Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to study combined elastic resistance training and cluster set in strength and power in youth Olympic weightlifters. The research had stage 1; 9 female weightlifters aged 13-17 years, performed clean pull training with combined free weight 90% and elastic resistance 10% at 85% of 1RM 6 repetitions of inter-repetition resting time (IRR) of 20, 30 and 40 seconds. Stage 2; 16 male and female weightlifters aged 13-17 years, divided into 2 groups, and perform 6-weeks of training. Experimental group performed the same method as stage 1 with IRR 40 seconds while control group performed a traditional training. Stage 1 results shown that IRR 40 seconds training method had peak power (PP), peak force (PF), peak velocity (PV), and average %decline more than IRR 20 and 30 second methods (P<0.05). Stage 2 results shown no statistical differences between groups. However, the experimental group improved PP, maxRFD and 1RM, while the control group improved maxRFD and 1RM but have PV decline (P<0.05). In conclusion, the combined free weight with elastic resistance training and the cluster set training is an effective training program for improving PP and maintaining PV