Introduction
Olympic Weightlifting can be a sport in which athletes compete for that total weight of two lifts: the snatch along with the clean & jerk. The training methods used in Weightlifting are also utilised by Strength & Conditioning coaches as a technique of strength training to get a number of other sports. One of the primary reasons behind exploiting various strength training modalities such is for power development. There are several 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 popular method employed to increase athletic power is Olympic Weightlifting (ie power cleans, push presses, snatches, jump jerks along with their variations) conducted within the weight room (Garhammer, 1993). It has traditionally been seen as an effective way of manufacturing general explosive ability (Takano 1992; Stone 1993; Garhammer & Gregor 1992). However, there are more important considerations which require being addressed when implementing Olympic lifting exercises into the Strength & Conditioning program of your athlete, some of these include movement competency, training age, sport and coaching time with athlete. The goal of this article by Elite Performance Institute (EPI) would be to provide a biomechanical and physiological discussion why weightlifting training is necessary to improve athletic performance and how they ought to be performed within a training curriculum. For more information, please visit www.epicertification.com
Power Defined
Power may be understood to be the optimal blend of speed and strength to make movement (Chu 1996). Particularly, power represents light beer the athlete to make high numbers of work through confirmed distance. The harder power an athlete possesses the larger the amount of work performed (Wilson 1992). Power can be a blend of strength and speed:
POWER = FORCE (strength) X VELOCITY (speed of motion)
There are several physiological and neural adaptations which comprise the strength component (Moritani 1992). Physiological adaptations to strength consist of an increase in muscle tissues through hypertrophy, connective tissue 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) surge in intra-muscular coordination; and (5) surge in inter-muscular coordination.
Speed of motion comprises various 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 very center (Strength-Speed and Speed-Strength) with the force-velocity (FV) curve (see above). The FV curve acts a road map to Strength & Conditioning Certification Dublin regarding the sort of strength developed from each exercise, session or phase of education within the program. As a result, the Strength & Conditioning coach can effectively plan which kind of power to merely develop and which training modality (powerlifting, Olympic liftining, plyometrics, etc) is better utilised to elicit these adaptations.
Conclusion
Concern still exists regarding the ef?cacy of including Olympic weightlifting exercises within the strength training programs of athletes in sports besides weightlifting. These concerns generally get into 3 broad categories: 1) Perceived time forced to educate yourself on the movements due to the complexity with the lifts. 2) A lack of understanding of the opportunity bene?ts that could be derived from performing Olympic lifting exercises correctly. 3) Concern on the possibility of injury resulting from doing these weightlifting movements.
It can be evident you can find a plethora of biomechanical advantages of doing these lifts with limited disadvantages. The biggest risk may be with the perceived danger of doing these lifts. Judging by evidence presented by Brian Hammill with the British Weightlifting Association (BWLA), it could be stated with con?dence how the risk of injury will be as low or below most sports provided that there is quali?ed supervision furnished by certi?ed Strength and Conditioning coach who have been been trained in coaching the weightlifting movements.
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