Introduction
Olympic Weightlifting is often a sport through which athletes compete to the total weight of two lifts: the snatch along with the clean & jerk. The training methods utilized in Weightlifting are also utilised by Strength & Conditioning coaches as a technique of lifting weights for the great deal of other sports. Most significant reasons behind exploiting various lifting weights modalities such is perfect for power development. There are lots of variations on the theme of power training. A few of these training modalities include plyometrics (Wilson, Elliot & Wood 1990), assisted and resisted training (Faccioni 1993a; 1993b) and speed and acceleration drills (Cinkovich 1992). A favorite method utilized to increase athletic power is Olympic Weightlifting (ie power cleans, push presses, snatches, jump jerks in addition to their variations) conducted in the weight room (Garhammer, 1993). It has traditionally been seen as effective way of producing general explosive ability (Takano 1992; Stone 1993; Garhammer & Gregor 1992). However, there are more important considerations which need to become addressed when implementing Olympic lifting exercises to the Strength & Conditioning program of the athlete, a few of these include movement competency, training age, sport and training time with athlete. The purpose of this post by Elite Performance Institute (EPI) would be to supply a biomechanical and physiological discussion that explains why weightlifting work outs are useful to improve athletic performance and exactly how they must be performed inside a training curriculum. For additional information, go to www.epicertification.com
Power Defined
Power continues to be thought as the optimal combination of speed and strength to make movement (Chu 1996). More specifically, power represents the ability of the athlete to make high numbers of process certain distance. The harder power an athlete possesses the higher the a higher level work performed (Wilson 1992). Power is often a combination of strength and speed:
POWER = FORCE (strength) X VELOCITY (speed to move)
There are lots of physiological and neural adaptations which comprise the strength component (Moritani 1992). Physiological adaptations to strength consist of a rise in muscle tissue through hypertrophy, ligament density and bone integrity (Tesch 1992a). Neural adaptations (Schmidtbleicher 1992) that may be produced are: (1) increased recruitment of motor units; (2) increased firing rate of motor neurones; (3) synchronised firing of motor neurones; (4) boost in intra-muscular coordination; and (5) boost in inter-muscular coordination.
Speed to move is composed of many different interrelated factors (Ackland & Bloomfield 1995). They’re; (1) muscle fibre type; (2) skill; (3) muscle insertion points; (4) lever length; (5) muscular posture; and (6) elastic energy standby time with the series elastic component.
Olympic Weightling exercises facilitate progression of the very center (Strength-Speed and Speed-Strength) with the force-velocity (FV) curve (see above). The FV curve acts a guide to Strength & Conditioning Courses UK according to the sort of strength developed from each exercise, session or phase to train in the program. Consequently, the Strength & Conditioning coach can effectively plan which kind of power they need to develop and which training modality (powerlifting, Olympic liftining, plyometrics, etc) is better utilised to elicit these adaptations.
Conclusion
Concern still exists for the ef?cacy of including Olympic weightlifting exercises in the lifting weights programs of athletes in sports apart from weightlifting. These concerns generally fall into 3 broad categories: 1) Perceived time needed to learn the movements as a result of complexity with the lifts. 2) Too little understanding of the possible bene?ts that may be derived from performing Olympic lifting exercises correctly. 3) Concern over the potential for injury as a result of performing these weightlifting movements.
It really is evident you can find a great number of biomechanical advantages of performing these lifts with limited disadvantages. The biggest risk continues to be with the perceived danger of performing these lifts. On such basis as the research presented by Brian Hammill with the British Weightlifting Association (BWLA), it could be stated with con?dence the risk of injury is as low or under most sports as long as there exists quali?ed supervision given by certi?ed Strength and Conditioning coach who have been competent in coaching the weightlifting movements.
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