What is olympic weightlifting

But not all weightlifting is Olympic weightlifting. What is Olympic weightlifting, exactly? It is a competitive weightlifting event governed by the rules and guidelines of the U. Olympic Weightlifting Objective Of course the object of competitive weightlifting is to lift the more weight than your competitors, but there is more to it than that.

The amount of weight attempted varies by weight class, which is different for men and women. Click here to find out more about our weightlifting courses. Weight Training is the most common type of strength and conditioning used to develop the strength and size of skeletal muscles. The basic principles of weight training involve targeting specific muscle groups by performing exercises that either use bodyweight, weighted bars, dumbbells or specialised equipment.

Incorrectly performing these exercises can result in injury or failure to get the desired results because the targeted muscle group is not challenged sufficiently. The boom in the health and fitness industry means there is now a plethora of training advice available at your fingertips, however, we strongly advise that you do your research.

Lifting safely and efficiently should be your number one priority. Para Powerlifting is the Paralympic weightlifting discipline which has been adapted from non-disabled powerlifting. Lifting heavy too soon and lacking core strength can lead to back pain or injury.

We take a deep dive into the mechanics behind this "simple" but complex move. Written by Giselle Castro. Related Articles. Thank you for signing up. Your information has been successfully processed!

This concept also applies to the ankle, knee, and hip joints which all experience an increase in angular velocity towards the end of the second pull Figure 5. As the fastest portion of these lifts is experienced at the very end of the movement, this suggests that Olympic Weightlifting movements are somewhat similar to ballistic exercises. This implies that unlike strength training exercises such as the back squat, Olympic Weightlifting or ballistic exercises experience no deceleration at the end of the movement.

As a result, this continual movement acceleration is similar to that of jumping and sprinting. In summary, it is the combination of their large force and power outputs and similarities to sporting movements which leads exercise professionals to believe Olympic Weightlifting can have a large dynamic correspondence with sport-specific performances. Having read the previous sections, it is clear why strength and conditioning coaches will often use Olympic Weightlifting to improve athletic performance.

However, these lifts are only be used for improving athletic performance, but also as a tool for monitoring performance and the effectiveness of their training programme. Due to the inaccessibility of most laboratory equipment in practical environments, strength and conditioning coaches will often use the 1RM back squat, 1RM power clean, and a vertical jump to analyse the power profile of their athletes. Each exercise is used to analyse power capacity in a different manner:.

There is often an interesting debate between the effectiveness of Olympic Weightlifting to improve motor skill development and acquisition in sport-specific skills. For instance, whether a training programme based only on Olympic Weightlifting would improve very particular sport-specific movements e.

Saying this, this is often the case with other forms of training such as hypertrophy, strength, and plyometrics. This debate is built entirely on our lack of understanding between the Olympic Weightlifting and its dynamic correspondence.

The debate between Olympic Weightlifting and its effects on sport-specific performance are grounded primarily by the following points. This issue between Olympic Weightlifting and their dynamic correspondence arises when the movement and their application of forces are analysed in further detail.

Whilst they appear to imitate sporting movements and also use the same primary joints, muscle groups and ranges of motion, the magnitude amount and direction of force application is somewhat different to sport-specific movements e. Suggesting that they are effectively different high-level motor skills despite appearing biomechanically similar. There are three primary biomechanical differences between Olympic Weightlifting and the high jump take-off:.

Understanding this information regarding the underpinning biomechanical differences between the Olympic Weightlifting and other complex high-level sport-specific skills is very valuable for programme design. It is this level of in-depth understanding that allows a top-level strength and conditioning specialist to make well-educated judgement towards the specificity of their exercise selection.

Credit to Lift Lab Co. To advance current understanding of Olympic Weightlifting and its transferability to athletic performance, the following research fields are warranted:. Although the concept of using Olympic Weightlifting exercises as a method of improving sport athleticism is not new, there has only been a growing body of research in the past several years.

With the recorded levels of force and power outputs expressed during Olympic Weightlifting movements, there is no surprise that they have formed a staple part of many strength and conditioning programmes. Whilst there are suggestions that Olympic Weightlifting may not improve very complex sport-specific skills, current evidence has proven their ability to enhance jump, sprint, and balance performances in controlled testing environments.

Regardless of the concerns regarding whether Olympic Weightlifting can improve sport-specific skills, like many other forms of training, it has been proven to improve regimented forms of athletic performance but has not necessarily been shown to enhance sport-specific skills. As a result, it may be suggested that Olympic Weightlifting is a useful tool to enhance athletic performance.

Lastly, as Olympic weightlifting exercises are recognised as highly-skilled explosive movements, it may be extremely beneficial to educate early specialisation of the lifts in an attempt to maximise later life skill acquisition and therefore their transferable effect to sporting performance. Some coaches believe that reading one article will make them an expert on strength and conditioning. Strength and conditioning entails many, many topics. To make you an expert coach and make your life as easy as possible, we highly suggest you now check out this article on Tactical Strength and Conditioning.

Reference List click here to open. Owen is the founder and director of Science for Sport. Olympic Weightlifting Use this article to expand your knowledge around Olympic Weightlifting and understand how it can be useful for sports! Access a Library of Sports Science Mini-Courses For Free Learn from the best coaching minds in the world with unlimited access to a growing collection of sports science mini-courses for free. Get Instant Access For Free. By Owen Walker 09 Apr 5 min read.

Why is Olympic Weightlifting useful for Sports? Summary Olympic Weightlifting exercises are reported to be a common component in the strength and conditionin g programmes of many high school and professional athletes. What is Olympic Weightlifting? The two primary reasons Olympic Weightlifting is so popular amongst strength and conditioning coaches are for: Power Development strength-speed Biomechanical similarities to sporting movements kinematic and kinetic.

They train the strength-speed component of the force-velocity curve. They produce tremendous levels of explosive force and power. Have shown relationships with jump and sprint performances.

Have been shown to improve jump, sprint and balance performances. Have been shown to have a direct relationship with the rate of force development.