Olympic Weight Lifting

The sport of Olympic weight lifting is a staple of the Olympics and probably the first thing that comes to mind to most people when the subject of lifting weights comes up. It is exciting to watch someone take a barbell loaded with weight, and rip it from the floor and to a position fixed over their head in less than a second! Men and women routinely lift weights that are two to three times their bodyweight and more, over their heads with consummate ease. It is no wonder that millions of people get excited about watching it every four years.

When most people go to the gym to build strength or to just get in shape, however, they seem to forget all about Olympic lifting and go straight to the shiny new machines and the cardio equipment. The problem with that is that one of the best ways to build muscle fast and to improve functional strength is through a weight lifting plan that includes some weight lifting exercises. Exercises like the power clean, the clean and jerk, the behind the neck push press, and the high pull will do wonders for your development. Plenty of information on this subject,and how to do the exercises can be found in Milo, which is a quarterly publication that can be found at www.ironmind.com.

This style of weight training can be incorporated into your weight lifting plan for power lifting to enhance your deadlift and squat. In Strongman competitions, many of the events involve lifting objects overhead in a manner that resembles the clean and jerk, so it is obvious that Olympic lifting exercises can be very helpful for that sport. Jesse Marunde is a perfect example of a weight lifter who took those skills over to Strongman with great success. Jesse actually finished in second place at the World’s Strongest Man contest in China 2005, the first American to finish that high since O.D. Wilson in 1990!

I hope some of you will take the time to learn some Olympic weight lifting exercises and include them in your training. You will build muscle faster and improve your functional strength.

Use Log lifting to enhance your Olympic Weight Lifting