Introduction
Olympic Weightlifting can be a sport in which athletes compete for that total weight of 2 lifts: the snatch and also the clean & jerk. The courses methods used in Weightlifting can also be utilized by Strength & Conditioning coaches as a method of weight training for a wide range of other sports. One of the primary causes of exploiting various weight training modalities such is for power development. There are numerous variations on the party 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 well known method used to increase athletic power is Olympic Weightlifting (ie power cleans, push presses, snatches, jump jerks and their variations) conducted within the weight room (Garhammer, 1993). It is traditionally been viewed as a productive way of manufacturing general explosive ability (Takano 1992; Stone 1993; Garhammer & Gregor 1992). However, there are more important considerations which require to be addressed when implementing Olympic lifting exercises in to the Strength & Conditioning program of your athlete, many of these include movement competency, training age, sport and coaching time with athlete. The objective of this article by Elite Performance Institute (EPI) is always to supply a biomechanical and physiological discussion as to the reasons weightlifting work outs are necessary to improve athletic performance and the way they will be performed in a training curriculum. For more information, please visit www.epicertification.com
Power Defined
Power continues to be thought as the optimal combination of speed and strength to generate movement (Chu 1996). More specifically, power represents light beer the athlete to generate high numbers of work through certain distance. The greater power an athlete possesses the greater the amount of work performed (Wilson 1992). Power can be a combination of strength and speed:
POWER = FORCE (strength) X VELOCITY (speed to move)
There are numerous physiological and neural adaptations which comprise the strength component (Moritani 1992). Physiological adaptations to strength incorporate a rise in muscle tissues through hypertrophy, ligament density and bone integrity (Tesch 1992a). Neural adaptations (Schmidtbleicher 1992) that could be produced are: (1) increased recruitment of motor units; (2) increased firing rate of motor neurones; (3) synchronised firing of motor neurones; (4) increase in intra-muscular coordination; and (5) increase in inter-muscular coordination.
Speed to move is composed of a variety of interrelated factors (Ackland & Bloomfield 1995). These are generally; (1) muscle fibre type; (2) skill; (3) muscle insertion points; (4) lever length; (5) muscular posture; and (6) elastic energy utilisation of the series elastic component.
Olympic Weightling exercises facilitate development of the center (Strength-Speed and Speed-Strength) from the force-velocity (FV) curve (see above). The FV curve acts a road map to Strength & Conditioning Certification according to the form of strength developed from each exercise, session or phase to train within the program. Therefore, the Strength & Conditioning coach can effectively plan what type 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 within the weight training programs of athletes in sports besides weightlifting. These concerns generally fall into 3 broad categories: 1) Perceived time forced to discover the movements due to the complexity from the lifts. 2) Too little knowledge of the possible bene?ts that could be produced from performing Olympic lifting exercises correctly. 3) Concern over the potential for injury resulting from practicing these weightlifting movements.
It’s evident there’s a great number of biomechanical important things about practicing these lifts with limited disadvantages. The biggest risk continues to be from the perceived danger of practicing these lifts. Based on the data presented by Brian Hammill from the British Weightlifting Association (BWLA), it can be stated with con?dence the injury risk will be as low or less than most sports providing there exists quali?ed supervision given by certi?ed Strength and Conditioning coach who had been competed in coaching the weightlifting movements.
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