The Most Effective Training Program Ever Created

In 1969, Ivan Abadjiev was appointed head coach of the Bulgarian national weightlifting team, marking the beginning of a revolution in the sport’s training methodology. With access to a relatively small pool of athletes and the freedom to experiment, Abadjiev developed what could be considered the most effective weightlifting program ever created.

Rather than expanding his team’s training regimen, Abadjiev did the opposite—he stripped it down. Over time, he eliminated nearly every exercise except three: the snatch, the clean and jerk, and the front squat. After each disappointing international performance, instead of adding more variety, he removed exercises that he deemed ineffective or nonessential. His approach was driven by removing anything he deemed unnecessary or ineffective - much like an Apple design philosophy.

Critics often attribute the success of Bulgarian lifters to widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), especially during the 1970s and 1980s when drug testing was either absent or largely ineffective. While it's likely that PEDs played a role, it’s worth conducting a thought experiment by comparing the two dominant training philosophies of that era: the Bulgarian system and the Soviet system.

The Soviet approach emphasized detailed periodization, a wide array of exercises, and general physical preparedness (GPP). Their athletes trained with various compound movements, pulls, presses, and auxiliary lifts, all carefully scheduled over time. In contrast, the Bulgarian method discarded complexity. Training was focused on just three lifts, volume was controlled by adding more daily training sessions, and intensity was regulated by Abadjiev telling his lifters to “continue to the maximum”.

Now, let’s assume for a moment that the Bulgarians were using PEDs extensively, and the Soviets were not. Despite this hypothetical imbalance, both countries produced world champions and Olympic record holders. If PEDs were the sole reason for Bulgarian success, logic suggests that combining Soviet methodology (assuming they were clean, therefore making it superior because it created champions sans-PEDs) with PED use would have produced even greater results. Yet the Bulgarians stayed the course, which suggests their training model offered something uniquely effective.

This leads to a compelling argument: the Bulgarian system may well be the most effective training methodology ever devised. Yes, it was intense—brutally so—and not every athlete could survive it. But is that fundamentally different from other elite-level sports?

Consider American football. Of the roughly 77,000 active college players each year, only about 257 are drafted into the NFL—a success rate of just 0.33%. At the high school level, nearly one million students play football, yet only 1,696 spots exist in the NFL, equating to a minuscule 0.17%. By comparison, Bulgaria reportedly had around 3,000 active weightlifters annually, with 30 selected for the national team—a 1% selection rate.

In this light, Bulgaria didn’t break athletes more than any other high-performance system—they simply treated weightlifting like a true elite sport. Not everyone makes it. It’s a system that favored resilience, drive, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.