schnorf trained his athletes in a manner that was similar to the Bulgarian system. “Marty applied what he knew about the Bulgarian methods to his athletes, and as a result they made excellent progress.” He does admit that he has not followed the sport in the US closely and is not familiar with how our best lifters train.

On the idea that Bulgarians shared ideas with other countries. “During the time of communism, Bulgarian coaches visited other countries with the supposed intention of helping develop the sport. These coaches were instructed to mislead as much as possible to keep the true methodology a secret.”

Why Bulgaria now produces few champions. Asked why Bulgaria is no longer a world power in weightlifting, Krychev replied, “Because Abadjiev is not the coach!” Krychev says that during the time of communism there was organization and discipline, and that discipline was imposed by what he refers to as an iron fist. “I’m not saying that this type of discipline was right, but with such discipline you get results.” He says that it appears that nowadays “Bulgarian athletes seem to be looking for other ways for advancement, not through the main method, which is the training regime.”

On the idea of a special Bulgarian pulling technique. “When athletes were sent to Abadjiev, the lifters has already acquired a technique they were comfortable with, and at that level it would be difficult to make changes.” Krychev says, “It’s not the technique that made Bulgarian lifters progress so quickly but the training methodology.”

The length of training sessions. Testosterone levels remain at their highest levels for about 45 minutes, after which the quality of the training session decreases. Thus, to enable his athletes using the heaviest weights possible, Abadjiev’s workouts were must shorter than those used by lifters from other countries. Also, training sessions performed later in the day require fewer warm-up sets than earlier sessions, as the nervous system is still stimulated from the earlier training sessions.

The value of multiple daily training sessions. To obtain a sufficient volume of training to continually make progress at the highest levels of the sport, athletes must perform multiple training sessions per day with at least one hour of rest between sessions. And to reach the elite level, Bulgarian athletes often trained as many as five times a day.

The importance of training intensity. Weightlifters should train as heavy as possible every training session. It is not possible to break personal records every session, and sometimes the weights used may be relatively light compared to maximums, but the result will be faster progress and ultimately a higher level of sport performance.

Best age to start weightlifting. “I started lifting when I was 13 and a half,” says Krychev. “To compete at the highest levels in weightlifting, athletes must start at a young age and reach near their maximum potential when they are juniors.”

On performing best lifts in competition. Krychev said that Bulgarians often lifted heavier in practice than in competitions. He said that in practice Stefan Botev at 110 kilos bodyweight had snatched 212 kilos and clean and jerked 270. Antonio Krastev, a super heavyweight, had snatched 222 and clean and jerked 265 kilos. No weightlifters in these two bodyweight classes have ever lifted this much in competition.

Back squats versus front squats. At the elite level Abadjiev thought that the back squat was not necessary. “Some athletes still did them during the final years Abadjiev coached the national team, but they were not directed to do them by Abadjiev.”

The value of step-ups and stationary lunges for weightlifters. The Bulgarian national team did not perform special leg exercise such as step-ups and lunges with the rear foot elevated. “The squat was the fundamental exercise. When one Bulgarian lifter had wrist surgery and could not do the lifts, he was instructed to squat eight times a day and yet he still made exceptional progress in this exercise.” Krychev also says that squats of higher reps, such as 5 or 10, “are counterproductive for the development of a weightlifter.”

The value of the Olympics lifts in sports. Krychev believes that the power snatch and the power clean are fine to develop explosiveness for athletes who are not weightlifters. “When my son played football in high school, I agreed to help with their strength and conditioning program, which at the time was run by a bodybuilder who had athletes use machines and often reps of 15 to 20. I had them put in eight platforms and just did the lifts, jerks, squats, power clean and power snatch and nothing else. With such training they made tremendous improvements in their speed and vertical jumping ability.” He also believes the Olympic press that he performed in competition is not necessary for athletes.

On new trends in weightlifting. At the end of his career Abadjiev thought that lifters might be able to progress without the squats, but he did not try that system and it has never been proven.

On the theory of stress adaptation. Krychev says at first the athletes will hurt from using the system, but after a few weeks the body will adapt. “Abadjiev says it’s like when a rabbit is chased by a predator. When the rabbit is chased by a predator, he does not say, ‘Stop, wait, I need to rest today because I ran yesterday.’ The rabbit will run every day at maximal speed and he will be fine.”

Key idea that US strength coaches need to understand. The Olympic lifting movements need to be the primary lifts in strength and conditioning programs, and athletes must squat all the way down. Athletes must also use the hook grip and straps. “If you’re not using the hook grip or straps, you will not get the most out of the lifts because the second pull will not be as explosive.”

On what it takes for US to become a world power in weightlifting again. Krychev believes that to become a world-class weightlifter, the athlete must be focused on their training and not have to work outside. “Today’s results are so high, in order to achieve those results the weightlifter has to train, think, sleep, drink weightlifting only. He doesn’t have to worry how he is going to pay the rent, how he is going to pay the insurance to provide for the family. Unless some system is in place, don’t expect miracles.”

(Ivan Abadjiev will being giving a presentation the day after our second annual Eleiko Strength Summit, which will be held on May 20-21 next year at the Poliquin Strength Institute in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.)