Set the Bar High
As you may have noticed, a stable component of the IRONSKY Training Program is Olympic Weightlifting, but is this type of training for everyone?
Olympic Weightlifting or in short Weightlifting is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete vying to successfully lift the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead: these are the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk. The snatch is a lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The clean and jerk is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders (the clean), and then from the shoulders to overhead (the jerk).
Critics will claim that the average person has no benefit in performing this type of lifts and should be avoided in their training to prevent unnecessary injuries. This line of argument often follows from an assumption that the lifts are too technical or complex to benefit the average person. But even a single weightlifting class participation will reveal that the challenge and technical complexity is what makes these movement patterns and lifts so effective.
How often do you get your arms overhead? During the day how many times do you reach something that is above your eye level? Probably not enough. Our shoulders are designed to perform a 360-degree motion, but the modern way of living made life so effortless that most people spend days without lifting their arms overhead. This lack of movement will eventually lead to anatomical problems such as kyphosis and scoliosis. The process of achieving a solid overhead position in Weightlifting may first seem unnecessary, but the overspill of health benefits and the reversal effect of long sitting hours are outstanding for the average individual. Listed below are some of the paybacks the individual will receive but investing time and effort in weightlifting classes:
1. Opening tight shoulders.
2. Improving pure posture and opening chest.
3. Strengthening weak shoulders and arms.
4. Preventing lower back pain.
5. Improving balance.
6. Getting rid of the text neck syndrome.
7. Avoiding weaknesses on the spine and legs.
8. Improved Core Strength
Professional Strength coaches throughout the world have recognized the ability of weightlifting to improve athletic performance in a wide range of sports, from track & field to basketball, to surfing, to motorsports. The Olympic lifts and their variations have long been used as a strengthening technique to build an athlete’s explosive power, control of external objects, and mastery of critical motor recruitment patterns. Through our training programs, we place a heavy emphasis on Weightlifting having seen this sport’s unique ability at developing many of the adaptations essential for peak fitness: speed, strength, power, flexibility, coordination, agility, accuracy, and balance. We are seeing big improvements on all levels of clients but a serious athlete aiming to excel in his or her sport should not make his or herself a disservice and shy away from incorporating this type of training in their regimen.
Finally, it is our obligation as your coaches to recognize that Olympic lifts can be dangerous or detrimental to your athletic performance if programmed inappropriately and/or performed consistently with bad mechanics. Our role is to give guidance and prevent unacceptable technique faults. Irrespective of your level, the same path will be followed when adding any type of new adaptation to your program. Mechanics – Consistency – Intensity. Only after significant technical ability has been achieved is intensity added — slowly. There is no place in the discussion for getting away with poor technique and the value we place on good movement effectively negates the argument.
Competition to establish who can lift the heaviest weight has been recorded throughout civilization. It is no coincidence that the quote “Set the Bar High” is used so regularly to talk about huge achievements.
