Weightlifting consists of two disciplines - snatch and clean + jerk. We call it the Olympic weightlifting because it is the only kind of weight lifting being performed at the Olympics. Other sports or competitions that include weight lifting are power-lifting, strongman and bodybuilding, but weightlifting is specific and completely different from the other three.
Olympic disciplines and their variations are dynamic, explosive and require flexibility, focus and precision. They are very demanding when it comes to skills and techniques; that is why you should have appropriate guidance and instructions.
Snatch and clean / jerk require more time to learn than some common ways of training with weights, but also give significant results already in the short term. And when one gets the knowledge, you can save time in your training because it can serve as a great variety of training whole body.
The adoption of higher levels of weightlifting skills develop and increase the range of physical abilities which are therefore better transmitted to the various sports.
Explosiveness in Olympic weightlifting is what brings immeasurable value and benefit into the preparation of athletes. The second pull of snatch and clean is the most explosive phase in weightlifting, from which the athletes have the most benefits (especially in explosive high jump sports like volleyball or basketball). Also, the phase of catching rods can be very useful in combat sports for force absorption of weights and fast altering the position of the body at the hip. Olympic weightlifting is very much used in the physical preparation of the wrestlers (throwing opponents), high jump athletes or long jump athletes, shot put and other heavy-athletic disciplines. In recent years, the benefits of weightlifting are getting recognized in other sports and that is the reason why it is also getting increasingly used as part of the physical training of athletes from various sports as it includes all aspects of the body development - power, explosiveness, mobility, flexibility and motor skills.
Metabolic and hormonal benefit is also linked to the Olympic lifts. Studies have shown that it affects the increase secretion of growth hormone, and uses a large number of muscle fibers. There is also a great benefit in terms of neural activation due to CNS (central nerve system) activates the way it is impossible to activate with other ways of weight training. Using more motor units, balance, coordination and flexibility can also be equally enhanced and transferred to sports activities.
Another advantage of the Olympic weightlifting is that it has one of the smallest percentages of all sports injuries. It should be noted that this applies to athletes who adopt good weight lifting techniques.
Weightlifting is very important for us as we age because, the same as doing strength training or gymnastics, it enables us to maintain a high level of mobility and functional life.
And the last but not least: physical appearance.
Weightlifting develops our body extremely well because of its ability to activate many muscle fibers and to speed up the metabolism. More calories are burned through explosive exercises, and it involves the whole body (multi-joint exercises) which means you will get a very well-balanced musculature.
Also, it is one of the best ways to increase muscle strength without weight gain (see the competitors in the lower weight brackets who may not even get a few pounds, but regularly become stronger).
We hope that we brought you a little closer to weightlifting as a sport, as a great tool for athletes or as part of the training through which you can quickly reach your aesthetic goals.
In any case, weightlifting is one of the sport disciplines that provide excellent ratio of time and energy consumed to improvement obtained. It is not easy to learn, but once adopted, and incorporated into the training provides invaluable results, results that can not be provided by any other training with an external load. Of course athletes, additionally to weightlifting, need to work on sport specific preparation. But as the basis for all other specific upgrade and conversion in sports performance, weightlifting is the ideal choice.
