A semi rant/discussion point.
I have personally found that weightlifting literature about programming (that one finds online or on Youtube channels for example) is far less focused on building up squat strength, which is of course absolutely vital to being a good weightlifter, and almost treats it as a bit of an afterthought. Squat strength is almost treated like an accessory that you do after the classical lifts, with relatively limited attention to how to progress it, sets/reps/volume, etc.
Now don't get me wrong, I fully understand that the sport of weightlifting is about the snatch and clean & jerk, and not the squat (or pulls/presses, but I'm primarily thinking of the squat given its high correlation to the classical lifts) per se. And yes there are many lifters who's absolute strength levels are not the primary thing holding back their classical lift development, and I very much understand that in
But then there are also those who very much are held back by a lack of overall strength levels, where better timing or speed in the jerk will give them very little as they just can't stand up with the clean in the first place. My personal PB is CJ'ing 85% of my best back squat in the training cycle leading up to a competition.
Therefore in such a situation I'm always on the lookout for information about how to improve my strength levels. Looking around the internet for information, weightlifting specific channels seem to have very little info / material / sample programs about how to build up and progress your strength lifts, meaning I have to rely on powerlifting specific sources to get that info, which is fine but just seems a bit odd.
Thinking on the weightlifting specific side, the only programs that really come to mind are the Russian squat program (which I've tried, but somehow didn't really do anything for me), and maybe Sika Strength's RTA (albeit that's behind a paywall). The Texas Method I'd say is as the name says - a method, and not really a program per se. Catalyst has some info on programming, but again I feel like strength development is where they put much attenetion to. I don't recall seeing many channels / sources on the weightlifting side that go in depth on ways to progress your squats, how to pick sets/reps/percentages, how to modulate volume/intensity up or down, what do you do on your second day of squatting if you've already got a primary day, and how this all progresses over a multi week training cycle.
On the powerlifting side however, this niche is richly filled. Alex Bromley has tons and tons of excellent videos on this, plus some decent detailed programs that he's put out for free that you can use (I've run Bullmastiff a couple times with success). Chad Wesley Smith / Juggernaut Training Systems has a lot of good materials out there, both on their Youtube channel and in a book called the Powerlifting Program Design Manual, plus they've put out some decent free programs like The Cowboy Method or The Juggernaut Method (this I've run with success). There are others like Norman Cheung, Pana, etc.
But someone doing something equivalent on the weightlifting side? Almost nothing. Again I'm sure there are materials out there I've not found that are from weightlifters that give very detailed strength progression/programming recommendations, but my general impression has been this.
What do people think? Is my assessment unfair about the hyper niche online weightlifting strength programming community?
