Olympic weight lifting is likely the best kept secret when it comes to fitness. Walk into any gym these days and you will be hard pressed to find anyone doing a clean or a snatch. I have read several books on the topic and even purchased a "how to video" on performing the lifts correctly. Now I do not have any dreams of being a professional Olympic weightlifter but I do understand its value in developing my fitness level. Nothing compares to Olympic lifts in terms of speed development, flexibility, total body strength and muscle gains.
Actually, there are really only two Olympic lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. A snatch is a combination of a dead lift, barbell shrug, and an over head squat performed in one fluid movement. The clean and jerk is a combination of a dead lift, upright row, front squat and a push press. How effective are Olympic lifts; the vertical leap is a very basic measure of athletic ability ? Olympic weightlifters surpass everyone. Michael Stone, PhD and currently professor of exercise science at Eastern State University talks about a test he performed when working at the Olympic Training Center. ?We measured vertical jumps of athletes in nearly every sport and Olympic weightlifters had higher average jumps than all other groups ? basketball players, gymnast, sprinters, everybody?. Even the bulkiest lifters are capable of incredible lifts.
So what is it about these lifts that have mystical effects on the body? They engage nearly all of your muscles to move the weight faster and farther than traditional bodybuilding movements. Actually, each repetition only takes a couple of seconds from start to finish targeting fast twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch muscles offer the greatest potential for size and strength gains. These are also the muscles that are most often overlooked in the typical weight lifting routine. If Olympic weightlifting is so superior, why is it you seldom see anyone performing these lifts in the local gyms? The primary reason is they are technically difficult to perform. A bicep curl or a triceps press are relatively easy movements and require very little instruction. A snatch or clean and jerk require a qualified instructor to teach the movements, otherwise, you risk injury or at the very least, incorrect execution. Luckily there is a shortcut to experience the benefits of Olympic weightlifting. With these lifts there are two phases: the pull and the catch. During the pull you explode upward pulling the barbell off the floor and in front of your thighs as if you were trying to jump to the ceiling. During the catch phase you quickly move your body under the bar and catch the weight on your shoulders or above your head. A lwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S, a certified weightlifting coach says ?In my experience, 95 percent of the benefits of Olympic lifts come from the pull phase?, which is the simplest and safest movement. ?Almost all of the technical difficulties occur during the catch phase?. That is why he has eliminated the catch phase from nearly all of his training programs and probably a pretty good reason why you should too. He went on to say ?Most men need to worry about the catch only if they are interested in competing in the sport?. There are many resources to learn Olympic weight lifting, I would suggest you learn the moves and watch your athletic performance take off.
