Olympic weightlifting is a implausible exercise. Not solely does it aid you construct power, however a few of its lesser-known advantages are that it additionally improves muscle definition, can assist enhance muscle mass and can be implausible for flexibility and vary of movement. It truly is an all-in-one exercise!
We’ve teamed up with Koroush and everybody on the Westway Barbell Fitness Club – primarily based at our Westway Portobello Highway Health Membership centre – to take you thru a few of the most typical Olympic weightlifting methods and their advantages. We’re additionally cautious to point out you methods to keep away from frequent errors which may result in you not getting probably the most out of every train or worse, hurting your self.
In fact, in the case of Olympic weightlifting, it’s vital you go to a coach who can educate you methods to carry out every approach correctly in a hands-on style. It is because everybody has totally different physique shapes and biomechanics, so it’s finest to discover a explicit approach that’s distinctive to you. This could solely be taught by an expert coach reminiscent of Koroush at Westway Barbell Health Membership. In any other case, you might properly find yourself hurting your self.
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Olympic Weightlifting Methods
Right here, we’ve compiled a few of the most typical Olympic weightlifting methods and given you a quick run via of each the proper approach to do them and a few frequent errors that folks make.
Overhead Squat
Our first Olympic weightlifting train is the overhead squat. That is best for working your legs, your core and your shoulder muscle tissues. For this method you’ll want a squat rack and a barbell. Start with the barbell resting throughout the again of your neck and shoulders and un-rack the bar. You then transfer your grip additional outwards in the direction of the ends of the barbell and drive it upwards, locking the bar over your head. Retaining the bar locked above your head with straight arms, transfer into the squat place, pushing up via your heels.
Do:
- Interact your core
- Monitor your knees outwards
- Make certain your shoulders are secure
- Push via your heels
- Preserve your shoulder blades again
Don’t:
- Lean ahead within the squat place
- Push via your toes
Entrance Squat
Our second weightlifting approach is the entrance squat. Just like the overhead squat, the entrance squat requires a barbell and squat rack and with this method you’ll be working quite a few totally different muscle teams. These embody all of your leg muscle tissues, your core, your higher shoulders and your higher chest, too. Resting the bar throughout the highest of your chest and holding in place both with a standard grip or a cross grip, angle your toes out, push your hips again barely, interact your core and transfer into the squat place. As soon as down, drive up once more via your heels, protecting your again straight.
Do:
- Interact your core
- Preserve your again straight
- Push via your heels
- Preserve your again straight
- Breathe with every rep
Don’t:
- Push via your toes
- Have your toes pointing straight forward
- Lean ahead
- Look down
- Loosen up your glutes on the backside of every squat
Again Squat
The ultimate of our trio of Olympic weightlifting squat demonstrations is the again squat, which is nice for working the again, the shoulder muscle tissues, the core and the legs too. To start with, it’s similar to the overhead squat. The bar is resting throughout our shoulders, our toes are pointed barely out, hips caught out barely and our core engaged. With this one, nonetheless, we’re not going to be driving the bar above our head. As an alternative, we maintain the bar throughout our shoulders and transfer into the squat place, together with your weight going via your heels. It’s additionally vital to breathe with every repetition.
Do
- Preserve your ft barely wider than shoulder width aside
- Preserve your again straight
- Interact your core
- Push via your heels
- Breathe with every rep
Don’t
- Level your toes straight forward
- Put your weight via your toes
- Lean ahead too far
Deadlift
A quite common Olympic weightlifting approach is the deadlift – which is all about posture. That is nice for constructing each power and vary of motion in your again, in addition to your hamstrings, glutes and quads. To finish a deadlift, start together with your ft barely wider than shoulder width aside, together with your knees and toes pointing outwards and the bar simply in entrance of you. Grasp the bar from a squat place and pull it up in the direction of your knees. When it will get to that top, you need to deliver it in in the direction of your hips – your centre of mass – and lock your knees, ensuring your backbone is straight.
Do
- Preserve your again flat
- Interact your core
- Interact your scapula muscle tissues
Don’t
- Level your knees and toes straight forward
- Lean ahead
- Push via your toes
The Clear
An extra Olympic weightlifting approach is the clear. That is one you might properly have seen on the TV when watching the Olympics or the Commonwealth Video games at residence and we’re going to display the way you do it. Firstly place – everybody has their very own manner of doing this, so it’s vital you discover a coach who can assist you discover yours – you pull the bar up in the direction of your waist. This features a fast explosive motion that entails the hyperextension of some joints, together with his shoulders and his toes. From that place, you progress right into a ‘excessive pull’ which brings the bar up in the direction of your chest, from the place you’ll ‘obtain’ the bar and get right into a entrance squat racking place. It’s vital to have the ability to transfer across the bar, reasonably than simply shifting the bar itself.
Do
- Preserve your again straight
- Preserve your toes pointed barely outward
- Put your weight via your heels
Don’t
- Level your knees straight forward
- Disengage your core
Cut up Jerk
Our sixth Olympic weightlifting approach is the cut up jerk. For this one, it’s value protecting the lunge in thoughts, because it’s a key a part of the entire operation. You start in a entrance squat place, earlier than shifting up onto your toes and pushing the bar up in the direction of your nostril. From right here, you ‘cut up’ your legs into the lunge place, punching the bar upwards on the similar time. In addition to pushing the bar upwards, the secret’s to get your self beneath the bar, in order it goes up, you go down into the lunge. You then recuperate into what seems like an overhead squat place, with the bar above your head and your legs straight.
Do
- Bend your again knee as a lot as doable
- Divide your weight between your back and front legs evenly
Don’t
Snatch
Our closing Olympic weightlifting approach is the snatch. From the identical begin place as for the clear, start with a deadlift. From there, we go to the excessive pull – as with the clear once more – protecting the bar as shut as doable to your physique and hyperextending your again. To attain hyperextension of the again, you want to get your glutes and your again muscle tissues to work collectively. From the excessive pull, you drop your self down beneath the bar, locking your elbows and standing up straight.
Do
- Preserve your heels on the bottom within the beginning place
Don’t
- Disengage your scapula when receiving the bar
Constructing Muscle Mass with Olympic Weightlifting
Though Olympic weightlifting gained’t essentially assist bulk you up, there are some methods and workout routines that can aid you to achieve muscle mass. The very first thing to do is to be sure to’re not lifting an excessive amount of. A terrific rule of thumb is to intention for round 70% of your body weight. It is because selecting a group of compound workout routines (when there may be a couple of muscle group concerned and is engaged) will interact 70% of your muscle tissues, reminiscent of all of the leg muscle tissues, core muscle tissues and posterior chain of muscle teams (again muscle tissues).
Complicated, compound actions are the way in which to go and we’re starting with some deadlifts, shifting into some powers and a few entrance squats. Doing this methodology of coaching means that you can interact as much as round 80% of your muscle teams at a time, which may give you implausible outcomes in the case of constructing muscle mass. These are additionally nice as a result of they’re pretty easy compound workout routines that carry the identical bar path, which permits the mind to comply with a sample – making it simply repeatable.
