In 2008, after considerable time researching powerlifting, I started following templates written by Boris Sheiko for beginners.
I had heard a lot about Sheiko, but most of it was conjecture and speculation. I knew he had produced many champions, but I had heard his approach is impossibly difficult. But the more I researched strength training, the more I began to see the sense behind the little I had found online and through other lifters and coaches.
The results were profound and significant. Gradually I came to see how well thought-out and effective they were. He has undoubtedly been the most influential coach for me and until recently I had never even communicated with him until last year. I have been privileged to have been coached by him for the 2014 Australian nationals and Classic World Champs. This has been an incredible experience for me, both as a lifter and a person interesting in strength training systems.
Following the world champs coach Boris Sheiko has been kind enough to answer a few questions in interview form. Hopefully these questions and answers will shed more light on Sheiko and his coaching system. For more information please see his website at: http://sheiko-program.ru/
Steven Pritchard: You are regarded by many as the greatest powerlifting coach in the world. Can you summarize what experience and training you have undertaken to get you to where you are now?
Boris Sheiko: I was the head coach of the junior weightlifting team in the Kazakh SSR from 1975-89. At the same time (January of 1984 to November of 1986) I worked as a coach on the USSR’s junior weightlifting team with my student German Muratov. These three years were the most difficult for me but also very rewarding. I took part in six or seven training camps, each 24 days straight plus competitions. During this time I gained extremely valuable experience from phenomenal coaches such as: A.S. Medvedev, A.S. Prilepin, A.N.Vorobev, D.A. Rigert, I. Abadjiev and many others.
In January of 1985, the junior Bulgarian team, by the invitation of the State Committee of the USSR, came to train with us in Tsakhadzor (Armenia) for a 24-day joint training camp. In July of the same year, the USSR’s junior team went to Varna (Bulgaria) for another joint training camp. The chief of the Soviet national team at the time was world champion and Olympic games champion L.I. Zhabotinsky. For me it was a great joy and pleasure to communicate with Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky every day. We exercised together everyday after breakfast and until the team’s workout. Every night after the team’s "lights out”, we played chess while discussing the problems of weightlifting.
Let me just tell you a short story that comes to mind about Leonid. Our teams ate together in a local restaurant. One Sunday evening there was a young Bulgarian couple celebrating their wedding at the restaurant. The teams sat at tables on the left while the wedding guests sat on the right. Music, dance and songs filled the room. Leonid wanted to sing for the newlyweds, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. The team coaches, with great difficulty, persuaded him to go to the podium. He agreed, but insisted on being accompanied by one more person. I volunteered. Leonid first congratulated the newlyweds and then began to sing the Russian folk song: "Ehala troika s bubentsami…". Right after the first verse, all conversations stopped with everybody in the restaurant in total silence. I watched with admiration as the Soviet giant sang and admired his great voice. I would have never thought that Leonid Zhabotinsky – one of the world’s greatest weightlifters could so perfectly control his voice and render everyone speechless. At the end of the song there was a still silence for a minute and then applause erupted and didn’t stop for several minutes. Following that performance some grateful guests brought bottles of cognac to our table. Decades have passed, but I often think of this training camp in Bulgaria and the pleasure of communicating with Leonid Ivanovich Jabotinsky and his general company.
Okay, back to things. In these training camps I saw firsthand how the Bulgarian national team members train. Ivan Abadzhiev brought many of his athletes along and we worked closely together. During this time I got to know the Bulgarian system very well. A few years later in 2000, when Bulgaria took the European championships in weightlifting, my student Svetlana Khabirova won the European championships with a European record in the snatch and I was very pleased when Ivan Abadjiev personally offered congratulations for Svetlana’s victory.
After Khabirova and Muratov I had another very talented student: Alexey Sivokon. Alexey started off weightlifting and reached the title of Master of Sports of the USSR at a young age. Alexey won the bronze medal in the USSR’s under-18 championships two times. In December of 1989 in Karaganda (Kazakhstan) the 1st Kazakh SSR Powerlifting Cup among men was held (women didn’t compete at that time) and I was persuaded to put Alexey in just for team points.
Above: Boris Sheiko and Alexey Sivokon
Alexey was in his preparative period at that time. Nevertheless, his performance caused great surprise. At 56 kg, he won the Cup with 175 kg, 100 kg, and 175 kg lifts for a 450 kg total. I felt that Alexey had a great future in powerlifting and I was right. In October of 1990, at age 17 he won the USSR Cup among men (adults) in the 60 kg category with 230 kg, 130 kg, and 230 kg lifts for a 590 kg total. Exactly one month later in Ashahabat (Turkmenistan) Alexey won the Cup of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with 245 kg, 140 kg, and 230 kg lifts for a 615 kg total at 64.5 kg body weight. So we decided to go to powerlifting and from 1990-96 I was the head coach of powerlifting in the Republic of Kazakhstan. I was responsible for all the teams (men, women, and junior) of Kazakhstan Powerlifting.
In 1991, at age of 18, Alexey won the silver medal at the world championships in Sweden. Seven-time world champion Austin Dan (USA) took the gold medal. Two years later in 1993 Alexey beat Austin by 20 kg and became the new world champion. In that same year, Alexey also won the World Junior Championships.
In 1994, my student Nadezhda Mir won the world championships in New Zealand in the 52.5 kg category with 155 kg, 87.5 kg, and 185 kg lifts for a total of 427.5 kg. January and February of the following year were very tough in Kazakhstan. The temperature reached minus 30-35 degrees. We had no lighting or heating in the gym either. Each athlete came to the gym ready to train with a candle. And so with 15-20 athletes, we had decent lighting in the gym. Due to the cold the athletes trained in gloves. Nadezhda Mir often broke down in tears but continued to train despite the circumstances. Her patience paid off. She won the world championships for women in 1995 in Japan at 51.2 kg for the second time. Her results were 157.5-80-180 kg, for a total of 417.5 kg.
In 1997, the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russia) invited me to work as the powerlifting coach in Ufa. The chairman of the sports club Irbis, Anatoly Efimov, created an environment for professional athletes. They were given nutrition, salaries and uniforms. Irbis also had a sauna, swimming pool, and massage room. Athletes trained 8 times per week: two workouts per day on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and one workout per day on Tuesday and Wednesday. The athletes rested on Thursdays and Sundays. These excellent conditions and training schemes immediately led to notable results. Our club had the following achievements:
World Champions Sergey Mor (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001) Maxim Podtynyj (1998, 1999) Irina Abramova (1999, 2000, 2001) Ravil Kazakov (2002, 2004, 2007) Yuri Fedorenko (2003) and others.
Above:
Irina Abramova
Also I had several students from other cities. We were all connected in that we all possessed dedication, were highly enthusiastic, and had a thirst for victory at all levels of competition.
Steven Pritchard: I have heard many people say "Sheiko training is too hard" or "it is for advanced lifters". I suspect this comes from people who do not like training hard or people who have tried to follow a plan not designed for someone of their level. Do you coach people of all levels and abilities? Do you train beginners or people who are training for other sports?
Boris Sheiko: As for my programs being too hard, in all the universal programs that I have written in the past and that I currently write for a wide range of athletes, I always warn that the programs should be changed for each person’s needs. Another very common difficulty I encounter is that many people do not use programs appropriate for their skill level, instead hoping that following a champion’s program will turn them into an instant champion without having to pass through the prior stages of training. I write programs for all stages of an athlete’s training lifetime. But because of impatience, many people only look at the goal without really thinking about how to get there.
I train athletes from absolute beginners to all the way to master’s class athletes as well as disabled lifters in the IPC federation. I have helped fencers develop speed-strength qualities of their upper bodies, basketball players to increase their body weights and strength, wrestlers to improve their strength endurance and many other qualities in different athletic fields. Working with such diverse conditions in beginners to the elite really develops a global perspective and has proved enormously valuable. It is like driving in the darkness with bright headlights that allow you to see things farther down the road that you may not see with a more limited view.
Above: Yuriy Fedorenko in 2006
Steven Pritchard: Following on from this last question, there are obviously many things you consider when you are developing a plan for a lifter. Can you briefly outline how you determine such things as how much volume, how often they train, how heavy etc?
Boris Sheiko: First of all, I need to see what the main technique problems are. Having identified the problems I can prescribe exercises that will help to correct these mistakes. I also try to determine which of the athlete’s muscles are weak and then plan work to strengthen them.
For example, my student Ravil Kazakov had very good results in the squat and bench press, with weak results in the deadlift. Therefore I increased the load in the deadlift and cut back a little on the bench and squat. As another example Yuri Fedorenko had a weak bench press. We worked on this exercise tremendously and hit it from a variety of different angles. We managed to increase his results from 195 kg in 2000 up to 272.5 kg in 2005.
Above: Ravil Kazakov
When I plan the program for an athlete I also take into account his environment, way of life, and working conditions. It is clear that a student will be able to recover faster than a full-time worker. Of great importance for the recovery of athletes are their recreational activities. Once at 1 a.m. I noticed that a student left comments on Facebook and chatted through the night. At the workout the next day he was unable to squat 85% for 2 reps x 4 sets. Following the workout he had an unpleasant conversation with me.
Steven Pritchard: How do you change training as an athlete progresses? Do you generally make them do more volume, heavier, more frequency or does it vary from lifter to lifter?
Boris Sheiko: This is very individual yet there is one principle that is constant: progress in the main lifts depends on the intensity of the workout (in terms of force needed to move the barbell). Volume has less influence than the intensity. So then, I am often asked, why are my programs lower in intensity? They are not. With warm up sets included in the calculations, even when the main working weight is 90%, the mean intensity can still be around 70%. It doesn’t mean all work was performed at 70%. But there are pitfalls to working regularly at 90% and above. So I include variations of the lifts that give the athlete the benefits of higher intensity yet still allow them a break.
There are coaches and athletes who are categorically against the planning of programs with percentages: they prefer to trust their intuition and train depending on their feelings. During the last 40 years, I have been writing programs for my students with percentages because it is easier for me. For example, an athlete has a 200 kg 1RM squat, we take it as 100%. After 6-8 weeks of training we do a squat test and the athlete squats 210 kg. If there are more than 6 weeks out from a competition, we use 210 kg as the new max. I have noticed that in the first two weeks of training with the new 1RM, the athlete will have difficulties. So that is why I plan no more than 75% during the 1st week. During the 2nd week I prescribe 80% and the athlete has some difficulties again. The patterns are predictable and the solutions are simple with percentages. After 6-8 weeks we do the test again.
I deeply believe that a coach who is planning a program must know everything about his athlete and feel the essence of this person. When I am writing an individual program for an athlete, I try to pass this program through myself, I try to imagine how an athlete will feel himself after a large, medium or small workout.
All athletes are different. The body's ability to recover differs from person to person. For example, my student Alexey Sivokon did around 3000-3500 lifts per month while Maxim Podtynnyj could not do more than 1100 lifts.
Above: Boris Sheiko and Alexey Sivokon
Steven Pritchard: Are there important differences you consider between the way you plan for men and women, or light and heavy lifters, juniors or masters?
Boris Sheiko: There is only one difference in training between men and women and this is due to menstruation. During the critical days I do not plan deadlifts and reduce the weight of squats.
As for body weights, lighter athletes train with higher volume and greater intensity than athletes from heavier weight categories. Jan Urusov is the junior world champion in the bench press and bronze medalist in the open category (2014) and trains 4 times per week. He is doing much more volume and intensity than Kirill Sarychev at 180 kg body weight. Jan can do 2 large workouts per week, and Kirill can only do one per 10 days. A junior is usually a person who has no work and other concerns that adults have. That is why they can recover more quickly than masters who have a lot work, big family, housework, etc. Therefore, the load in the programs should be different for each person.
Above: Kirill Sarychev
Steven Pritchard: When I was in Russia for the world champs in 2013 I spoke to a few Russian lifters and coaches. One said to me "the difference between Australian and Russian lifters is coaching". He meant in Russia good lifters train under a coach who will carefully devise a plan for them, watch and help them with training and technique. In Australia and many other countries lifters simply follow plans they find online and just train without supervision or coaching. To me this is a big difference. I know your coaching has helped me tremendously. How have you found training people via video and email? Do you feel like you have made a big difference to lifters you have coached in this way?
Boris Sheiko: When I write a program, I hope that the athlete will be able to perform it completely but I do want my students to be “co-authors” of my program. For example, if the student comes to the gym tired, he can decrease the intensity. If an athlete has a cold or a fever, he should rest instead. I want the athlete to understand that he is not a robot that executes a program mindlessly or a soldier who has to obey orders even if it means death.
Steven Pritchard: For a beginner, what do you think are the most common mistakes?
Boris Sheiko: Beginners (from an absolute zero level up to an athlete who has been training for six months) can make mistakes only in their technique. Their coach bears responsible for this and not only in powerlifting, it is in all sports. The main task of any coach is to teach an athlete the proper technique of competition exercises. Whatever technique provided by a coach is a technique that will be with them for a long time. And it is very hard to break old bad habits. I always say that the technique of an athlete is the face of their coach. If an athlete in competition demonstrates bad technique it means that a bad coach trained them.
Steven Pritchard: Do you have favorite lifters? Who are they?
Boris Sheiko: Alexey Sivikon and Kirill Sarychev.
Above: Boris Sheiko with Alexey Sivikon and Ravil Kazakov
Steven Pritchard: What are your favorite memories as a coach?
Boris Sheiko: I always enjoy when my students win a world championship in a tough fight. In 2002 the 33rd World Championships among men were held in Trencin (Slovakia). There were three strong athletes in the 52 kg weight class: 8-time world champion Andrzej Stanashek (Poland), multiple champion of Asia Hu Chun-Hsiung (Taipei) and my student Ravil Kazakov (Russia). It was interesting that all lifters has the same bodyweight: 51.8 kg. Knowing that Stanashek is weak in deadlift, I said to Ravil that after the first two movements he has to total within 50kg of Stanashek and also he should try to overtake Hu Chun-Hsiung by more than 50kg. Ravil coped with this and won the world championship becoming the first athlete to beat the great Andrzej Stanashek. The results were:
1. Kazakov (51.8 kg) 242.5-152.5-195. 590 kg (7 successful attempts)
2. Stanashek (51.8 kg) 280-165-135. 580 kg (4 attempts)
3. Hu Chun-Hsiung (51.8 kg) 215-120-245. 580 kg (6 attempts)
After the ceremony, when I approached Ravil, I asked him: "Ravil, tell me what you want and you will have it." I thought that he would ask for money or something like that. He lowered his eyes and muttered in a low voice: "I want to eat." He had been dieting hard for a month and he was very hungry. So we went to a restaurant and he ate as much as he wanted (placing him into the 56 kg category).