A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING:
THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

www.WaxmansGym.com

From the desk of Sean GYM Waxman: A WAXMANS SPECIAL REPORT

OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING THE SECRET FOR ATHLETIC SUCESS

Sean Waxman Waxmans Gym 15711 Condon Av. #A3 Lawndale, Ca. 90260

Brothers and Sisters of Iron,

Thank you for downloading this free report on Olympic Weightlifting. If you are currently not using the Olympic lifts as part of your training or if you are performing them incorrectly, you are missing out on the key to unleashing your full athletic potential. I have been a professional Coach for over 18 years as well as a World Class Olympic Weightlifter. There is NOBODY in Southern California with my winning combination of formal education, Strength Coaching experience, Strength Coaching success, Olympic Weightlifting, and other athletic achievements. Thats what makes me an expert. Dont take my word for it, FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF! If you want to become a competitive Weightlifter or learn how to Snatch and Clean & Jerk properly, you need to come to Waxmans Gym!

Fight until your very last breath,

Sean Waxman Waxmans Gym

W- www.waxmansgym.com E- info@waxmansgym.com www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

8 UNIQUE BENEFITS OF WEIGHTLIFTING

Almost any form of resistance training can improve an athletes strength, but the snatch and C&J are unique in their ability to develop strength and explosive power at the same time. And the benets of practicing the Olympic lifts are hardly limited to developing strength and power. Here is a partial list of other added benets: 1. The mere practice of the Olympic lifts teaches an athlete how to explode (to activate a maximum number of muscle units rapidly and simultaneously). Part of the extraordinary abilities of the Olympic lifters arises out of their having learned how to effectively activate more of their muscle bers more rapidly than others who are not so trained (in addition to having developed stronger muscles). 2. The practice of proper technique in the Olympic lifts teaches an athlete to apply force with his or her muscle groups in the proper sequences (i.e., from the center of the body to its extremities). This is a valuable technical lesson which can be of benet to any athlete who needs to impart force to another person or object (a necessity in virtually every sport). 3. In mastering the Olympic lifts, the athlete learns how to accelerate objects under varying degrees of resistance. This is because the body experiences differing degrees of perceived resistance as it attempts to move a bar with maximum speed through a full range of motion. These kinds of changes in resistance are much more likely to resemble those encountered in athletic events than similar exercises performed on an isokinetic machine (which has a xed level of resistance or speed of resistance throughout the range of motion). 4. The athlete learns to receive force from another moving body effectively and becomes conditioned to accept such forces.

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD
5. The athlete learns to move effectively from an eccentric contraction to a concentric one (through the stretch-shortening cycle, the cycle that is activated and trained through exercises that are often referred to as plyometrics). 6. The actual movements performed while executing the Olympic lifts are among the most common and fundamental in sports. Therefore, training the specic muscle groups in motor patterns that resemble those used in an athletes events is often a byproduct of practicing the snatch and C&J. 7. Practicing the Olympic lifts trains an athletes explosive capabilities, and the lifts themselves measure the effectiveness of the athlete in generating explosive power to a greater degree than most other exercises they can practice. 8. Finally, the Olympic lifts are simply fun to do. I have yet to meet an athlete who has mastered them who does not enjoy doing the Olympic lifts. While making workouts enjoyable may not be the primary objective of a strength coach, it is not an unimportant consideration in workout planning. Athletes who enjoy what they are doing are likely to practice more consistently and to be more highly motivated than athletes who do not enjoy their workouts as much.

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

THE SCIENCE OF POWER

Weightlifting is a sport in which athletes compete for the total weight of 2 lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk. The training methods used in this sport are also used as a method of strength training for a wide range of other sports. Weightlifting exercises can be effective for enhancing athletic performance that requires high-load speed strength such as football, basketball, volleyball, and track and eld events because of their biomechanical characteristics of high force and power output. Power is the ability of the neuromuscular system to perform work over a given time period or, alternatively, the product of force that can be exerted at a given velocity of movement. For the majority of sports performances, power output is the critical mechanical quantity required rather than force production, that is, strength

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD
To enhance maximal power, athletes need to perform training movements that involve rapid acceleration against resistance, and this acceleration should extend throughout the movement with no intention to decelerate at the end. Almost all rapid movements in sports exhibit such an acceleration prole; therefore, the training method that mimics this prole would likely induce desirable sport-specic adaptation. During the pull phase of the clean and snatch and the drive phase of the jerk, athletes extend their hips, knees, and ankle joints to push against the ground as hard and as rapidly as possible at a given weight, producing just such an acceleration prole for the barbell and body. The kinematics and kinetics are remarkably similar to jumping. Importantly, there is no need to control the upward movement of the weight to actively decelerate the barbell, for this is achieved by the inuence of gravity. In fact, athletes never DEADLIFT SQUAT BENCH PRESS 1,100 1,100 300 JERK SNATCH CLEAN
TABLE 1

EXERCISE POWER OUTPUTS

EXERCISE POWER OUTPUT (W) 5,400 3,000 2,950

Table 1- The highest recorded rates of force development have been demonstrated in male Olympic Weightlifters during the execution of the Clean and Jerk

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD
decelerate the upward movement in weightlifting exercises until extension is complete. Thus, weightlifting exercises from a biomechanical evaluation are an excellent method to train high-load speed strength. In contrast, other types of strength training exercises intrinsically contain deceleration movements. Even if athletes try to keep accelerating their movements, they are required to decelerate the weight at the end of range of motion. Otherwise, the weight is released from their hands or injury may occur to their musculoskeletal structures because of the kinetic energy they must absorb. In this manner, speed strength cannot be improved efciently. Plyometric exercises such as jumping, hopping, and bounding use the stretch shortening cycle and enhance athletes power output in the concentric phase. These types of exercises have the same characteristic as weightlifting exercises in that they do not require decelerating movements. Plyometric exercises can be used to improve low-load speed strength but not high-load speed strength. Because these exercises are performed with only the athletes own body weight, or a relatively small weight such as a medicine ball, the load is not high enough to improve high-load speed strength.

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

THE SAFETY OF WEIGHTLIFTING

Various studies were done showing Olympic weightlifting to be the safest form of resistance training there is. One study assessed the injury potential and safety aspects of weightlifting movements and Olympic weightlifting proved to be the safest stone (5). Another aspect that keeps many people away from weightlifting is the supposed fatal injury to the back. Again this is a false assumption spread through ignorance. A study was done comparing weightlifting to a control group of normal active men and their back pain was assessed. It turns out that only 23% of the weightlifters experienced back pain compared to 31% of the normal active men (2). Another study was performed concerning the injury per 100 hours and yes again weightlifting faired better than other forms of resistance training. In fact, for weightlifters the injury rate was less than half of the other forms of weight training (3). Weightlifting training and competitions together are much safer than other sports such as football, basketball, soccer, etc (7). It is clear to see that Olympic weightlifting is an extremely safe form of resistance training and sport for people to participant in.

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

THE EFFECTS ON BODY COMPOSITION

Another benet of weightlifting is the amount of muscles used in the lifts. The Olympic lifts involve basically every muscle in the human body and this entails a great workout. Olympic weightlifting also forces stabilizer muscles to activate to secure the weight overhead in the lifts. For a recreational lifter Olympic weightlifting will cut down on the exercise time, allowing them to get done in 45 minutes to 1 hour what they used to do in "traditional splits" for 1.5 hours or more! In an 8 week Olympic weightlifting program study, participants lowered their resting heart rate by 8%, lean body weight increased by 4%, fat dropped 6%, and systolic blood pressure decreased by 4% 5 (6). Not only is Olympic weightlifting safe it is a great way to stay in shape too!

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD

THE EFFECTS ON BONE DENSITY

Olympic weightlifting can also help prevent osteoporosis. To put it simply the greater the bone mineral density (BMD) the less chance of osteoporosis occurring. Bone mineral density measures the mineral density, such as calcium in the bones. Calcium is also constantly being added and removed from bones and when it is removed faster than it is added then the bones become weaker and are more susceptible to fractures. Remember a solid dense bone is much better than one that looks like a honey comb! A study involving elite junior Olympic weightlifters compared their BMD, at the lower back and the neck of the femur, to an exact age group and an age group ranging from 20-39 year old men. The elite junior Olympic weightlifters BMD were found to be signicantly greater then the age matched group and greater than the 20-39 year old men (1). It is suggested that the high overloads of stress from Olympic weightlifting have a major inuence on BMD. Again Olympic weightlifting has the ability to develop strong healthy bones that are resistant to fractures.

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING: THE MOST POWERFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD
References: 1. Conroy, Bp, Wj Kraemer, Cm Maresh, Sj Fleck, Mh Stone, Ac Fry, Pd Miller, and Gp Dalsky. "Bone Mineral Density in Elite Junior Olympic Weightlifters." (1993): 1103-1109. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 25 (1993). 2. Granhed, H. et al. Low back pain among retired wrestlers and heavyweightlifters. The American Journal of Sports Medicine,16(5):530-533. 1988. 3. Hamill, B. Relative Safety of Weightlifting and Weight Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 8(1):53-57. 1994 4. Hoffman, Jr, J Cooper, M Wendell, and J Kang. "Comparison of Olympic Vs. Traditional Power Lifting Training Programs in Football Players." 18 (2004): 129135. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 18 (2004). 5. Stone, M. H., A. C. Fry, M. Ritchie, L. Stoessel-Ross, and J. L. Marsit. Injury potential and safety aspects of weightlifting movements. Strength and Conditioning. June: 15-21. 1994. 6. Stone, M.H., et al. Cardiovascular Responses to Short-Term Olympic Style Weight-Training in Young Men. Can. J. Appl. Sport Sci. 8(3): 134-9. 7. Stone, M.H. Muscle conditioning and muscle injuries. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 22(4):457-462. 1990. 8. Tricoli, V, L Lamas, R Carnevale, and C Ugrinowitsch. "Short-Term Effects on Lower-Body Functional Power Development: Weightlifting Vs. Vertical Jump Training Programs." 19 (2005): 433-437. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 19 (2005). Works Sited: Hori, N. R Newton. and M Stone, Weightlifting Exercises Enhance Athletic Performance That Requires High-Load Speed Strength August: 50-55. 2005. Drechsler A. Appendix 3 The Weightlifting Encyclopedia: A is A Communication.1978 Benets of Olympic Weightlifting (http://www.owresource.com/lifts/benets.php)

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING THE SECRET FOR ATHLETIC SUCESS

www.WaxmansGym.com

A WAXMANS GYM SPECIAL REPORT OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFING THE SECRET FOR ATHLETIC SUCESS

www.WaxmansGym.com