5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program

This 5-day intermediate Olympic weightlifting program is built for lifters who’ve nailed the basics and are hungry for more—more power, more precision, and definitely more PRs.

After 12 weeks, you’ll be ready to smash your old best lifts in the snatch and clean and jerk, whether in a competition or just for fun.

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What Is an Intermediate Weightlifting Program and How Do You Know When You’re Ready for It?

An intermediate Olympic weightlifting program is for lifters who have moved beyond the initial beginner stages and have developed good technical competence, consistency, and baseline strength in the two Olympic lifts.

Let’s first take a look at what distinguishes a beginner from an intermediate lifter and then explore what a good program for intermediate Olympic lifters involves.

As a beginner in Olympic lifting, you start by learning how to perform the main lifts with good technique, build strength, and improve coordination. But how do you know when you’re ready to move on to an intermediate-level program?

Here are four signs to look out for:

• Your lifting technique is fairly consistent. You can now confidently perform lifts with good form, smooth bar path, and stability in the overhead positions, even when lifting near your maximum weight.
• You’ve built a foundation of strength in exercises like squats, pulls, and presses. At this point, your technique, rather than your raw strength, is becoming the main factor holding you back.
• Your training progress has slowed down noticeably. Beginner programs often use straightforward (linear) progression, adding a little weight each workout or each week. That works great to start, but once you’re struggling to increase weights or reps on a regular basis like before, you’re ready for more advanced programming.
• You’re now relatively comfortable with the most common variations of the big lifts, such as hang snatches, power cleans, snatch balances, and assistance exercises, without your form breaking down.

How Beginner and Intermediate Programs Differ

Complexity of Programming

• A beginner program is straightforward and focuses on learning proper technique and increasing the weight in a linear fashion. You perform the basic movements—snatches, clean & jerks, squats, and pulls—several times a week, gradually increasing the weight each session. This basic form of progression and the high frequency make it easier to learn and master the movements.
• Intermediate programs introduce more complexity. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep adding weight from workout to workout, and you begin varying intensities, volumes, and recovery periods with structured cycles known as periodization. You might split your training into dedicated blocks focusing more on strength, technique, or power, each designed to peak your performance at specific times and build on each other.

Exercise Variation

• As a beginner, the bulk of your training consists of classic Olympic lifts and foundational strength work like squats, front squats, pulls, and presses. Your priority is building up your technique and establishing a base of strength.
• Intermediate lifters, on the other hand, add more varied exercises in order to work on specific weak points you (or a coach) have identified and to continue honing your technique. You keep practicing the classic lifts but include variations like hang or block lifts, tempo lifts (slowing down certain phases of the lift), complexes (combining more than one movement into one set), and accessory movements based on your own needs.

Volume and Intensity

• Beginners usually thrive on a lower weekly training volume (total reps) and on practicing the main lifts frequently. When you are new to Olympic lifting, you don’t have the movements in your backbone, and your nervous system relatively quickly “forgets” how to perform them optimally. A low-ish, high-frequency approach allows you to consistently improve your technique without building up fatigue.
• Intermediate Olympic athletes can handle more training volume, with strategically programmed variations in intensity. For example, you might alternate between heavier sessions focusing on strength gains and lighter, technique-focused, or speed strength sessions. A beginner might not yet have built up the recovery abilities and fatigue management to handle this more advanced programming. The training frequency might remain similar (a beginner usually does not and cannot use weights near their strength potential and recover faster) or increase somewhat.

Progression and Periodization

• Beginner progression is clear and straightforward. Adding small increments of weight (1 to 2 kilos) each session or week works great. It leads to rapid increases in work capacity and technique improvements under load.
• Intermediate progression is less predictable. You’re now using more sophisticated strategies like changing intensities during mesocycles (training blocks) and microcycles (like a training week) and planned recovery periods (deloads), designed to help you keep making good progress without burnout.

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Moving from beginner to intermediate is not something you can set a time frame on before the fact. However, it usually takes around six to twelve months of consistent training, though it can vary from person to person.

If you’ve followed a beginner routine (like our Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Program) and feel your technique is solid (not perfect by any means, but solid), your progress is slowing down, and you’re comfortable with basic lift variations, it’s likely the right time to move forward.

Transitioning to an intermediate program, like this 5 day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program, with more advanced techniques and less linear programming strategies, is a natural next step.

Or, if you prefer four weekly training days, our 4 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program is a perfect alternative. Either case, you’ll safely break through plateaus, reach new personal bests, and keep things fresh.

5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program

This 12-week 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program is designed to take your weightlifting to the next step once you are past the beginner stage and looking to kickstart your improvements in the snatch and clean & jerk. It also works well if you have transitioned past the intermediate level and entered advanced territory but want to stay with five weekly sessions.

The program progresses in load (percentages) over the 12 weeks, with light “deload” weeks at Weeks 4 and 8. In Week 12, you will work up to PB (personal best) attempts for the classical lifts, either in actual competition or as a test to beat your own previous records.

General Notes on the 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program

• Frequency: 5 workouts per training week. You can pick the days that fit your schedule the best. Train five days in a row and rest on weekends or sprinkle rest days during the week—it’s up to you.
• Warm-up: Include dynamic movements, mobility drills, and lighter barbell complexes before hitting your working sets.
• Percentages: The percentages are based on your 1RM (one rep max, the most weight you can lift for a single repetition) for each lift, but treat the percentages as guidelines for your training sessions, not necessarily set in stone.
• Tracking & Adjusting: Always prioritize technique over adding weight. If you find the assigned weight too heavy to keep good form, reduce the load to where your technique is consistent. The training plan systematically ramps up intensity. Deload weeks (Weeks 4, 8) reduce volume and/or intensity slightly to aid recovery.
• Accessory movements have suggested set/reps and typically use moderate weight. Progress them gradually as tolerated.
• Peaking & Testing: Weeks 9–11 transition toward heavier singles and lower reps. Week 12 is where you go for a new max single in the snatch and clean & jerk.
• Rest Intervals: For main lifts (snatch, clean & jerk, pulls, squats), rest 2–4 minutes between sets. For lighter accessory work, 60–90 seconds rest.

Progression

• Progression Scheme:
  • Weeks 1–3: Gradual increases of ~2% each week.
  • Week 4: Deload (reduced volume and intensity).
  • Weeks 5–7: Resuming progression, slightly heavier than Weeks 1–3.
  • Week 8: Second deload or lighter week.
  • Weeks 9–11: Heavier intensities, slight volume taper starting Week 11.
  • Week 12: Taper leading into testing/competition at the end of the week.
• Repetitions & Sets:
  • Most snatch and clean & jerk variations: 2–3 reps per set, moving to singles toward the end of the program,
  • Squats vary from 2–5 reps per set.
  • Pulls are usually 3 reps per set.
  • Accessory movements (e.g., overhead press, Romanian deadlift) use moderate loads and moderate rep ranges (∼5–8 reps).
• Accessory and Core Work: Examples include presses (overhead press, push press), pull-ups/chin-ups, good mornings, planks/side planks, etc. Feel free to adjust or exhange the default exercises based on your individual weaknesses and recovery.

The Olympic-style lifts are the same week to week, but the auxiliary work will vary throughout the program. The intensities (weight lifted or % of 1RM) and sets/reps are adjusted week to week in a way that accommodates consistent progression and recovery.

Below is a general overview of the program. The exact number of sets and the rep scheme details, including % of 1RM recommendations along with the planned intensity and volume progression route, are available in your StrengthLog workout tracker app.

Weeks 1–11

Workout 1

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Snatch	4–5	3
Clean and Jerk	4	2
Squat	4	3–5
Overhead Press	3	5

Workout 2

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Snatch Pull	4	3
Complex: Power Clean + Power Jerk	4	3
Front Squat	4	2–3
Pull-Up or Barbell Row	3	8

Workout 3

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Power Snatch	3	3
Clean and Jerk	3	3
Overhead Squat	3	3
Core (Weighted Plank, Hanging Leg Raise)	3	Exercise dependent

Workout 4

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Snatch	4	2
Clean Pull	4	3
Squat	4–5	2–3
Push Press	3	5

Workout 5

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Complex: Snatch + Hang Snatch	3	2
Complex: Clean + Front Squat + Jerk	3	2
Romanian Deadlift (or Good Morning)	3	5
Side Plank	3	45–60 secs

Progress Adjustments: If you find the jumps too large or too small week to week, adjust by ±1–2% to match your progress and recovery.

Week 12 (Taper & Test/Competition)

During the final week, your goal is to reduce overall training volume significantly while keeping intensity moderate to high early in the week, then rest and finally test max lifts. Below is one example of a taper layout ending with PR attempts on day 5 (e.g., Saturday) or a competition on the weekend.

Day	Exercise	Sets × Reps	% 1RM
Day 1	Snatch	3×2	~75%
	Clean and Jerk	3×2	~75%
	Squat	3×3	~80%
Day 2	Snatch Pull	3×2	~90% (of Snatch 1RM)
	Power Clean + Power Jerk	3×2	~75%
	Front Squat	3×2	~80%
Day 3	Snatch	2×2	~80%
	Clean and Jerk	2×2	~80%
	(Optional) Light Accessory	2–3×5	50–60%
Day 4	Rest or Light Technique Work (very low volume)	2–3×2	40–50%
Day 5	Snatch – Work to opener or PR singles	~1×1 (ramp up)	90–100%
	Clean and Jerk – Work to opener or PR single	~1×1 (ramp up)	90–100%

• If you have a formal competition, you would take a complete rest day (or do only light movement) on Day 4, then compete on Day 5 or 6.
• If testing PRs in the gym, plan to do it on Day 5.

Follow the 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program in StrengthLog

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5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program Exercise Selection

Here are detailed descriptions of all the exercises in the 5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program in the order they appear.

Snatch

The snatch is one of the two competition lifts in Olympic weightlifting (the other being the clean and jerk). It is a full-body exercise where you pull a barbell from the floor directly overhead in one explosive movement, receiving it in a deep squat position with your arms fully extended before standing up.

The snatch hits nearly all muscle groups in the body—from legs and back to shoulders and arms—and develops explosive triple extension (hips, knees, and ankles), and athletes in many sports use it to build power and speed.

Good mobility is supremely important to execute the snatch the way it’s supposed to be done. For example, tight ankles or hips can limit the depth of the squat and compromise your form. But the good news is that you don’t have to spend endless hours stretching—the best way to improve mobility in an exercise, including the snatch, is to keep practicing it.

Because the snatch is one of the two main lifts in Olympic weightlifting, let’s break down the step-by-step instructions in extra detail.

Phase 1: The Pull

1. Setup
   • Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
   • Grip the bar wide, at least 1.5x shoulder width, using a hook grip (thumb wrapped under fingers).
   • Position your shoulders slightly in front of the bar, with a flat back and your chest up.
2. First Pull
   • Push through your legs and extend your knees.
   • The bar moves vertically, staying close to the body.
   • Your hips and shoulders rise at the same rate to maintain balance.
3. Second Pull (Explosive Phase)
   • Once the bar passes mid-thigh, perform an aggressive triple extension (hips, knees, and ankles).
   • Shrug your shoulders and start pulling yourself under the bar. Your goal is to generate maximum upward force.
4. Third Pull (Pulling Under the Bar)
   • Quickly drop under the bar, turning the wrists over while pulling yourself into a deep overhead squat.
   • Keep the barbell directly overhead, with locked-out arms.
   • At this point, you can transition out of the hook grip or release it into a regular overhand grip if you can’t maintain it without pain or mobility issues.

Phase 2: Catch and Recovery

1. Overhead Catch
   • Land in a deep squat with the bar locked out overhead.
   • The bar should be over the base of your neck and mid-foot.
   • Keep your core braced for stability.
2. Standing Up (Recovery)
   • Keep the bar stabilized overhead while maintaining an upright torso, and stand up with the weight overhead.
   • The lift is complete once you fully extend your legs and control the weight.
   • Lower the bar in front of you, with control.

Common Snatch Mistakes and Fixes

Mistake	Fix
Pulling with the arms too early.	Your main focus should be on leg drive first, then shrug and pull under.
Not fully extending in the second pull.	Make sure you have completed a full hip, knee, and ankle extension before pulling under.
Catching the bar too far forward.	Keep the bar close to the body and pull straight up.
Poor squat depth or mobility.	Improve ankle, hip, and shoulder mobility for a deeper catch.

Clean and Jerk

The clean and jerk is one of the two competitive lifts in Olympic weightlifting, alongside the snatch, but you also see it in gyms around the world as a staple for athletes who want to build strength and explosiveness for their sport.

It is actually two lifts combined into one. The first part, the clean, gets the bar from the ground to your shoulders. The second part, the jerk, takes it from your shoulders to overhead. It looks effortless when you see a good weightlifter do it, but it takes time to get the technique right. If you’re starting out, the key is to have patience. Speed and power will come once you’ve ingrained the correct form into your muscle memory. Start with just the bar (or even just a PVC pipe) and practice until the movement feels natural.

Because the clean and jerk is a complex movement involving the entire body, it can be a good idea to seek guidance from a coach or experienced lifter, at least in the beginning. They can spot form errors and suggest mobility drills. If you don’t have access to a coach, filming yourself can be a reasonable alternative and reveal issues you might not feel in the moment.

Like we did with the snatch, let’s break down the step-by-step instructions in extra detail.

Phase 1: The Clean

The clean is the first part of the movement, where you pull the bar from the ground to the front rack position.

1. Setup
   • Stand with your feet hip-width apart and grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width with a hook grip (thumb wrapped under fingers).
   • Position your shoulders slightly in front of the bar, keeping your back flat and your chest up.
2. First Pull
   • Drive through your legs, keeping the bar close to your body.
   • Extend your knees while keeping your hips and shoulders rising at the same rate.
   • Brace your core throughout.
3. Second Pull (Explosive Phase)
   • Once the bar reaches mid-thigh, aggressively extend your hips, knees, and ankles (triple extension).
   • Shrug your shoulders and begin pulling yourself under the bar. Your goal is to generate maximum upward force.
4. Third Pull (Pulling Under the Bar)
   • Pull yourself under the bar quickly, transitioning into a front squat position.
   • Catch the barbell on the front rack (shoulders) with your elbows high and chest up.
5. Front Squat Recovery
   • Stand up from the squat.

Phase 2: The Jerk

The jerk follows the clean and is where you push the bar overhead to straight arms.

1. Setup for the Jerk
   • After standing up from the clean, stabilize the bar in the front rack position.
   • Your feet should be hip-width apart, and your elbows slightly in front of the bar.
2. Dip and Drive
   • Take a deep breath and brace your core. Slightly bend your knees and dip straight down (not forward).
   • Drive upward by extending your knees and hips, generating force to launch the bar upward.
3. Split or Power Jerk
   • As the bar moves overhead, split the feet (split jerk) or dip slightly (power jerk).
   • Catch the bar with locked-out arms and an active shoulder position.
4. Recovery
   • Stabilize the weight overhead.
   • Bring the front foot back, then the rear foot to stand up fully.
   • The lift is complete once you stand still with the bar overhead.
   • Lower the bar in front of you, with control.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

Mistake	Fix
Pulling with the arms too early.	Focus on leg drive first, then shrug and pull under.
Catching the clean with low elbows.	Keep your elbows high to prevent bar slippage.
Leaning forward in the dip of the jerk.	Maintain an upright torso during the dip.
Pressing the jerk instead of driving it.	Use leg power to push the bar overhead.

Squat

The squat is one of the most basic but essential exercises in all of strength training, regardless of whether you’re training for raw strength (powerlifting), muscle mass (bodybuilding), or athletic performance. It also has a permanent spot in any beginner to advanced Olympic weightlifting program.

As a weightlifter, you mainly utilize the back squat to build general hip and leg strength. Because you position the bar on the upper traps (high-bar and low-bar variations exist, but weightlifters almost exclusively do high-bar squats), you can handle heavier weights than in the front squat. Both squats have their place—the back squat is a foundational tool for building strong legs, and the front squat is a movement-specific strength tool.

How to Squat

1. Place the bar on your upper back with your shoulders blades squeezed together. Inhale and brace your core slightly, and unrack the bar.
2. Take two steps back, and adjust your foot position.
3. Squat as deep as possible with proper form.
4. With control, stop and reverse the movement, extending your hips and legs again.
5. Exhale on the way up or exchange air in the top position.
6. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Overhead Press / Push Press

The overhead press (also called the strict press or simply “the press”) is a classic exercise in weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, sports, and general strength training. It used to be a contested lift in Olympic weightlifting (as the clean and press) but was removed in 1972 as lifters developed more and more excessive back-bending techniques—basically turning it into standing bench press—to lift heavier weights, making it difficult for judges to determine if a lift was performed correctly.

The main movers in the overhead press are the shoulders, triceps, and upper chest, making it great for improving stability and lockout strength in the snatch and clean & jerk. You also use your core to stabilize the movement and the upper back to control the bar path.

When doing overhead presses, keep your legs straight and avoid using them for momentum. That’s a push press, but the overhead press should be a strict upper-body movement.

In the 5 Day Intermediate d Olympic Weightlifting Program, you’ll be rotating between the two exercises on different days.

Snatch Pull

The snatch pull is a great accessory exercise for reinforcing snatch mechanics while allowing you to use more weight than you could handle in the full movement. Unlike the snatch itself, where you receive the bar overhead in a squat, the snatch pull stops at the top of the second pull, meaning you don’t actually catch the bar—you just focus on the forceful upward pull.

Snatch pulls have several benefits that make them indispensable for weightlifters. First and foremost, they build confidence and strength in the specific movement patterns you need to snatch heavy weights and improve your capacity to generate force quickly—a quality referred to as “speed-strength,” which is central to success in Olympic lifting. It also helps you fine-tune your positioning by ingraining a vertical line of drive.

You can program snatch pulls both during hypertrophy phases, with higher repetitions and moderate weights to build posterior chain strength and technique, and lower reps with heavier weights to maximize force production and speed.

How to Snatch Pull

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, gripping the barbell with a wide snatch grip. Keep your back straight, chest up, and shoulders slightly in front of the bar.
2. Push through your legs to lift the bar off the floor, keeping it close to your body. Maintain a straight back and keep your arms extended.
3. As the bar passes your knees, shift your torso upright and prepare to extend your hips.
4. Explosively extend your hips, knees, and ankles (triple extension), shrugging your shoulders and pulling the bar upward.
5. Keep the bar close to your body as it rises, then control it back down to the floor.
6. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Power Clean + Power Jerk Complex

A complex in Olympic weightlifting combines two or more exercises performed sequentially without setting the barbell down. In the 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program, you’ll do one such complex—the power clean + power jerk complex—where you perform the two movements in succession to build explosive strength, technical proficiency, and coordination and improve your confidence in handling heavy loads during dynamic movement.

The movement pattern of this complex improves the force transfer and rapid extension of the hips, knees, and ankles required in sports like basketball, football, tennis, track and field, and many other explosive sports disciplines. And, of course, Olympic lifting.

In this training program, you’ll perform this complex at moderate loads (moving from 70 to 85% of your one-repetition max power clean) for moderate to low repetitions to maintain high movement quality and explosiveness throughout.

How to Do the Power Clean + Power Jerk Complex

1. Stand close to the barbell with your feet hip-width apart. Grip the bar just outside your legs, using a hook grip or regular overhand grip. Keep your back flat, chest up, and shoulders slightly in front of the bar.
2. Push through your feet and lift the bar off the ground, maintaining a flat back. Keep the bar close to your body and arms fully extended.
3. Once the bar passes your knees, explosively extend your hips, knees, and ankles upward. Shrug your shoulders aggressively upward to create momentum on the bar.
4. Quickly pull yourself under the bar, rotating your elbows forward under the barbell.
5. Catch the barbell across the front of your shoulders, in a partial squat (above parallel), elbows high and chest upright.
6. Stand tall to fully stabilize the bar in the front rack position. Take a brief moment to stabilize and reset your stance if needed.
7. Perform a short, controlled dip by slightly bending your knees while keeping your torso vertical. Immediately drive forcefully upward through your legs, extending your hips, knees, and ankles.
8. As the bar moves upward, quickly drop into a shallow squat position. Press yourself beneath the bar and catch it overhead with straight, locked-out arms.
9. Secure the barbell overhead, then carefully stand up fully with arms locked out and feet aligned.
10. Lower the bar back to the shoulders and carefully return it to the floor or perform another repetition.

Front Squat

The front squat is a variation of the traditional squat, but instead of resting the barbell on your upper back, you position it across the front of your shoulders and support it with your fingertips and upper chest.

It is a knee-dominant movement focusing more on the quadriceps than the back squat. Unlike the back squat, which allows for a more hip-dominant hinge, the front squat requires you to stay vertical, or the bar will roll forward, and your lift will fail.

You front squat strength gains directly carry over to Olympic weightlifting, the clean & jerk in particular. The receiving position in the clean is essentially a front squat. However, that doesn’t mean you should only do front squats and not back squats. You can use more weight in the regular squat, which makes it better for overall strength-building, so doing both is a good idea. In the 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program, you’ll do just that.

How to Front Squat

1. Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width. Step forward and place the bar on the front of your shoulders: on top of your clavicles, and tight against your throat.
2. Inhale and brace your core slightly, and unrack the bar.
3. Take two steps back, and adjust your foot position.
4. Squat as deep as possible with good technique.
5. With control, stop and reverse the movement, extending your hips and legs again.
6. Exhale on the way up or exchange air in the top position.
7. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Pull-Up

The pull-up is a fantastic exercise for building a wide back and has been a staple in fitness and bodybuilding since forever, but it is also a valuable accessory in Olympic weightlifting. It develops upper-body pulling strength and stability in the back and shoulders, which indirectly improves your weightlifting performance as your pulling capacity contributes to better positioning and stability in the main lifts.

If you can do more repetitions than the 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program calls for, you can strap on a backpack or hang a weight belt between your legs for added resistance.

How to Do Pull-Ups

1. Stand beneath a pull-up bar and reach up to grasp it with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Ensure your grip is secure and comfortable.
2. Hang freely from the bar, fully extending your arms. Your feet should be off the ground.
3. Engage your core muscles by squeezing your abs and glutes.
4. Inhale and initiate the movement by pulling your body weight up towards the bar by bending your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Focus on using your back muscles rather than relying on your upper arms.
5. Continue pulling yourself up until your chin reaches or clears the bar. Keep your torso upright and avoid excessive swinging or kicking with your legs.
6. Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position while maintaining control and stability, fully extending your arms.
7. Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Power Snatch

The power snatch is an extra-explosive variation of the traditional Olympic snatch. You lift a barbell from the floor to overhead in a single motion but in contrast to the full snatch—which involves a deep squat position to receive the barbell—the power snatch requires you to catch the bar at a position above parallel, in a quarter or half squat.

Because you have to catch the bar at a higher position, you can’t use as heavy weights as you can in the full snatch, but doing so requires tremendous speed, timing, and explosive force, building explosive power while reinforcing proper bar path and positioning. It also works like a diagnostic tool for your technique, pinpointing faults such as poor hip extension, incomplete pull, or slow transition under the bar.

How to Power Snatch

1. Step up close to the bar, so that it is about over the middle of your foot.
2. Lean forward and grip the bar with a wide overhand grip, close to the weight plates.
3. Hold your breath, brace your core slightly, and lower your hip closer to the floor.
4. Lift the bar in a smooth but fast motion, by extending your legs and knees simultaneously.
5. Once the bar has reached maximum speed, bend your knees slightly and catch the bar on straight arms over your head.
6. When you’ve got control of the bar, stand up straight.
7. Lower the bar in front of you, with control.

Overhead Squat

The overhead squat is one of the fundamental accessory lifts in Olympic weightlifting, developing the stability, mobility, strength, and technical proficiency you need for a successful snatch. It requires more shoulder, thoracic spine, and hip mobility than either the back or front squat, combined with positional accuracy and the ability to brace and stabilize your core under load because of the fact that you hold the barbell overhead during the entire movement.

Mastering the overhead squat correlates with performance in the snatch—if you can’t overhead squat a weight, you likely lack the overhead strength and stability to snatch it—making it an important component of many weightlifting routines. It builds strength and confidence in the bottom catch position and drives the neurological adaptations to stabilize heavy loads in a dynamic way.

The 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program uses the overhead squat for moderate-volume sets with relatively lower intensity compared to back squats or front squats to hammer good technique and build muscle endurance and positional strength.

How to Overhead Squat

1. Stand about shoulder-width apart. Grip the barbell wider than shoulder-width and press it overhead, locking your arms and shoulders into place. Ensure the bar is positioned slightly behind your head in line with your heels, stabilizing your core and squeezing your glutes.
2. Engage your shoulders by pushing up into the bar, keeping your elbows locked. Keep your gaze forward, and your spine neutral.
3. Start the squat by moving your hips back and down. Keep your chest up and the barbell stable overhead.
4. Lower yourself as deep as your mobility lets you, but at least parallel to your knees, without compromising your form.
5. Drive through the soles of your feet to return to the starting position, keeping the barbell overhead and your body stable.
6. Stand up fully at the top of the movement, with your hips and knees fully extended and the barbell still overhead.
7. Repeat for the deisred number of repetitions.

Plank

The plank is an isometric core strength exercise that is hugely popular for general fitness purposes but also very valuable for Olympic weightlifters. It is a simple yet effective exercise to develop the supplemental muscular endurance and stability you need for successful snatch and clean & jerk performance.

A strong core is essential for maintaining proper positioning during heavy lifts in Olympic lifting. When performing movements like the snatch or clean & jerk (and variations thereof, plus squats), the ability to brace and transfer force from the legs through your torso into the overhead or rack position relies on your core being able to handle it.

The plank strengthens many muscles, but the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, and internal and external obliques in particular. While it may seem basic compared to more dynamic Olympic lifts, its isometric nature replicates the bracing required during maximal lifts.

The 5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program will call for planking a set amount of time; use added resistance if you can do more than that.

In addition to the standard plank, you’ll also be doing the side plank, which emphasizes the obliques and lateral stabilizers, which help you resist rotational forces and maintain balance and symmetry under uneven or dynamic loads.

Clean Pull

The clean pull is a weightlifting exercise for developing explosive power, strength, and technique for the clean portion of the clean and jerk. It is like the first and second pull of the clean and reinforces those movement patterns but without the additional technical demand of receiving the bar in a front squat. Because it eliminates the catch, you can use heavier loads than your max clean, making it very effective for overload training.

Clean pulls might look similar to snatch pulls, but there are differences in grip width, pulling mechanics, and body positioning.

Factor	Snatch Pull	Clean Pull
Grip Width	Wide grip (snatch grip)	Narrower grip (clean grip)
Starting Position	Hips lower, chest higher	Hips slightly higher, chest slightly lower
Pulling Path	Bar stays closer to the body but moves higher due to wider grip	Bar follows a more vertical path
Final Extension	Often involves an exaggerated shrug and more aggressive triple extension	Powerful but less exaggerated triple extension

How to Clean Pull

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and grip the bar just outside your knees. Keep your back straight, chest up, and shoulders slightly in front of the bar.
2. Push through your legs to lift the bar from the floor, keeping it close to your body. Maintain a straight back and extend your knees while keeping your torso angle constant.
3. Once the bar passes your knees, explosively extend your hips, knees, and ankles while pulling the bar upward.
4. As you extend, shrug your shoulders forcefully and let the momentum bring the bar up. Keep your arms relaxed and elbows pointing up.
5. Let the bar descend under control and reset for the next rep.
6. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Hang Snatch

The hang snatch is a variant of the classic snatch, frequently used by athletes and weightlifters who want more speed, power, and technical precision.

Unlike the conventional snatch, you start the hang snatch with the barbell already lifted off the ground and held in a hanging position, at mid-thigh or just above the knee. It improves explosiveness, coordination, and positional awareness, making it ideal both as a teaching progression and as a strength-building movement.

By removing the pull from the floor, you zero in on the second pull phase—the explosive extension—without being hindered by the complexity of the initial lift-off. You can focus more on technique, particularly extension speed, timing, and the mechanics of pulling under the bar. Also, the limited range of motion allows the hang snatch to train correct positioning, helps you maintain close bar proximity to the body, and teaches you to use your hips and legs more efficiently.

How to Hang Snatch

1. Grip the bar with a wide overhand grip, and lift it up to get into the starting position, with the bar resting in the hip crease.
2. Hold your breath, and brace your core slightly.
3. Lower the bar along your thighs, down to about knee level, by bending your hips and knees.
4. Reverse the movement, and lift the bar in a smooth but fast motion by extending your legs and knees simultaneously.
5. Once the bar has reached maximum speed, squat down deep and catch the bar on straight arms over your head.
6. When you’ve got control of the bar, stand up straight.
7. Lower the bar in front of you, with control.
8. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Clean

The clean is the first part of the competitive clean and jerk lift and a tremendous exercise in its own right, often used in other sports to develop power, strength, and explosiveness.

In the 5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program, you’ll do cleans as the first part of a complex of three exercises, going directly into a front squat, then finishing with the jerk.

How to Clean

1. Step up close to the bar, so that it is about over the middle of your foot.
2. Lean forward and grip the bar with an overhand grip, about shoulder-width apart.
3. Hold your breath, and brace your core slightly.
4. Lift the bar in a smooth but fast motion. Then squat down again to receive the bar on the front of your shoulders.
5. Stand up on straight legs again.
6. If you are doing cleans as a stand-alone exercise, you would lower the bar in front of you at this point, but as part of the complex in this program, you go right into a front squat instead.

Jerk

The jerk is the second part of the competitive clean and jerk that develops explosive power, speed, and coordination in the legs, hips, and shoulders. As a standalone exercise, it’s very effective for improving overhead strength and stability, as well as transferring force from the lower to the upper body.

In the 5 Day Olympic Weightlifting Program, you’ll do cleans as the third and last part of a complex of three exercises, directly from the front squat.

How to Jerk

1. Hold the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, and let it rest on the front of your shoulders.
2. Hold your breath, and brace your core slightly.
3. Slightly bend your knees, and then forcefully extend them to push the bar up.
4. Duck under the bar and catch it on straight arms, with your legs in a lunge position or squat position.
5. Stand up on straight legs while controlling the bar on straight arms above your head. If you caught the bar in a lunge position, first take a step back with your front foot and then step forward with your back foot, until you’re standing with your feet side by side again. If you caught the bar in a squat position, just stand up as in a normal squat.
6. Lower the bar in front of you with control.

Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is a hip-hinge movement that builds the posterior chain—the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. Unlike the standard barbell deadlift, you don’t reset the bar on the ground each rep. Instead, you begin from a standing position and lower the bar to around mid-shin or just past the knees, then drive back up.

While the RDL isn’t a competitive lift itself, it makes you stronger and more explosive in them, especially the first and second phases of the pull.
For example, in both Olympic lifts, you begin the movement by pulling the bar off the floor using your posterior chain, and the RDL makes you stronger in this portion by training the hamstrings and glutes in a way much like the pulling mechanics of these lifts. That strength translates directly to your ability to explode off the floor and extend fully at the hips.

In addition, the RDL is fantastic for flexibility, great both for the mobility you need for optimal pulling positions and injury prevention.

How to Do Romanian Deadlifts

1. Get into the starting position by deadlifting a barbell off the floor or by unracking it from a barbell rack. Stand feet hip-width, inhale, and brace your core slightly.
2. Lean forward by hinging in your hips. Keep your knees almost completely extended.
3. Lean forward as far as possible with good form (no rounding your back). You don’t have to touch the barbell to the floor, although it is OK if you do.
4. Reverse the movement and return to the standing position. Exhale on the way up.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Final Words: 5 Day Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program

Thank you for checking out this weightlifting program. 🏋️ Follow it for 12 solid weeks of training, and you’ll be ready for new PRs, whether in a competition against other lifters or against yourself.

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More Olympic weightlifting:

>> Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Program: Exercises & Guide

>> Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program: Exercises and Guide

>> Advanced Olympic Weightlifting Program: Exercises & Guide