When we think of stress, we are accustomed to concentrating on the harmful types of stress. In our everyday lives, we have to deal with lots of work stress, such as deadlines, low cash flow, high sales quotas, and type-A bosses, among others. Then don’t forget the rush hour drive home. How could anyone drive so stupidly?

Unlike in baseball, you are not safe at home, either. You will then have to deal with family and marital problems, to say nothing of the crabgrass. While the mostly younger athletes may not have to encounter those stressors, they will have many of their own. Their list might include:

• Injuries
• Slumps
• Not making weight
• Bomb-outs
• Staleness or not qualifying for a hoped-for team

We all know that training produces stress on the bodies and minds of athletes. Workouts break down the body and also deplete the nervous energy.

We are then inclined to associate such stress as bad for us. But is it all bad? Those lifters with even a little experience training know that adequate rest and diet after such workouts will soon produce a healthier organism.

Therefore, even negative stress, also called distress, can be useful for us, too, in the right circumstances.

Is There Such a Thing As Good Stress?

Having mentioned the concept of dis-stress our English majors reading this might be wondering if there is such a thing as eustress (noun: moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer) or good stress. Well, there certainly is. This kind of stress may or may not be tiring, but the subject welcomes it.

Examples might include:

• Graduating from school
• Finding a new partner
• Getting a job promotion
• Buying your first house
• And my favorite, winning the lottery.

We would all love to have to deal with such stress (especially the last one). All of these could help to eliminate the distress in our lives, right?

These things will undoubtedly eliminate some stress. However, the universe has some surprises for us here. As we think more deeply about what might happen in our lives, if we could experience any of the above, we may see that they are not all unalloyed bliss. They can quickly convert to more dis-stress.

Graduating from high school may mean moving away from home to a much more demanding college. That charming new girlfriend hates weightlifting and wants you to quit. That new job just means you will only be under the gun more.

So, therefore, just as bad stress can be useful for us, good stress can also be bad for us. The key is that eustress can unexpectedly have negative implications that change the subject’s perception of the eustress into something similar to distress.

Due to these perceptions, different athletes will then respond to identical stressors in different ways. How might that happen?

For example, let’s look at two lifters, A and B, who are both in training with hopes of making the national team. Great. One day, at the qualifying event, all those years of effort and self-denial are rewarded with PR totals and victory. Both make the national team.

Both imagine for years how great life will be once they hit that coveted elite level.

• More recognition
• Perhaps better funding
• Many perks
• No more having to self-finance their trips to competitions.

Now they no longer just dream about lifting in the Continentals, the Worlds or Olympics even. They are now likely picks. Surely the stress of having to qualify for the team will decrease, and they can settle down to serious training?

Look Again

If that is what they imagine, they may be in for a surprise. The national coach will now expect both A and B to train six days a week, sometimes twice a day.

And all with heavier weights. Making that Olympic team now seems harder than ever. In short, expectations and uncertainties begin to pile up, especially for Lifter B.

How Lifters A and B deal with them may be quite different; however, their stressors may seem identical. Lifter A might take things in stride, eager to accept the challenges of moving up in the weightlifting world.

With A’s new status, training will resume with even more enthusiasm. Bring on the Chinese! He can’t wait to try that new program. This is all experienced by A as very stimulating.

Not so stimulating with the more cautious Lifter B. There is joy at making the national team, sure. Long term goals have been accomplished, but now new goals will need to be set.

It was hard qualifying for the team. Now, it will be harder even to stay there. Lifter C, three years younger, is breathing down their neck. What if they bomb at the Pan-Ams? What if they get injured?

B has some new stresses to think about as soon as the euphoria of team selection has died down. Two similar lifters, but very different pressures being perceived by each. Any coach assigned to this team will have to be aware of this if these lifters are to be handled successfully.

Mental and Emotional Stress

As sportsmen, we are all now well aware that such mental and emotional stress is very debilitating, not just in those more abstract areas but physically as well. Not everyone is.

I remember as a student working labor-intensive jobs in the summer, all day in the hot summer with lifting things, shoveling, raking, and whatnot. After work, I would put in some barbell time, then go to bed and be ready for more the next day. (Where did I find all that energy back then?)

In September, I would start school again, abruptly shifting much my effort to the intellectual with classes, study, exams, term papers, and so on. I remember a few people assuming that I was glad to get back to the less arduous task of school work. If only they knew. In short order, I would be stressed by mid-term time, but stressed in a far different way than I had with physical labor.

In my summer job, I could mentally punch-out at five o’clock and be ready again the next morning. Not so on campus as the academic treadmill starts fast and only gets faster through the semester. Not only that, but I was also competing against many others.

The pressure never stopped until it was time to go back to my summer job. In such a regime, my gym time felt more like relaxation. From all this, I learned the importance of cycling, not only in my training but in my studies.

I had been raised to think that the road to academic success was to study regularly, take no breaks, and eschew all extracurricular activities, seven days a week.

Breaks meant that you were lazy. (One reads about Japanese students committing suicide when they cannot handle the pressure to perform). If one got only a B while taking breaks, the latter was undoubtedly the reason for falling short.

Other more ephemeral reasons might have existed but were not taken seriously. The effect of stress wasn’t a consideration. I did not realize that just as in weightlifting volume, there is a law of diminishing returns applicable to study inputs as well. And just as perplexing, it is difficult to determine where the inflection point was.

Stress Concerning Athletes

Much has been written about stress concerning athletes. In the last few decades, much of it adapted from general psychological research. We are all familiar with the inverted U graph. I will not describe it in detail here as it is available everywhere, even here at Breaking Muscle.

The takeaway is that there is a sweet spot between too little and too much stress. The trick is to find that sweet spot, especially for the more finely tuned elite sportspersons. Too much stress results in distress, we all know that.

When training or studying at novice levels, it is easy to avoid stress or burn-out. There is lots of slack in the system. But at elite levels, there is no slack.

This has been compared to walking over softly rounded hills where it is easy to stay at their crest. Not much will happen if the walker veers over one side of the ridge or the other. However, when our walker graduates to climbing Mt. Everest, they must cling to the thin edge of the col to avoid disaster.

Often coaches, parents, and athletes do not appreciate the stress hidden in the guise of welcoming events. Sure, they will understand the unwelcome stresses. However, good stressors are not comprehended as well.

Lifter B may announce to the family that they finally qualified for the Olympic Trials. The non-athletic parents will now think that their child might now relax a bit. The pressure is over. Well, no.

Now Lifter B must worry about how they will do against others, just as qualified as they, who also want to get to Tokyo. They end up not understanding the subsequent behavior of someone who they think should now be de-stressed.

Coaches who have never had an athlete reach a high level should especially be made aware of this perplexing situation.

Dealing With Your Stress

There are three main concepts that athletes and coaches need to be aware of regarding stress.

These are:

1. When dealing with physical stressors, athletes need to appreciate how they will affect them mentally and emotionally and, conversely, how the latter will affect them physically.
2. Athletes, coaches, and interested others need to give just as much respect to eustressors as they do to di-stressors.
3. The stresses that athletes deal with are real enough, but some are created in their minds, being perceived more than experienced. How their minds relate to the stressors will significantly influence the intensity of the stress experience.

Now it is time to de-stress and get back to the gym (if possible, these days).

The post Can You Deal With Eustress? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Many books on weight training will have chapters on intensity and its importance. They describe 100% intensity as being whatever weight one can only do one rep of within a certain exercise. If you can do more than one rep of the particular exercise then its intensity is lower. Thus, the more reps one can do, the lower the intensity the weight will be.

This discussion then inevitably leads to what the maximum reps will be at certain intensities. Every trainee who has advanced to the intermediate stage will be interested in this as they want to make sure they are working at the correct intensity for the reps they are doing.

They do not want to work with too light an intensity and they also do not want to work with too heavy an intensity, either. Many trainees do get a bit over-ambitious and err on the side of heavy. The lazier or timider will do the opposite. So, a knowledge of the rep-intensity chart is vital.

The Relationship Between Intensity and 5×5

For newer intermediate trainees, it may be decided that they will follow one of the standard strength development programs where they do five sets of five (5×5) straight across. That’s what Berry, Starr, Ripp, and many others prescribe—because 5×5 works.

So, they take the appropriate percentage for 5 reps for the athlete. This is about 89%, give or take, on average, often rounded to 90% for easy math (as I will do here). They may start at 85% if they want to ease into a new program—and that’s okay since improvement will come fast.

Then, the trainee starts doing 5×5 for the squat, bench, and other strength exercises. However, 5×5 does not work so well with the deadlift as it can be exhausting, but for most other lifts 5×5 will work fine.

After a week or so the trainee will be using a full 90%. But things do not always go so smoothly. For example, on the last set, the 5th rep may fail. What has happened? Are they now getting weaker?

The answer is no. All is well, even with missing that last rep. In fact, that is a good sign. Why? Because it means that their intensity is at the ideal point. How is this so? They were taught that you always do your complete five reps.

What is happening is that the rep-intensity charts are based on doing only a single set, not multiple sets. In doing so, their creators have forgotten the important concept of fatigue. We only have so much in the tank for a given training session or day before we need to rest. We cannot work to 100% indefinitely. We all are intuitively aware of that.

A sprinter cannot keep up with a marathoner for long. Even the marathoner has to save his speed for the end of the race. This is true even for lesser than 100% intensities. The 90% reps also cannot continue indefinitely since the trainee will eventually show signs of fatigue. By the last set, he is running out of gas.

Actual, Relative, and Perceived Intensity

This is especially true when one’s sets have just gone up in weight. Say one’s PR squat was 300lbs and he did 270 for 5X5, as advised, and all 25 reps were completed. One may then have tested their max and found that they could now do 320. In this instance, the trainee then dutifully adds 18 pounds to their work sets (the 20lb increase x 90%).

With renewed enthusiasm for squats, they find that the last set may have only consisted of 3-4 reps while the 4th set had only 4. The trainee is not weaker, instead, they are not yet accustomed to working with the extra pounds.

Their next workout will often see them doing a full 4th set and 4 reps on their 5th. Eventually, they can do the full 5×5. They have indeed gotten stronger with that extra weight. It just takes a little adaptation time.

Most trainees will be familiar with this pattern as they gain experience. What may take more awareness is what is happening within a single set. It should be realized that the fatigue factor is also at work even on the first set. Let’s look at the first set of a 5×5. The trainee above takes 270lbs for five since that is the prescribed 90% of his 1RM.

On the first rep that 270 will feel like 90%. That rep will take a little out of the trainee so the 2nd rep will feel like 275 or so. Not a big enough jump to notice for a 300 squatter. Then the 3rd rep will feel like 287 perhaps. Number 4 will feel like 296 and the last rep will feel like 300. Any more reps will be impossible by definition since we are talking about a 5RM.

That is how just one set at a 5RM will behave. Things get hairier when we go to multiple sets in a 5×5. Depending on the individual’s fitness, the effects of fatigue will show up on the last sets. On the 5th or even the 4th set that 270 first rep will feel more like 285 or so. Subsequent reps feel ever closer to 300 until at some point the perceived intensity is greater than 300. These reps will fail.

What this all means is that when doing, say, 90% sets across one, must realize that not all sets or even all reps will feel like just 90% to your organism. One will actually be working at a somewhat higher perceived intensity. As such, one will have to figure that in when programming. But how can one counter these factors when planning a workout?

One way is to attempt the full 90% on all sets, knowing that there may be failures on the last one or two sets. At that point, one can move on to the next exercise and hope that the next session will see strength improvement. Alternatively, one can take a 6th set and make up the missing reps if not adding an extra rep or two. This leaves one in a better frame of mind after making misses.

Another way, especially if one is obsessive-compulsive about making all 25 is to start at lower than 90% such that rep 25 just barely succeeds. This is a more conservative method where perceived intensity is lower at the start but higher at the end.

Regardless of the exact method, the working weights are not increased until the trainee can do all 25 reps at the prescribed weight—this will keep everyone honest.

Using the Drop Set

Yet another way is the “drop set” method borrowed from bodybuilding. When one feels like the last reps will fail the bar can be lowered 5-10 pounds to ensure successful reps. They will still feel like max reps so little is lost.

The only problem is that the lifter will have to stop in the middle of the set to change weights. This can be avoided if one has two assistants that can quickly remove the unneeded plates before the last rep(s). In such cases, those plates should only be floated outside the collars. Finally, the entire last set can be dropped in weight if no help is available.

Keep In Mind the 3 Forms of Intensity

The point of this whole article is for the trainee to realize the differences among actual intensity (actual resistance), relative intensity (% of 1RM), and perceived intensity (i.e., how heavy the weight actually feels to the organism).

When programming, it is the latter that is most relevant with regard to adaptation and recovery considerations.

The post Determining Heavy Loads and Understanding Intensity in Weight Lifting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

We have all heard our training partners tell us to “get mad at the bar” when egging us on to make ever-bigger lifts. It works. Indeed, in order to get the most out of ourselves physically, we must get our state of arousal to an ideal level. But what is that ideal level? How does our arousal level affect our performance? Well, in the grand tradition of my old economics professors, I will try to explain this graphically.

Many of us have encountered the “inverted U” graph (psychology students, but not economics ones, I suspect). As can be seen from the graph, there is an optimum level of arousal zone. This will be at the top of the “U,” give or take a standard deviation.

Too low and we won’t get the most out of ourselves (down at the left fork of the “U”). Too high and we start making mistakes (right fork). Like Goldilocks, we want something that is just right.

But it is not all as simple as “get mad and win!” That is why we have two functions showing. Different sports will have somewhat different graphs, although all will have that basic “U” shape. Why do they differ?

The general rule is the more complex the activity, the lower the required arousal level. By “complex” we can include the level of cognitive activity as well as the physical. Those in shooting sports have to keep their excitement in check since precision is everything.

This can be seen with the blue “U.” Simpler movements can tolerate higher arousal levels. Powerlifters and football linemen want very high levels since the strength levels are high and the movements not usually too precise. They can go all out and still be effective. (Red “U.”)

Those are the extremes. Other sports fall somewhere in between these two. Some will have higher or lower summits and they will also be narrower or wider at their bases. Olympic lifting will be skewed somewhat leftwards of the red “U” but not as far left as the blue “U,” since the technique needed will be easier if the lifter keeps his cool.

CrossFitters doing high rep Olympic lifts have a somewhat different scenario. The intensities must be lower so one may think that arousal will not be so important. And indeed it isn’t in the early reps.

But as the reps accumulate arousal needs to increase, because the actual perceived intensity rises with each rep. By the time the last rep is attempted it feels like a 100-percenter, so the CrossFit lifter must get as engaged as if he were in a regular Olympic meet.

Now, for those who prefer stories to graphs, I will relate what happened to one lifter I knew some years ago. I was asked to critique this athlete’s lifts just before she was to enter her first powerlifting meet.

Since she was making little progress she thought her technique must be at fault. She was quite inexperienced in lifting and had no serious coaching, as would become obvious. I asked her to show me each lift and then I would tell her what she needed. I will just relate her bench press for the purposes of this article.

She got down onto the bench and did a few warm-ups with just the bar. She soon was up to 120 lb, which she told me was only ten pounds away from her personal record (PR). The technique was okay for a beginner. She lowered the bar with little eccentric action and then pressed it all the way up but with hardly a breath.

She was quite satisfied coming so close to her PR and not feeling it. I told her that was her problem. She was puzzled since she thought that a near PR going up with no excitement was what one should aim for. I then told her to put 130 on. Well, that stopped her. She half-heartedly tried to press it out, all from a slack base.

I grabbed the bar and re-racked it for her, as she got very mad at herself for failing. She didn’t think she would ever set another PR. I let her go on a bit and then told her she would set it today. She responded that would be nice, but didn’t I just see her miserable attempt at 130?

I replied that if she tried to lift in the same way she would indeed miss it again. But I did not intend to have her lift it the same way. I told her about arousal levels and how they have to be high in the power lifts.

The first thing she had to do was get her hands on the bar, her body on the bench, and her feet on the ground and keep them there. The second thing she needed was to “charge” up her arousal level. To do that she had to breathe in a couple of times and then hold her chest with the Valsalva maneuver. Thirdly, she had to get mad at the bar. I asked her what could get her angry.

She said, “Not much, I’m quite laid back most of the time.” I could then see part of the problem. She was not used to raising her arousal level. I asked her again to try to think of something that would get her going. Finally, she said that someone saying she “does such-and-such like a girl,” meaning wimpy, that got her going. She took up lifting in order to change her self-image so “lifting like a girl” was a real insult to her.

Taking the bull by the horns, I told her to put 135 on and get on the bench. Then she could tighten up her contacts and I’d un-rack it for her. Just as I got it off the racks and she lowered it, I told her not to lift it like a girl – as she did on the 130. Well, it did a touch-and-go on her chest and up it went. New PR!

“Why did you say that when I already told you I didn’t like it?” She demanded. I just pointed to the bar, now back in the racks. “That’s why. You got so mad you lifted it much easier than your 120,” I answered.

She came back to Earth and realized what had occurred. I told her she needed to get her arousal level up in order to get the most number of muscle fibers to fire together. Not only that, the pain of effort is not even noticed when fully aroused.

She had indeed noticed that. She was not accustomed to making limit efforts, in lifting or elsewhere, so she experienced that as pain and always held back. I told her the pain is really just the feel of hard work.

Get over that fear and the sky is the limit. So get on the platform and get mad at that bar!

The post Arousal Management: The Science Behind Getting Mad at the Bar appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A never-ending debate in many sports, but especially in weightlifting, concerns when a young athlete should begin training in the discipline. There are two schools of thought in this area and now is a good time to take a look at each one.

Many decades ago when I first started training, the general consensus was that a man had to be fully grown, say around 17 or 18, before they could think of starting a competitive weightlifting program, i.e., finished puberty. (If you were female you needn’t have asked in the first place at the time.)

Even then it was often recommended that prospective lifters do a year of general bodybuilding training before tackling the more challenging Olympic lifts. Back then it was still possible to produce world champions with such a late start few others started any earlier. No one was getting an unfair jump on the others. It was even common to see people taking up the sport in their 20s.

As the sport developed in the late 20th century it was soon realized that a person had to start younger if they wanted to hit the elite levels. This is true of weightlifting and it is certainly true of most other sports nowadays. When you stop and think about it starting to lift at 17 can seem ludicrous.

Can you imagine if somebody had suggested to Mickey Mantle that he not play baseball until he was out of high school? How about telling the Williams sisters that they weren’t old enough for tennis even in their senior year of high school.

This way of thinking probably was a result of the ideas that weightlifting was purely a strength sport and that mature strength would not develop until someone was fully mature. Heavy training would surely damage teenage bodies even as farm youngsters were expected to do heavy work at an early age. It is hard to imagine their pop telling them to take it easy when doing their chores.

Elite Youth Athletes

As the late 20th century war on, it was apparent to even casual observers that elite level athletes were being produced at younger ages. This could be seen most dramatically with gymnastics and figure skating among others.

It took a bit longer in weightlifting but it did occur eventually. Probably the biggest stimulus to this was the recognition of teenage world records in 1960 and the holding of the first Junior World Championships in 1975. While the Western world did have younger weightlifters, it was rare for any to approach that level.

This was not so in Eastern Bloc where the sport was much more organized and junior competitions were common. But with the establishment of the Junior Worlds, the Western countries now had something to shoot for so the average age of weightlifting registrations started to go down.

As a result, there were a lot more 15 and 16 year-olds who showed up for competitions. One thing that shocked weightlifting around the world was the 1983 emergence of a 15 year-old junior world champion.

Naim Suliemanoglu stunned the world with his long string of junior and senior world records. Since no one jumps to World’s level with very little training, every coach in the world started to wonder just when did this young man start training if he could be a world record beater at age 15?

There is no other conclusion but that such a lifter would have to have started even before puberty had set in. Conventional wisdom had always recommended waiting until puberty had ended.

It was eventually discovered that indeed these lifters were starting quite young and were very experienced competitors by their mid-teens. While many coaches were now eager to start training lifters at younger ages than previously thought possible, there were some who wondered if this was a good idea.

Those in the latter group argued that there were exceptions and this should not be used as a template for all young lifters. They were probably right to some degree as shorter lifters such as Suliemanoglu probably finished puberty at earlier ages compared to their taller peers.

Another argument was that such early starts at specialized weightlifting training were not really necessary. It was pointed out that individual results eventually even out after a few years.

The early bloomers would reach their point of diminishing returns early while the late bloomers would then finally catch up. This is true in many cases but those who favored earlier training had another argument.

The Role of Non-Specialized Training

Some believe that it is better for young athletes to spend their pre-pubertal and early puberty years in a wide variety of sports which would give them a better athletic foundation of which to build on later when they do decide to specialize.

They further argued that too early a start date can result in a lot of young athletes burning out with regard to their enthusiasm. This is especially true with those athletes who had a greater need for social contact with peers. They would be more drawn to team sports which have always been more highly valued by the kids themselves, their parents, and educators due to their ability to teach various aspects of teamwork and sportsmanship.

This idea certainly has some validity especially if one comes across someone who has not been so socialized and then decides to try a more solitary sport like weightlifting. Egos can get out of hand with those who never learned to share with teammates. I’ve seen this many times and indeed such lifters would’ve benefited from some team sports experience.

Those who advocate for an earlier start concede that results may indeed even out over the years but there are still some advantages to their position. One of the major ones is that early starters early were able to maintain mobility, stability and flexibility as they progress to the sport.

Most 10 to 12-year-olds still have very adequate flexibility and they do not lose this if they train regularly and work at maintaining it. This is especially important since school requires long hours of sitting at a desk with little physical activity. By the time a male student is a high school senior, he has lost much of his original suppleness.

Even those who play football, basketball, or hockey do not have need to be all that flexible. Therefore, if such a student decides that he wants to be a weightlifter there will usually have to be some remedial flexibility work needed. This will take time that could be better used in more direct strength training.

You may have noticed I said ”male” in the last paragraph. With the advent of women’s weightlifting we now have a couple of interesting situations. For one, if a girl waits until a later age to start in most cases she is not as handicapped as a boy with regard to flexibility.

Women are generally more flexible than men so they have an easier time taking up the sport and quickly learn the positions. Another advantage females will have is that they generally go through puberty earlier (and finish earlier) so they will be more physically advanced in development at the earlier ages (12-13).

Of course this advantage will eventually be negated by the males’ greater testosterone, but it does give them a little edge in the early teen years and may help with keeping their desire strong.

Starting Young Promotes Psychological Advantage

Probably the major advantage of early starting though is psychological, not physical. Weightlifting involves lifting heavy weights overhead while jumping underneath to catch them. It looks pretty scary to the average, untrained individual who has never had any iron overhead.

In contrast, it has been observed by parents that small children often have no fear of that which they should fear. They can be little daredevils. That same child by the time he hits his late teens has got far more brain cells working (hopefully) and will not be as foolhardy. For good and bad, these tendencies do affect performance in weightlifting.

A good lifter must eventually get over his or her fear of the barbell if they are to be successful. This fear must be overcome by all lifters but it is much more difficult for an 18 year-old who has never lifted before.

Not so with the youngster who has been lifting since he or she was 10 years old. They have has lost that fear and they also have tremendous confidence in their abilities. Those in gymnastics are very aware of this.

How many 20 year-olds would want to do a mid-air flip on a balance beam? Not many, unless they are crazy. But a girl who has been doing this since she was 5 years old will think nothing of it. Most Chinese lifters have been perfecting their technique since late childhood and have no fear of the barbell.

Youth Has Its Advantage

The question about when to start weightlifting for youth is difficult to answer. However, after years of watching 16 and 17 year-olds lifting weights that are only a few kilos off senior world records, it appears that the early starting side of the debate is carrying the day. This is certainly true all of the countries that produce elite weightlifters. The competitive environment of weightlifting and their ability to recruit athletes leaves no other choice.

However, in those parts of the world where virtually professional weightlifting cannot be carried out to any great extent, we still have a situation similar to that which prevailed many years ago. There are many coaches would love to recruit some promising 13 year-olds but this is difficult in a country where there are other sports that are far more culturally supported and have a much easier time recruiting athletes of any age.

While we have made some strides in recent years we just cannot compete with football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey. Those are the glamour sports that are able to skim the cream of the athletic crop—at least up to high school.

We may still have to be content with gleaning those who realize that their retirement day in team sports will coincide with high school graduation. We will still have to try to fashion weightlifters out of a lot of athletes who have not previously lifted seriously until college. It can only be hoped that any athletic experience they do have will hold some experiential benefits for them.

The post Young to Really Young: Beginning Olympic Weightlifting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Over two consecutive weekends in May I was able to officiate at both the American and Canadian national weightlifting championships. Now that I have returned home and the dust has settled it is time to go over the impressions gained.

First came the US Nationals. These were held in Memphis, Tennessee on the grounds of Graceland, known to all pop music fans as the Elvis Presley estate. There were just shy of 400 athletes attending. This necessitated the use of two simultaneous platforms in order to complete the event in three days. Two platforms mean two complete electronic set-ups, with full-time technicians to oversee their operation.

This might be decried by the traditionalists but it does result in a very polished presentation. Announcements from the speaker on one platform did not interfere much with those of its neighbor. A bonus for the audience was that they got to see double the action. This can be a problem at single platform events, especially when there are a lot of gaps in the action, as often happens.

After Memphis, being a country music fan of long standing, I naturally hit I-40 to make the 200-mile jag over to Nashville, where I spent most of the week. Come Friday it was off to Montreal for the Canadian version. There, the athlete numbers were only about 120. This was lower than in previous years due to higher qualifying totals.

As in the US, the CrossFit crossover phenomenon had greatly increased the number of qualifiers. It was decided to raise the standards as opposed to the US two-platform solution. The increased numbers have already led to the cancellation of closing banquets in favor of more athletes.

The raising of qualification standards, though, does not please the more marginal athletes. At the same time, events of this scope are always rising in cost, so a large entry list is needed to pay the bills. We always seem to be able to go with one-platform, two-day Nationals, but it is likely that will be more difficult in the future. Time will tell.

Participation was affected in another way due to the proximity of the Junior and Senior Pan American Championships as well as the Junior Worlds, with the Pan-American Games also on the Horizon. Many of the elite lifters of both countries then had decided to skip their Nationals.

On the plus side, the medals winners now are more evenly spread throughout their countries. No longer does one area dominate like days of old. Previous areas of weightlifting scarcity now have their own winners to celebrate. This is a development that will be good for the sport.

The Use of Video Replay

In both countries can be seen the greying of the sport’s technical officials. While CrossFit has swelled the ranks of the athletes, and to some extent that of coaching, it has had far less effect on officiating numbers. That is something that the newcomers just don’t seem to be attracted to.

This is important since the use of more than one platform necessitates the use of more officials. Not only that, but the air schedules on Sundays (when most events end) often require that many leave early. This can leave the final sessions short of officials. So, it becomes vital that new people can be found, especially when experienced people are now in their seventies. Their knowledge is great but it will have to be diffuse to younger replacements as soon as possible.

This brings me to another aspect of officiating that was tried at Memphis but is under discussion throughout many sports circles. That is the topic of using video replays to assist officials in decision making. Video replay is now widely used in many sports, notably football, baseball, hockey, and basketball, among others.

They vary in how much their officials can utilize video repays to assist in decisions. Soccer and weightlifting were more conservative, waiting until 2018 to allow such. Weightlifting had historically eschewed such assistance, their point being that lifting took place on a much smaller field of play compared to team sports and that infractions had to be seen by referees.

There seemed to be little need for electronic adjudication. The turning point came at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland where a bad referee decision affected the medal placings. With the bad feeling generated from that incident, it was finally realized that video could prevent such happenings so the IWF began discussions on how to implement such. Finally, a policy was laid down, resulting in a pilot testing at the Youth Worlds in Las Vegas in 2019. This has now been followed up by its modified usage in Memphis.

In the IWF rules, four cameras are used, one near each referee and another behind the platform. These videos can then be used to review the referee’s or jury’s decision if challenged or in case of disagreement within the jury. Memphis had only one camera situated near the center referee.

A challenge can be started by the lifter/coach before the timing clock is started for the next lifter. Therefore they must act quickly. The jury itself may also challenge the referee’s decision. The unanimity of the jury members is required before they can reverse the referee’s decision.

In addition, the lifter or coach can only challenge the decisions of its own lifts. They cannot challenge those made by their opponents. If that were possible, it would often result in frivolous challenges.

There is only one challenge permitted by an athlete during competition. This is in line with other sports so as to discourage frivolous challenges. Therefore if one wants to challenge, there better be a legitimate reason. If so, and the jury agrees to reverse the decision, the lifter will still be allowed one challenge on subsequent lifts. This also emulates other sports. The lifter should not be penalized for a bad decision by the officials.

The video replay is connected to the video board to allow in-venue spectators and home TV viewers to watch the replay. This is a good idea and will keep the jury honest as they would not want to be seen as biased or incompetent. Memphis did not have a video board connection, unfortunately.

Some predicted that such challenges would slow the competition, always a concern in our sport. This proved not to be the case. The only lifts that can be challenged are one’s own lifts, and then only those that were completed and then red-lighted.

Such lifts are few in number in any competition, especially elite ones where the lifters either succeed or fail. Even with those lifts a lifter or coach has to be careful, as they only have one challenge card.

If they use it on an obvious bad lift, they cannot then challenge a later legitimately marginal one. In that situation, the best course is to only challenge the more difficult to judge clean and jerk, preferably on the second or third attempts. The lifter has little to lose challenging the third attempt since he or she will be done afterward.

It was also suggested that lifters may use a challenge strategically in order to buy time. This is indeed possible but they will use up their challenge card in doing so. This would not happen on the third clean and jerk unless the challenge is legitimate, as no more time is needed.

The rule does not allow slow-motion replays—this is because the referees are still required to make their decisions in real time. They cannot see in slow motion so cannot be expected to see something that way and then be penalized for such a failure.

The jury may examine the slow-motion replay, if available, to satisfy their own curiosity about the lift but they cannot reverse a decision on that basis. That is allowed on many of the team sports. The large playing fields, speed of play, and the number of players make it impossible to catch all violations and off-sides, so those sports have decided that reliance on video will be tolerated.

The Future of Video Replay for Weightlifting

While this video technology was appreciated by many it is unlikely it will be available to events below the elite levels due to financial and technological expertise reasons. The USAW should be commended for their attempt at instituting it and thus allowing its officials to become familiar with it before they ever work at an international competition where it will be used.

This was not yet available in Montreal but there are enough techno-geeks in the Great White North that we will hopefully see it before too long. Speaking of those, I was also impressed with the competition management systems developed by Jean-Francois Lamy of Montreal and Les Simonton of Baltimore. Both are continually looking at improvements while searching out “bugs.” Their efforts are much appreciated.

Now that the seniors are done, the regular season is over for most lifters in North America. The elite gets no rest as there are a number of big events to come. Some of the rest may enter a summer event or two to keep sharp. None can afford to take it too easy as the level of competition is now much higher than even a few years ago. It is also deeper.

Some of the women’s sessions had all lifters starting within a kilo or two of one another—very tight and difficult to plan starting times for each lifter. This tight scheduling was unheard of a few years ago.

The USA especially is now knocking on the door at the various world championships but Canada is not too far behind. No longer are their medals excused as “flukes.” They are now being called “favorites to win.” A new generation of coaches, officials, and administrators have made this happen.

The post The Future of Video Replay for Weightlifting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the early days of competitive weightlifting (think of the Gay Nineties and France’s Belle Epoch) weightlifting technique was very rudimentary. Since the lifts were not yet standardized there was little incentive to perfect technique. If a weight (often a fixed weight globe barbell) had to be lifted to the chest it would usually be continental pulled by those of the Germanic nations or cleaned in what could be called a “splot” style (part split, part squat) by most everyone else. Both styles were quite awkward looking.

After 1900 the more aesthetically minded French developed the “clean” style of pulling where, starting with a shoulder width stance, the barbell was pulled upwards while one foot was driven out front while the other was sent out the back. No contact with the legs or upper body was allowed (hence “clean”). This “split” technique was very stable fore and aft but could be precarious laterally.

The Germans and Austrians lost the First World War and due to still-raw post-war feelings their continental pull was abolished for competition. At the same time the lifts were then standardized around cleans and snatches, and have remained so ever since. The French saw to it that splitting thus became the standard way to pull for the next half-century.

Over time the German speaking lifters got their revenge by developing the new squat style. They might have developed it further but once again they had trouble with their neighbours which would end their long hegemony in the sport. After that war it remained for the Americans to discover the full potentialities of the style.

Although Bill Good and bodybuilding legend John Grimek had used it in the 1930s to great effect it was not until the late 1940s that things really began to change. That was when a humble man named Larry Barnholth of Akron, OH would rationalize the style and make it stable enough to gain converts.

His star pupil was one Pete George who would win six world titles. This ensured that the squat would pick up steam through the 1950s. For nearly two decades splitters and squatters co-existed, each claiming the superiority of their style. But each year saw the ratio moving more in the squatters’ favor as its superiority was eventually recognized.

By 1970 splitters were all but extinct. Only a few old timers remained. Only Waldemar Baszanowski still held world records in that style while his contemporaries converted to the squat. Meanwhile virtually all new lifters were taught to squat from day one. I think I saw exactly one lifter using the split at the 2015 World Championships. It appeared to in rigor. However, just at a time when the style was considered dead it started to do a Lazarus-like act, returning to some existence if not real prominence. This was caused by two developments.

Masters Lifting

This first was Masters-age weightlifting which picked up steam after the 1980s. Many older lifters, long retired, picked up the sport again in order to relive their lifting days and to regain the shape they had then. Some were old enough that the split was all they ever used in their pulls. For them it was simply a matter of relearning their old technique.

Others may have squatted in their primes but found that their joint flexibility was not what it used to be. Some of these resorted to power snatches and power cleans when they could no longer hit the low positions. The rest decided that a switch to the split might be in order especially if they could squeeze out a bit more poundage that way.

Masters lifters have their own competitions but they also frequently enter open-age events as well. As such splitters are once again a more common sight in meets, so much so that younger referees have to be taught about the “no knee-touch” rule.

This rebirth of splitters has not usually been accompanied by improved split technique. This is because few of these new splitters are elite lifters. They thus have little real incentive to improve their form. Overhead positions in the squat style require good flexibility. Splitting is friendlier to those older lifters without this ability. Since their splits are a compromise between that style or not lifting at all, they are happy even if they split imperfectly.

Things are different down below though. In order to do a full split, full enough to get as low as a squatter, one has to have excellent ankle, knee and hip mobility, adductor looseness, foot displacement speed, plus the stability to get to that position and recover with heavy weights. Few non-elite lifters of that era could actually get as low as the champs then.

They only split because their squatting ability was even worse. It was possible to do a high, bad split with poor mobility but it was impossible to do any squat lift without loose shoulders. So a lot of tight-jointed lifters had to be content with lower performances.

In summing up it is easier for most athletes to do a workable high split than a good full squat but if you want perfection then it is the split that is probably more difficult.

CrossFit and Sport Training

This brings us to the second reason the split is reappearing. As mentioned above perfecting this technique does require great athletic qualities. With the rise in popularity in CrossFit and Olympic lifting derived exercises in general sport training many coaches have learned to appreciate it virtues. Why then should their athletes use the split style?

1. Its lesser demand for shoulder mobility allows less-flexible athletes to train and benefit from snatches.
2. Its greater hip flexibility demands develops strength and flexibility there.
3. Improves lunging strength and stability for athletes who need to perform this action such as hockey, tennis, fencing, speed skaters, and so on.
4. This all develops foot speed, foot positioning, timing, body coordination, and lateral balance.
5. Since splitting takes more time it then requires a higher and/or faster pull. This is not a good situation for weightlifters but is ideal for many other athletes who need to develop these qualities.

Disadvantages of the Split

There are some disadvantages to splitting, mostly to weightlifters. The extra time and pulling height so desired by some athletes is not wanted by lifters. In addition:

1. There is often more unconscious “arm pulling” by splitters as they think about clearing the knees on the way up.
2. Since such arm-pulling is less efficient this often ends with insufficient height on the pull which in turn leads to pressing-outs the bar, which is not allowed.
3. Lifters anticipate the coming split so they tend to pull on one leg, sending their rear leg back too soon. This results not only in lost power but having the barbell move somewhat sideways.
4. When splitting the feet there is tendency to place the feet on the same fore-aft line (tight-roping) instead of moving each one straight forward/backward.
5. Climbing out of the split can be arduous if the lifter is not properly positioned. It is easy to lose a good lift by catching the bar off balance.

There are a number of other things to consider. The most obvious is the peculiar strength considerations of a splitter, namely what additional exercises are needed. There are some splitters that may think they can jettison their squat program. Not true. Squats are still a valuable exercise for all trainees, but those who do split snatches and cleans should also do lunges. This is needed for strength, flexibility, as well as even development.

Lunges are essentially single leg squats. They can be done with both feet on the floor or with the so-called Bulgarian method where the rear leg is rested on a bench or chair so that the front leg is isolated more. Needless to say, one should lunge with both legs, not just the one you always send forward. Do one set with the left leg forward, then one with the right, then back to left. This will ensure even development.

Which Leg?

What leg should go forward in a split lift? The dominant leg? The other leg? This is not as easy to answer as assumed since different people will assume a different leg. At this point it is helpful to realize that about 90 percent of the world is right-handed.

Most of those are also right-footed but not all are by any means. Such people, referred to as “cross-dominant” might write with their right hand but kick a soccer ball with their left foot. This is common in soccer, especially as they have to learn to kick with both feet.

Weightlifters it appears also have some cross-dominants. I had noticed that most lifters do indeed throw the non-dominant foot forward. This may be because we exert control with the back foot more while the front foot is more passively involved after it lands. However, not all do by any means.

I am one myself. I put my left forward the first time I ever jerked and I never saw a need to change. I thus assumed that this was the norm for right-handers. The left leg thus serves a non-dominant duty in stabilizing the jerk while the right leg is involved in the more precision adjustment duties of the dominant side. This made sense to me at the time. However, I have now made a cursory analysis of my extensive collection of weightlifting pictures.

Most jerkers are indeed sending their left leg forward, but by nowhere near a 9:1 margin. This indicates that either there are a lot more left handed lifters than normal (unlikely) or that there are a lot of cross-dominant lifters out there. The latter seems to be the case although it appears not to be directly related to native leg dominance. Many lifters have tried it both ways and find they prefer one or the other, and that’s that. Some change later while others are forced to change when injured, without ill effects.

This choice is decided via empirical testing. New lifters will make several trials splitting each way and will finally choose the one most comfortable. Some coaches will do the push test. They push the lifter forward. The startled lifter will then instinctively throw out one leg or the other to regain control. Whichever leg they throw out, that’s the one they will throw forward in the jerk.

Hints for the Split Style

Be sure to move both legs. Many novices tend to pull on one leg and only move the rear leg, and not the forward leg. This results in a too-narrow split, poor balance, and increased injury risk.

The splitting of the legs after the pull must happen extremely fast in order to successfully perform a split snatch or a split clean.

The receiving position is as follows:

• Front leg – The ankle is dorsiflexed while the knee is well forward of the toes and foot flat on the platform.
• Real leg – The foot is balanced on the toes while the knee is nearly straight while not touching the platform
• Torso – Upper body is fully perpendicular to the platform
• Hips – The hips are below the level of the forward knee
• Barbell – Straight overhead in snatch, not in dislocate position. No difference in clean.

As in the jerk it’s advised that the forward foot travel about 1.5 times the length of the foot. However, in the snatch or the clean the split will be deeper, so the feet will end up farther apart.

Skim the platform while moving the feet. Do not slam the front foot.

Recovery is identical to that recommended for the split jerk, namely, push up and back first with the front leg. Shuffle the front foot rearward up to half the split distance. Then either take another partial step backward or bring the rear foot forward. In this manner the bar remains in essentially the same vertical plane, thus avoiding any horizontal movement.

The above apply generally to CrossFitters and general trainees as well as weightlifters, with the exception that they may not need to split as low as the lifters. This is especially true if flexibility and adductor strength is not so important.

The split style died with weightlifters decades ago but it appears that its funeral was a bit premature. There is value in all things, even one that may seem antiquated to today’s observers.

Why not get back to the gym and give it a look.

The post The Split Style Isn’t Dead appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In July of 2018, the International Weightlifting Federation announced the new bodyweight categories that the sport would compete for in the years to come. This came as a result of a desire to erase all old records which many felt were drug-tainted, but also because of developments ”upstairs” within the International Olympic Committee.

The Categorization of Athletes

The IOC seemed to have an agenda with two motives and, as expected, weightlifting was again cut, this time to 98 athletes of each sex. The cut was bad enough but we were also told that they had to be spread over only seven categories each. This was very disappointing, especially after we had lobbied so hard to get an eighth women’s category.

The International Olympic Committee no sooner had allowed an eighth women’s 90kg category, matching the men, then they dropped weightlifting to seven categories each. The IWF then decided that this further drop would not be workable outside the Olympics.

It was then decided that they may as well return to the ten category format, this time with both sexes. The IOC would decide which seven categories would be on the Olympic schedule while the IWF could run their many championships as they wished. Note the chart below.

Here we see the new categories and also the absolute and percentage change (a delta for you math nerds) with each category jump. Also note that for youth athletes (U18), each sex has another category added to the lower end while the upper two categories are merged. The categories selected to sit out the Olympics are also noted.

There were a number of constraints that the planners had to work under. They could not use any category limits previously used by that sex (64 had been used by men but not women). All upper limits had to be in full kilo multiples, no fractions. As before, in order to avoid comparisons between men and women they tried to avoid using the same limits for each sex. But once again, they settled for one exception, that being at 55kg (last time it was at 69kg).

The first World Championships held under the new weight categories have recently ended. Every lifting fan was wondering how this would work out since the new limits were somewhat controversial. Some liked or hated the new categories solely on how it would affect their lifter, without thinking about the long-term future of the sport.

Others had more legitimate concerns, but for the same reason. I think it is useful to note the observations collected during the first six months of the new categories. This is not much time to see what will happen in the long run but it will give some hints I think.

It seems that the IWF and its athletes will have to resign themselves to a de-emphasis on the Olympics. On the other hand, they will welcome the two new categories and the chance to win more hardware they bring. Some lifters like the narrower categories but others, especially those in the heavier categories, are disappointed about the lack of heavier limits in the upper ones.

The 55kg category was probably added to balance out the extra heavier category (102kg). Adding the 55kg category will placate the Asian competitors, but some still question its need. The lowest categories have attracted criticism in past for their lower number of entries in some events. In addition, it was noticed that many of the old 52kg and 56kg lifters were taller than those in the next higher category.

From 55kg we go to 61kg, a reasonable jump. Same with another six kilograms to the 67kg category. But then they go up six more to 73kg then an eight-kilo jump to 81kg. I think it would have been better to go up in two seven kilo jumps than 6 and 8. Eight more to 89kg is fine, but then we only have seven to get to 96kg.

At the other end of the spectrum, it seems that there is one more category that is needed. We have only a 6-kilo jump from 96kg to 102kg. At this weight, this will hardly make a significant difference in performance potential. We then have seven kilos more to the 109kg category—again not too significant a jump.

The obvious alternative is to make ever-larger jumps in each increment, due of course to the law of diminishing returns with regard to bodyweight gain. They could have stretched things out, ending with 120kg or even 125kg as the highest limit. This would certainly make life easier for a lot of the bigger lifters, but I am not sure that would be good for the sport. Apart from the odd superstar, it might only result in a number of high body fat categories with little in the way of performance differential.

Things are even more mysterious with the women’s categories. We start at 45, a full 3 kilos lower than before. Then we go up 4 kilos, again a reasonable jump at this end. Next, it’s up 6 kilos to 55kg. Kind of a big jump for women at this level. The next jump is only 4 kilos to 59kg. This makes no sense. Next is another 6 kilos to 64kg.

This is more reasonable, then 7 to 71kg, again reasonable. But then we go up only 5 kilos for the next two jumps to 76kg and 81kg. Not enough at this level. After that, we still have only 6 kilos to get to 87kg, the highest category, a drop of 3 kilos from what we had before (after great effort).

We now seem to be top-heavy in categories. The mean height of most of the male population is somewhere between 5’7” (Asians) and 5’9” (most others), five inches less for women, all with a standard deviation of 3 inches. This means that most of the world, when muscled up to elite lifter level, will be crowded in the higher categories (89kg and above for men, 71kg for women).

However, weightlifting seems to be a haven sport for shorter athletes. Height is desired in most sports while short people have far fewer choices. This results in the middle categories being very crowded. Taller people who might become lifters will often choose the more popular and/or remunerative sports.

On the other hand, the general public, most of whom are of average or more height, prefer to watch the larger athletes lift equally large weights. This is not lost on the sponsors as well. So, even though most of the world is taller, most lifters are shorter.

The Next Olympics

It is currently thought that since three categories will not be contested in Tokyo this will then force athletes to avoid those said categories. This seems reasonable since the Games are the major motivator for all elite athletes. The tweeners now have to reassess their careers.

They will have to adjust their bodyweight, retire, or concentrate on the Worlds. Some can grow, a few might shrink, but many will not be able to do either one and remain successful. For lesser athletes, this consideration will not arise. However, the IWF has added an interesting change to their IWF rules, as follows:

5.2.2.3 IWF (Senior) World Championships are held every year with ten (10) bodyweight categories, except in years with the Summer Olympic Games. In the year of the Summer Olympic Games, IWF (Senior) World Championships can be held with at least three (3) non-Olympic bodyweight categories per gender to be included.

The addition of a World Championship during Olympic years is new. Some years ago the Olympics were also considered the Worlds that year but not anymore. This change will be welcome as it will be a sort of consolation for the tweeners.

Interestingly though, the rule’s use of “at least” opens the door for inclusion of the Olympic ones as well. With only 196 Olympic slots open, and 600-700 qualifiers, there will still be many worthy athletes that will be forced to take a two-year gap between Worlds. Another point to remember here is that if the various continental games also start dropping categories this will leave lifters with even fewer high-level competitions.

With only one Worlds after only four months to get re-adjusted to the new categories, it is perhaps too early to tell what future direction things will take. But the rules are now set and these are the categories for now. Lifters will just have to adjust to the new conditions as they always have.

The post The New Weightlifting Categories: An Early Assessment appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A strong grip is important in most sports. We are certainly aware of that in weightlifting and powerlifting. You have to be able to hold on to that bar. It is also important in wrestling, rock climbing, tug-o-war, gymnastics, canoeing, kayaking, and many other sports.

Less obvious examples include ball throwing (baseball or football) and horse racing. The better one’s grip, the more spin one can give a ball. Many might be surprised at the grip strength of jockeys, those little men who barely top one hundred pounds. They need to control a horse weighing 10-12 times their own weight. They cannot afford to lose their hold on the reins because that could be fatal. As a result, they all have phenomenal grip strength.

When we talk about grip strength we should be more specific. There are three types of grip strength. The most familiar one is that of crushing strength where the fingers are contracted around an object with the goal of crushing it like an empty beer can or at least maintaining contact with it as seen in a pull-up.

The importance of gripping strength is most obvious when we iron-heads clean or deadlift a barbell. We can have great leg or back strength but if that is combined with a weak set of hands the lift may need to be dropped before it can be completed.

The second type is gripping strength as seen when a heavy object is pinched between the thumb and other fingers. A favorite test of pinching strength when wide-lipped barbell plates were standard involved holding two 45 pound plates together back-to-back merely with pinching strength alone. Very few could do this. Most who attempted it were at least smart enough to keep the plates’ position well away from their toes, for dropping them was the usual abortive outcome of such attempts.

The above two gripping feats involve single attempts at demonstrating strength, similar in concept to doing heavy singles. Progression, in that case, consists of gripping ever-heavier objects as the grip gets stronger. So far, so good.

Gripping gets more interesting (read: difficult) though when endurance becomes the objective. It is difficult enough to grip a heavy object only momentarily. It is quite another to maintain that grip for a longer time. Such a gripping feat is then an isometric movement.

Examples of this will include repetition deadlifts, farmer’s walks, or wheelbarrow pushing. Progression then takes the form of holding the grip on a certain weight for ever-longer periods (or distances as in the farmer’s walk) or gripping ever-heavier weights for the same time period. Usually, both are trained.

What Influences Grip Strength?

What physical factors most influence gripping strength potential? These are two-fold—one’s genetic endowment and the current strength one’s gripping muscles derived from proper training. Let’s start with one’s physical endowment.

The most obvious factor influencing grip strength is that of body height. Height? Yes, height. The taller a person is the longer one’s hand will likely be. And the longer the hand, the longer the fingers. There may be exceptions but this is generally true.

From there it can be seen that longer fingers are able to grip more of the object, imparting more force. Lucky you if this is your situation. Gripping will be much easier for any strength level. Shorter fingers mean a weaker grip.

Closely related but not often considered is hand width. A wider hand will also have more contact with a gripped object so again more force can be exerted. Of course, hand length and width are closely related. If a hand is longer it is usually wider as well. Those who have large hands can do well at the deadlift.

This is why relatively tall people are often the deadlift record holders in each weight category. That same height is not so advantageous in the bench or squat, so they seldom hold the total records. Old-time lifters Paul Anderson, Doug Hepburn, and John Davis were world beaters at most lifts but their small hands could put them at a disadvantage if they had to deadlift.

Women are on average five inches shorter than men, so inevitably they will have more problems with their grip. That is why Olympic weightlifting uses a thinner barbell for women, 25 instead of 28 mm. Shorter men have just as much difficulty gripping the 28 mm bar as the women but they do not, so far, have the option of using a smaller bar. The reverse is true for women in powerlifting. They must use a 28-29 mm bar regardless of size.

A person cannot do much to increase their hand size. One has to work with what they’ve got. All is not lost though as one can train grip strength just like any other muscles. Besides the small muscles in the fingers, the main grip muscles are those in the forearms. Their flexors and extenders supply the strong foundation of those in the hand, as they cross the wrist joint providing a solid foundation.

Improve Your Grip

There are several ways to improve the grip. One is to train with larger diameter barbells or conversely to artificially increase the width of the bar. After a period of such training, a reversion to the standard barbell handle will feel, and be, much stronger.

In training, one can use straps to literally tie the hands to the barbell when doing pulling movements but that is a mixed blessing. True, this allows more weight to be handled but straps have an obvious drawback. They improve the lifter-barbell connection but do not improve gripping strength. The strap does all the work.

This prompts many coaches to advise against their use in pulling exercises, especially if there is a sub-optimal level of gripping strength. This sounds like reasonable advice since the grip will then not be sufficiently trained. This all gives the lifter a false sense of his or her pulling ability.

It is disingenuous though since the rest of the pulling muscles will then not be adequately challenged if poundages have to be limited to what can be pulled with a weaker grip. The solution is obvious. Weaker grips must be trained separately from other pulling work until grip strength matches pulling strength.

Another grip strength expedient is the reverse grip where one hand grips the bar overhanded while the other goes underhanded. This is a stronger grip although it can cause problems because it can twist the spinal column slightly. This is standard procedure in the deadlift while strongmen use it to continental-pull a non-revolving bar to their chests.

The weight is pulled up in this manner to the top of the abs where the grip is quickly released and re-attached in overhand fashion before heaving it up the rest of the way to the shoulders. The bar in question is usually an extra thick one which is great for improving grip strength in the first place.

Alternatively, some remedial bodybuilding may be advisable. Bodybuilders develop a lot of gripping strength via their many pulling and arm exercises. This is not always realized by those in the other weight trained disciplines.

I remember one time that our local weightlifting people wanted to publicize how strong their athletes were, especially vis-a-vis bodybuilders. What better way than to have a tug-o-war battle between the two. It was incorrectly assumed that since weightlifters are always stronger than bodybuilders that they would easily win such an event. This would result in an embarrassing defeat of the “body-beautiful boys” and a propaganda coup for the lifters.

Well, no such thing happened. First of all, the bodybuilders were bigger than most of the lifters, so had an advantage right off the bat. Most bodybuilders were 180 pounds or over while the lifters had a number of smaller men. Another thing the lifters did not count on was the superior gripping endurance of the bodybuilders.

All had much more impressive forearms which do most of the heavy work in gripping. It was really no contest. The bodybuilders won easily with greater grip endurance while the lifters had to give up when the contest ended up lasting longer than expected. The lifters had to go home re-calibrate their egos. (I won’t get into tug-o-war technique (yes, it exists) which was another factor again.)

You Have to Have Grip

The bottom line to grip strength is simply how important it is to overall strength. We in weightlifting always like to point out that leg and back strength is far more important than arm strength in determining the fitness of athletes, regardless of what the general public may celebrate.

But even a sport that is more dependent on lower body strength will find its practitioners at a complete loss without adequate grip strength. Arm, leg, or back strength are meaningless without the ability to hold on to whatever needs to be moved.

You might also like:

• How Grip Strength Defines You
• The 3 Types of Grip and the 8 Ways to Train Them
• Why Wrestlers Have Better Grip Strength
• Grip Strength For Lifters, Climbers, And Fighters
• Grip Strength: Better Than Any Dating App

The post The Role of Your Grip appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Having been a weightlifting technical official for nearly a half century I have often found it useful to investigate the technical niceties of other sports. There is always something that can be learned by how the other guy does it. We in weightlifting have a tendency to circle the wagons and not want to take any lessons from others but over the years I’ve seen the folly of this attitude.

I have looked at a lot of other sports, but in June, I had the opportunity to take a closer look at our so-called rival sport of powerlifting. Their World Championships were recently held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. That was more or less in my own backyard so I decided I would go down and take a look. I should add that this was the Classic version of their world championships where supportive gear is not allowed, only belts and knee wraps. The geared version will be held elsewhere.

I had done a wee bit of powerlifting in my early days as a lifter. That is now over four decades ago and I can tell you that the sport has matured a lot in that time. My brief powerlifting career started in the days before world championships were even held.

When the first international meetings were held they were between the USA and the UK for those were the two main hotbeds, such as they were. Their first Worlds were in 1971 and involved seven countries, I believe.

By contrast, the Worlds in Calgary had 38 countries spread all over the world. Even though the USA is still one of the leading nations, it by no means has a monopoly on the gold medals like they once did.

Presentation

Due to the nature of the sport, the platform presentation is very busy compared to the empty look of a weightlifting competition.

• First off, the platform is smaller, three meters square instead of four. There is no need for the extra real estate since nobody is planning to take a walk.
• For two of the lifts, there will be a bench/squat rack set up in the middle of the platform.
• Loaders-cum-spotters do take up a large portion of the platform but this is unavoidable due to the potential danger of a missed squat. At least three will be on stage and with the big men, five are for the squat.
• Add to this the three referees who will be seated quite close to the platform, somewhat closer than they would be in a WL event.
• On top of them throw in a three-man jury who will also be up on the stage as they need to be closer as well. They do not use the five-man juries as the three take up enough room as it is. Finally, there are two cameras set up between the side referees and the center referee. All of these are placed around the platform which is located on a raised stage.

Since the audience was located down on the floor this can sometimes make for difficult viewing what with all the obstructions. That’s why the cameras were there so they could film the competition so that it could be watched on the JumboTron up above. This proved to be a workable solution.

Two platforms were used since there were a lot of lifters that had to be accommodated over the two weeks that the competition took to complete. While weightlifting has separate events for Youth, Junior, Senior, and Masters the powerlifters hold one large meet for all age groups, including Masters. This all makes for a long week but perhaps it is cost effective. This necessitated two platforms complete with all of the electronics although both were not always operative at the same time.

Huge electronics scoreboards are used just like in weightlifting. These were excellent for keeping the audience abreast of what is happening and much advanced from the old manually operated boards.

Back to the Loaders

The first thing I noticed was their size. All were quite big men, few were women. You want the biggest and strongest loading since they will also be called upon to spot a half ton of steel.

Weightlifting, however, works better with small spry loaders as they do not have to spot and are jumping up and down all day, half of them from the same side of the platform. I also liked the plate racks raised to chest level. This made for much easier loading onto squat and the bench bars. No bending over. Save that for the dead-lifters

Another difference between the two sports is the order of lifting:

• In weightlifting, we have always followed the principle of the rising bar. Attempts start with the lightest weight requested and the barbell moves upward until the strongest lifter in the session who will be lifting the most weight. Your attempts can come at any time depending on how others plan their progression. You might have to follow yourself right after your previous lift or you might have a 10 or 15-minute break between lifts.
• Powerlifting used to use the same method but due to the extra energy that these highly eccentric lifts take out of the athlete, it was soon decided that a round system would be more advisable. In this system, all the lifters in a certain group will all do their first attempts starting from the latest attempt and finishing with the heaviest attempt. After that, they do their 2nd attempts in the same manner and then their 3rd attempts. In this way, a lifter will have 10 or 15 minutes between attempts, enough to recover from the previous attempt and be ready.

In the old days, powerlifting meets were long drawn-out affairs where adjusting the stands and whatnot took a lot of extra time on the part of loaders. Happy to say today things are much quicker. Ten lifters would take about a half hour for each of the three lifts so that works out to about one minute for each attempt.

This compares favorably to Olympic lifting where the standard is about eight lifters per hour, each taking six attempts or about 48 lifters per hour. The time management is far more important today than in years gone by due to the shorter attention span that people seem to have today.

Positive Changes

One positive change that I liked was that it is no longer acceptable to try psyching up your lifter via slapping, punching, sniffing ammonia, yelling, and screaming, all while onstage and visible to the audience. This I think is a very positive step which would improve powerlifting’s public image tremendously.

I also like the way that national team uniforms must be worn during the medal ceremony. All too often in weightlifting, we have medalists stepping on the podium in various stages of dress, undress, and redress. Medal presentations of the highlight for many in the audience especially those who are not too cognizant of the sport. Therefore, it is incumbent that the medal ceremony is done with as much dignity as possible.

In a similar vein, coaches are required to also wear a national team uniform when working a session. This makes his or her identity far easier to discern when needed.

Performance

The results can be seen on the IPF website. Being the stats nerd that I am, I have decided to do a quick analysis of the attempts made and missed during the competition. Below we see a table showing the weight categories the number of lifters and the number of lifts and misses for each of the three events:

To someone more familiar with the typical stats produced in a weightlifting meet I found these to be quite interesting. A rough rule of thumb we have today is that in weightlifting one half or even more of all attempts made will be incomplete lifts or misses if you prefer. But above we see that on average powerlifters only miss slightly less than 30% of their squats and deadlifts and only about 20% of their bench presses. This has been noted by others.

The reasons will vary depending on the commentator’s feelings for each sport. Powerlifters will say that weightlifters miss because they do not have the tenacity that the power boys do and vice versa that the powerlifters do not take the risks Olympic lifters do. This may bring some psychic satisfaction to those people but the real reason is somewhat different.

Olympic lifters miss a lot because there is virtually no time to correct a bad lift. If you get the bar out of the groove at any point there simply is not enough time to move it back and still keep the bar moving upwards at high-speed. Most lifts are lost right off the ground not somewhere way up high.

Powerlifters, lifting at their typical speed, often have the time to make corrections, to get the bar back in the groove. Powerlifters indeed can also use great tenacity to their advantage. They can just bear down and with enough determination might finally move that bar through the sticking point. Weightlifters do not have enough time to summon up such gritty performances except perhaps in the recovery from the clean.

Just like in weightlifting the powerlifters seem to succeed with most of their first take more risks if they want to remain a factor in the competition. The lower missed lift percentages in the bench press warrant some investigation or at least speculation at this point. There are probably several reasons for this:

• One is that the bulk of one’s total is going to be made up of the squat and deadlifts.
• Fewer people will specialize on the bench press and therefore the lift will not be up to the performance levels of the other two.
• Lifters may simply drop back on their poundages to ensure they have a total.
• They will not make the jumps because the extra weight may not be worth the extra risk. Perhaps they also may want to save some energy for the deadlifts.

It is interesting though that the women made more misses on the bench than the men did in this competition. I am not sure if this variance is due to some specific factor or it may just be a random occurrence in this competition. This cries out for more research and study of the competition statistics.

Team Scoring

It can also be seen that in the team scoring is mostly Western nations that are leading the world in classic powerlifting. The USA still dominates the men’s and women’s events with Canada right behind most of the other Western countries rounding up top 10.

Only Russia scores high here. This contrasts greatly with the open, geared world championships where former Eastern Bloc countries have taken over powerlifting just as they did with Olympic weightlifting.

Time Under Heavy Iron

In conclusion, I found that while the two iron hoisting sports have their differences in rules and presentation, they still share much in common. The iron is still heavy and only a lot of sweat is going to move it.

Those who have spent a lot of time under heavy iron regardless of the discipline can take pride in the bonds they feel with those who have brought their strength levels to the heretofore unimaginable.

Now get back in the gym.

The post Lifters: Take Pride in the Shared Discipline of Iron appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the sport of weightlifting, the key requirement of a successful lift in competition is to lift the barbell to the full extent of the arms, while under control. As such, the elbows and their associated ligaments and tendons have to be healthy if you intend to consistently get three white lights from the referees.

While this is important for both the snatch and the jerk, it is in the latter lift where problems occur most often. This is due to the fact that jerk weights are about 25% heavier. It is a shame to see a lifter pull a huge weight and then at the moment of it going overhead have the bar stopped before getting to arm’s length. And contrary to popular opinion the referees do not like giving red lights for this, but that is their job.

This condition is popularly referred to as “having bad elbows” but is more scientifically labeled as incomplete shoulder articulation. In weightlifting competition, this will lead to both incomplete lockouts and re-bend problems. Re-bends occur when the bar does go to full elbow extension, but then the elbows do not maintain that position and re-bend slightly so the lifter has to press out the bar to get back to full extension. More red lights.

This problem seldom affects younger lifters other than those with previous elbow injuries. Among older lifters, there are two groups that most often seem to have this problem.

1. Athletes Who Began in Bodybuilding

In bodybuilding-style training, athletes strive to keep their muscles under tension as much as possible in order to increase hypertrophy. Locking the joints takes the tension off, so they try to avoid this. This is fine in bodybuilding, but not in strength training. Training extensively this way over a number of years will eventually result in elbows that have difficulty locking out.

“You see many bodybuilders bench pressing a bar only about three quarters of the way and then returning to do the next rep. This is not how any lifters should train.”

The biggest cause of future jerking problems is probably arm curls. Bodybuilders do a lot of arm curls so many of them eventually have troubles locking out. This won’t bother them as bodybuilders, but those who try to convert to weightlifting or powerlifting are going to have problems.

I remember one Olympic weightlifter who had apparently done many curls along with his regular training lifts. In doing so, he had developed a huge set of biceps. He arm pulled an easy 170kg snatch at the Olympics and was in position to medal. Instead, he missed all three jerks because he could not hold 200kg overhead despite having made easy cleans. His lockout was sufficient to hold the lighter snatches but not his jerks. Arm pulling is not how you should pull in weightlifting, but his arms were so strong that he could succeed even with that flaw. But it was his undoing when it came to the basic task of totaling.

2. Athletes With Tendon or Ligament Injuries

With proper therapy, these injuries can sometimes be overcome, at least for a time. But what often happens is that these injuries reassert themselves as the lifter ages, and the lifter unconsciously avoids locking out fully.

“The back injuries didn’t stop him, but the elbow ones eventually did. He just could not hold jerks anymore.”

A good example was the great Norbert Schemansky of the United States. In his younger years, he could jerk anything that wasn’t nailed down, though his press was relatively weak. In his late thirties, while still an elite competitor, he gained some bodyweight, which really helped his press. But he had also gone through a number of elbow injuries, not to mention two spinal fusions. The back injuries didn’t stop him, but the elbow ones eventually did. He just could not hold jerks anymore. In fact, in one of his final contests, he pressed more than he jerked.

Normal Schemansky (far right) at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Italy.

How to Avoid Problems

The best way to avoid lockout problems is to start your training with a good lockout and to keep it that way. Don’t get lazy and cut your lifts short, especially your presses and jerks. You see many bodybuilders bench pressing a bar only about three-quarters of the way and then returning to do the next rep. This is not how any lifters should train.

“Weight training movements, whether in bodybuilding or weightlifting, do not usually involve such a sudden stop at the finish so full lockout is not problematic.”

This is related to the specific adaptation to implied demand (SAID) principle basic to all training. If you never train straight-arm strength, then the position is never going to be as strong. The connective tissue will not be able to bear the load. The muscles and surrounding infrastructure get used to working in a shortened range of motion. The proprioceptive receptors than do not allow the joints to straighten, especially under load.

The “never lock your arms” advocates often use a disingenuous analogy to support their claims. They use the example of jumping upward and then landing on bent knees. They point out how ridiculous it would be to land on the straight knees. The bending does amortize the force of landing—but in the gym, you do not have those forces. Weight training movements, whether in bodybuilding or weightlifting, do not usually involve such a sudden stop at the finish so full lockout is not problematic.

What to Do if You Have a Lockout Problem

Your solution this depends on how long you have been living with the condition. Those who are younger and have not had lockout problems all their lives will have an easier time than those with a long history of the problem. The former can work to improve their lockouts. The latter may have to live with the condition and train around it.

“Many masters-age lifters may not ever obtain a decent lockout. Despite that, they can still do limited range training to strengthen the top of the lift.”

If you think your lockout is salvageable, you might want to try limited range training. The goal of this training is to press the bar out the last few inches prior to lockout and then at the top of the range of motion hold the barbell for a certain amount of time. (This can be done in the overhead position or in a bench press position.) The weight has to be heavy enough that you have to fight with it, so you are looking at near-limit poundages. This will not feel natural at first, but persevere until it does.

You will need to do your limited ranges inside a power rack, not only for safety but also to get a measured amount of movement in your lockout. Train your lockout this way once or twice a week striving to increase the holding time at the top. When you can hold the weight for five to seven seconds, then you can increase the weight for your next workout. You may not be able to hold it as long in your first workout with the new poundage. Don’t get discouraged, as you will be able to hold it longer in your second and third sessions. Keep going like this until you can easily handle your maximum clean.

Do What You Can

Many masters-age lifters may not ever obtain a decent lockout. Despite that, they can still do limited range training to strengthen the top of the lift. This is not a perfect solution, of course, but at least it gives you some finishing strength that might mean you hold the bar long enough to get those white lights. Just don’t forget to let the referees know you have lockout problems.

In short, if you can’t straighten the arms you can at least strengthen them. Straightening the arms and holding isometric positions for progressively longer durations and more challenging leverages can both straighten and strengthen your elbow joints to levels that will surprise you.

More Like This:

• A Jerk Is a Jerk (And a Press Is a Press)
• Would You Be Better Off Power Jerking?
• Talkin’ About Lockouts: Partial Reps for Overhead Strength

The post The Jerk and Aging Elbows: How to Fix Your Lockout appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I want to talk about a problem that I see developing in the weightlifting world, that of succession. I have noticed via my officiating in Canada and the USA the greying of our leadership. Many top officials are well into retirement age while the generation that should be replacing them is often missing in action. A similar situation exists in the coaching department. At least there are some viable candidates there, but their seasoning will take time. A crisis could be looming if new bodies cannot be found quickly enough.

Each human organization, including those in weightlifting, faces the reality that the organization will eventually either need new managers or else face extinction. We see this when some gyms survive the exit of their founders or dominant personalities while others end up folding and thus sending their members to once rival gyms. This has also occurred at the organizational levels of the sport, from local one all the way to international ones. I am sure readers can think of a number of examples.

This reality is independent of the outgoing managers’ successes in building the sport. Since weightlifting clubs or governing bodies are similar to family run business in many ways they often face the same challenges when it is time for management change. Just like an aging patriarch, the leaders of these organizations may have been in power for many years, often to the satisfaction of the other members. “Let George do it,” seems to be the default attitude among many.

With the vast increase in weightlifters in recent years and their associated gyms and governing bodies the concern for succession is or should be, paramount as these groups age and/or expand. The problems associated with succession can be looked at in terms of two main persons, those of the founder and the potential successor. The former may or may not have actually founded his or her gym or been the local committee’s first chair. If they were a long-time subsequent incumbent they will, for our purposes, be similar in nature to a founder.

The Role of the Founder

The founder as the most influential person in the organization. Years ago he set up his own gym and it has been successful over those many years as its recognized coach. He might also be involved in the local weightlifting organization, or even higher, whatever its terminology. In the process, the founder has accumulated much prestige in the sport. He is the “go to” person for weightlifting in the area. He gets comfortable in his role and doesn’t notice the passing of the years. Why worry, there is always another year in him, at least.

Eventually, even he has to admit that his days, or at least years, are numbered. Health scares, grandchildren wanting more of his time, a wife ditto, or new interests can bring all of this on. Those who may have served as his assistants for years are now getting impatient, wanting more say in the gym’s business. More ominously, what with all of the CrossFit influx-ees to the sport there are now others outside the founder’s gym who are becoming competitors. That is not what he is used to.

The founder intuitively knows that “something is gaining on him” (as baseball great Satchel Paige was fond of saying) and he will have to face a future with a lower profile in the sport. At the same time, there is resistance to the idea. He may be resentful that a younger coach will have a fully developed team just handed to him that he took years of hard work to build. He has done this forever, why does he need to step aside. “Why am I no longer good enough?” he might wonder. “I’m not that old!” also is often in this mix.

Eventually, friends and relatives of the founder may indeed talk him into planning for his successor. It sounds like a great idea, especially when the founder has not yet handed over leadership to anyone yet. In due time a successor is selected, perhaps a long time understudy, perhaps a gym outsider. Whoever it is here will often be a transition period where both are involved in management rather than a sudden complete change. For a while, this will work well. The younger coach has a lot of great new ideas, he or she has been to many seminars and conferences so has a lot to contribute.

The founder may enjoy this, especially at first. After years of doing it all himself someone else is helping with the load—but beware of the “succession blues.”The founder often will then have second thoughts. The successor will then be undermined as the reality of an ever closer permanent change-over looms. He or she will also be discouraged and may see a move elsewhere. Then everyone is back to square one again, with no progress made.

This presents two damning alternatives. If the founder resists passing the torch, his would-be successor can, one, try to push the founder out prematurely. That seldom works. Or, two, the successor can resign and perhaps join a competitor’s gym. That also is not ideal from the founder’s point of view.

In short, the founder’s realistic acceptance of his or her sporting mortality undergirds and fosters the succession planning. Rejection of this reality will only frustrate it. Our sport needs innovative new leaders so we cannot afford to alienate anyone willing to shoulder these burdens.

The Perspective of the Successor

The founder may think that his gym is a viable business and can easily be handed off to others. A gym is a gym after all. But successors know that this is not necessarily true. Perhaps the gym depended heavily on the founder’s personality and networking. In that case, it may not be as valuable to a successor. The gym’s reputation may then have to be rebuilt. There is a silver lining in that cloud for the successor though. This will occur when the terms of the transfer are decided if the gym is being sold. In that case, only assets will be transferred, not any management expertise, and generally at a lower price.

The successor’s future will not just depend on his or her technical knowledge of weightlifting but will also involve a complex mix of financial, managerial, and interpersonal skills, along with funding considerations and other external factors. This is very different from what the founder might have experienced in simpler times.

To ignore these components is to court disaster. Maintaining the organization at the founder’s level will not be enough. Any business cannot stand still and still have long-run success.

This mix of success factors affecting the successor generates the need for expertise beyond that which resided in the founder alone. This is where an effective and skill-diverse external gym advisory committee as well as outside consultants can be useful. The former is essentially a club or gym board of directors. The narrowness of a single jack-of-all-trades coach is likely to generate a false sense of security as time goes by.

Photo of Coach Butch Pierson coaching at a Precision Barbell Club seminar

Thus the stage is set for the successor’s dilemma, a difficult set of circumstances that has bedeviled leaders for as long from ancient times to the present. We see it in Old Testament story of Saul and David, Britain’s King Henry II and son Richard Coeur de Lion, and in Shakespeare’s King Lear. You can add many more modern politicians to this list. The old guard found themselves unable to let go even after choosing someone to succeed them. In modern times even in sports organizations, the succession story plays out with similar themes.

The Role of Modern Sports

In many cases, weightlifting seems to have been organized around dominant, even entrepreneurial personalities. This was great for the promotion of the sport in its early days and for decades afterward. Today, however, the added complexity of modern sport demands new skills, ones not necessarily found in long incumbent leaders. It is difficult to be an expert in all areas. It may be that the skills needed today are not what was available in years gone by. If that is so, and it isn’t always so, many of our leaders would benefit from moving over and heading to their club’s board where they could continue to influence weightlifting at a dignified level.

Regardless of who takes over the club, it is always time to get back to the gym.

The post The Problem with Succession In Weightlifting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Photo by Bruce Klemens

It has become cliché for those of us who have been involved in weightlifting for decades to periodically have to defend our sport when critics categorize weightlifting as a sport for fat people. The general public can be excused from this misconception simply because even if some lighter body weight categories are publicized by the media, only the monsters in weight are remembered. It is only a short jump for the public to conclude that grossly excess weight must be an actual requirement of the sport and not just an undesired byproduct.

In the attempts to defend our sport’s excesses there have been some pretty wild explanations as to why our big men are so soft around the middle. One of my favorites is the “ballast” one—that a huge belly is needed for balance in lifting large weights (which may not be much heavier than the athlete). This would only beg the question of why a featherweight does not seem to need any ballast to lift triple bodyweight. Another is the old “mass moves mass” argument, and that really only makes sense if the tissue mass is muscle. In reality, fat only acts as a drag on the force exerted. Finally, there is the “bounce-out” idea that a super-heavy needs a large lower corporation so that the belly violently reacts with the thighs, allowing a more energetic upward drive. Anybody who has ever been significantly overweight knows that fat has no such elastic quality.

With all of that said, it is still observed that weightlifters do not have the razor-thin body fat percentages displayed by bodybuilders, CrossFitters, and others. So what is going on here? Let’s take a look at just the lifters.

Sizing Up the Lifters

Studies of elite Soviet weightlifters some years ago consistently showed that the average body fat percentage of the various body weight categories varied according to body weight. Those in the lower weight classes had the lowest body fat percentage, frequently below 10%. As the categories moved higher that percentage rose until the 90kg athletes were generally around 12-13% and the 110kg men were around 15%. Of course the super-heavies could go considerably higher since they had no upper limit to worry about. These measurements were all taken on elite athletes and as a result all lifters could use these figures when making personal goals in regard to managing their own bodyweight. Anything over these figures meant that you were giving away too much to the opposition.

As we can see when studying the world record totals across the categories, the human body becomes less efficient the heavier it becomes. This is the basis of the Sinclair Bodyweight Correction Formula and is well documented by many others so I won’t belabor it here. Bigger lifters can indeed lift more weight but not proportionately more weight. Like everything else in the universe the body seems to be subject to a concept economists call “diminishing marginal utility”—more popularly known as the “law of diminishing returns.” It applies to strength and it also seems to apply to body composition. When a person is very thin it is relatively easy to gain musculature with appropriate training. Diet is not as important during training because the now active body wants to grow and will utilize any available nutrients. Muscle gets added but little, if any, fat.

As more and more muscle is built, the body becomes ever more inefficient at converting food into muscle. Any new weight gain will include a certain amount of muscle and a certain amount of fat. In the earlier stages of weight gain only a small amount of new gains will be fat—the rest is the good stuff. However, the more weight that is gained, the more inefficient the nutrient conversion will become. More and more of the additional weight will be fat. An elite super-heavy lifter, already over 135kg may find that they can only gain another pound of muscle if they are willing to tolerate another 2 or 3 pounds of fat. Though disheartening, such a lifter may decide that gaining more weight is still a viable strategy. This is because that extra pound of muscle is still expected to add to his strength potential, allowing a bigger total. There is no upper bodyweight limit so this lifter’s problem then becomes how to eat enough food, not to restrict consumption.

This strategy will only work up to a certain point and one of two things will happen. One, the body may get to the point where it cannot add any more muscle and every weight gain will be totally fat. In this scenario there is no more advantage to the lifter. Two, even if it is still possible to gain a bit of muscle, the gains in adipose tissue will start to compromise the lifter’s joint mobility and reaction speed. This was evident in the late careers of Vasily Alexeev and Andrei Chemerkin. Both were nearing the 180kg mark and were very strong but had great difficulty getting under the weight.

Photo by Bruce Klemens

The above-mentioned Soviet studies only studied men since there were no elite female lifters at the time. A study made today would have to include women as well as men. A new study would undoubtedly show similar body fat percentages for men but higher figures all around for the various women’s categories. Women generally have less muscle than men, especially in the upper body, while also having more subcutaneous fat. While this tendency is less pronounced in trained female weightlifters it still holds true compared to male lifters. This extra adipose tissue is needed for proper female bodily functioning, so an attempt to eliminate it will have too many undesirable side effects. This makes pure muscular weight gain even more difficult for women and is the reason why the heavier women’s categories usually display more body fat than the lower weight categories.

The Role of Aging and Sustainability

Aging also works against ideal body composition. All of us old-timers know age is no friend when it comes to managing body weight. The body also gets less efficient at converting nutrients into muscle as we grow older. When an elite lifter has peaked at his or her preferred body weight and is past 30, they may find that they need to gain weight in order to make any more improvement. Not all of that gain will be in lean tissue, so any increase in the total will not be matched in Sinclair scores.

Finally, we come to the problem of sustainability. Many weightlifters would indeed like to get down to 5% bodyweight. Vanity aside, if for no other reason, an extra 5-7% would theoretically enable a 90kg lifter to add another 4 to 6kg of muscle and that would make a difference in strength potential. A lot of lifters, especially younger ones, could eliminate that fat at competition time. Since elite lifters only lift competively a few times per year, that might not seem to be to taxing. But as any lifter knows, losing the weight quickly invariably results in a loss of strength as most of this weight loss is in vital fluids.

The alternative would be to maintain a bodyweight that is only 5% fat. That would negate the need for cutting weight before competitions. This option is also not viable because maintaining such a low body fat is very difficult if they must also train heavy five days a week. The calorie restriction necessary would also eat into the energy needed to train. Even if it might be possible to train down to 5% body fat, what usually happens is that the lifter’s strength gains come will then to a grinding halt. They might lose the weight and they might even lift as well as they did at a heavier bodyweight, but they can forget about making any long-term improvement in strength.

Appreciate the Individual Athlete

So that is why weightlifters do not strive for the cut, shredded, and striated look of bodybuilders. Each sport has its own requirements for muscularity and body composition. That is what makes the study of different sporting disciplines so interesting. We should all strive to understand and appreciate the needs of each individual athlete and not compare them to one particular sport as an ideal physical standard. A lifter’s body is good for lifting and horrible for running a marathon—and vice-versa. One is not better than the other, they each just fit different needs.

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