i understand your point, but weightlifting increases muscle density. muscle density equals more weight. gymnasts can't have this. they must derive power from other exercises. i am aware of weightlifting that increases power (Sharansky) but we just can't have pre-pub kids doing power lifts, etc;. just much to dangerous. (Bompa, Sands, George)
some of these concepts can't be debated. and the limited weightlifting they do in college is for injury prevention/rehab. here's a pretty good one as i'm a bit tired tonight to type.
http://www.pcgymnastics.com/Conditioning.html
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/gymnastics-training.html
When you are speaking of muscle density, I am assuming that you are speaking of muscle hypertrophy? In terms of male gymnasts, I'd say that this might of a little concern depending on the volume of training. But, with the vast majority of females this would be of little concern because females do not have the hormone levels unless they are paying a visit to the local biochemist. Furthermore, if you're training specifically for power and controlling the volume and load, it should not be an issue for the majority of male gymnasts, either.
Secondly, why can't you have pre-pubescent kids doing olympic and/or power lifts? Who told you that? A more correct way to put it is that you have to be conservative with how you load a pre-pubescent athlete. But, they most definitely can learn the technique of the lifts and can make gains from the neuromuscular aspects alone. Keep in mind that maximal loading does not equate to power development. Power development is really more dependent on the velocity of the movement. Even for elite-level Olympic weightlifters, they will produce more mechanical power on a submaximal lift. I believe that peak power usually occurs around 85-90% of their max on average. In a standard textbook, the loading parameters for power development is usually something like 70-80% of 1 RM. It depends on the text that you're referencing.
Lastly, it really makes little difference if you've coached an elite gymnast or not. If Simone Biles walks in my door and possesses that level of talent, is it really that difficult to coach her? She already has natural gifts and is essentially a genetic freak. Most elite athletes are. So, professing your expertise because you have coached elite athletes is of little relevance when what we are arguing is science-based. You can coach all of the elite gymnasts in the world and you still can't argue with what exists in the research as well as what other practitioners are doing in other domains without any issues.
And, what they do at the ranch? Well, I could give a flying sh**. They are well behind the times and live within their little box only. They need to get outside of it and analyze what some of the world leaders in sport performance and training are doing and see how these things could be implemented into gymnastics. Then, we'd probably have less injuries and early retirements.
And, by the way, Bill Sands is currently at Middle Tennessee State with Dr. Mike Stone, the last I checked. Dr. Stone is pretty prominent in Strength & Conditioning research and I'd be shocked if Bill already departed back for Utah because he and the Stones have collaborated on quite a bit of research together. I would guess that is what attracted him to the position at MTSU. He has not been there much over a couple of years, I don't believe.
I do respect Dr. Sands work and especially his expertise in the area of recovery. That being said, he actually has expressed that he feels that gymnasts should implement some weight training into their gymnastics training. I believe that there is an article out there from many years ago titled "Should Female Gymnast Lift Weights?" I am sure you could find it on the web somewhere.
As for how I have the "temerity to opine on this kind of stuff when they have never trained an elite gymnast," is because I have this piece of paper framed lying in a box that says "Masters Degree" and it's in the area of Kinesiology. In addition, I have another transcript that indicates that I have an additional 30 graduate hours with the majority of those hours in the area of clinical biomechanics. Then, I have this certification called "Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist" (CSCS). Next, I have a certification called "Certified Personal Trainer" (NSCA-CPT). After that, I have a certification called "USA Weightlifting - Level 1 Sport Performance" (USAW-L1SP). Following that, I have a certification called "IYCA Speed & Agility Specialist." Then, I have a certification called "Functional Movement Screen - Level 1." And, let's not forget my regular subscriptions to the training sites "BodyByBoyleOnline.com," "EliteTrainingMentorship.com" and "StrengthCoach.com" where I get to learn from some of the best in the strength & conditioning industry. Currently, I'm working on the Precision Nutrition certification.
Of course, for anyone who has certifications, we both know that some of these certs are just pieces of paper. The ones that I have are very well-respected and in some cases the "gold-standard," but they really mean very little. That said, it does provide some level of credibility. I have gained so much more by self-study and going to conferences, reading the literature, and asking a lot of questions to people who are way smarter than me when it comes to training and the human body.
So, I toss that out there not to toot my own horn, but I've never been a fan of people running their virtual "mouth" when they are insulting others who are expressing a different opinion(s). And, based on the inability to formulate proper sentence structure and erroneous information, I am guessing that they lack the educational pedigree as well.
Finally, what BlairBob has commented in regards to weight training/strength/power development is correct despite the criticism by the next person who posted.
(However, I do think the snatch actually measures as the highest actual mechanical power output even over sprinting. That is why Olympic lifting and the variations are so heavily regarded in power sports/events like sprinting, discus, shot put, hammer throw, etc.)
