By the competition’s end, Murakami’s overall weightlifting performance was enough to garner him three Japanese National Records on his snatch, clean & jerk, and an overall total of 425 kilograms (936.9 pounds). Check out a video of Murakami’s record snatch, courtesy of his Instagram profile:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by TANK MURAKAMI (@tank_murakami)

[Related: Olympic Weightlifter Katherine Nye Squats 186 Kilograms (410 Pounds) For A New PR]

Elite Class in Japan

Murakami’s record performance is nothing new in his native Japan. Each of those Japanese records on the snatch, clean & jerk, and total were all previous marks held by the dynamic weightlifter — which he eclipsed by one, two, and three kilograms, respectively. One of Olympic weightlifting’s current elite performers, “Tank,” might be a more than appropriate nickname for Murakami, who is a three-time Japanese National Champion, according to his Instagram.

Through other stellar feats of strength, like a 175-kilogram (385-pound) strict prone row in mid-February 2022, the 25-year-old has developed a social media reputation for staggering power. Here are some of the notable results for the weightlifter, who has enjoyed steady progress in recent years, via the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) athlete directory:

Eishiro Murakami | Notable Career Results

• 5th International Qatar Cup (+109KG) — 6th place
• 2019 Ready Steady Tokyo (+109KG) — 1st place
• 2019 IWF World Championships (+109KG) — 11th place
• 2019 IWF World Cup (+109KG) — 1st place
• 2020 Asian Championships (+109KG) — 3rd place
• 2021 Open Championships (+109KG) — 1st place
• 2022 All-Japan Championships (+109KG) — 1st place

Notably, Murakami did not participate in the 2021 IWF World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This 425-kilogram (936.9-pound) total would have slotted him in with a sixth-place finish at that competition.

 

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A post shared by TANK MURAKAMI (@tank_murakami)

[Related: Powerlifter Shahram Saki Logs 1025-Kilogram Total (2,259.7 Pounds), The Highest In Asia]

The Road Ahead

A good portion of Japan’s top weightlifters used the All-Japan Championships competition as a springboard toward a place in the 2022 IWF World Championships, which is set to occur sometime between November 1 and December 31, 2022, in Bogota, Colombia. At the time of this writing, the IWF hasn’t confirmed a definite date. That competition will, in turn, be a part of the eventual qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

Murakami aside, three Tokyo 2020 Japanese weightlifter male Olympians — including Yoichi Itokazu (67KG), Mitsunori Konnai (73KG), and Masanori Miyamoto (73KG) — were all participants during the 2022 All-Japan Championships. Notably, Toshiko Yamamoto (96KG) was not present. A woman Japanese weightlifter — Mikiko Andoh (59KG), who captured bronze in Tokyo — won the competition for her weight class.

Thanks to Murakami at the forefront, it appears Team Japan is ready to achieve more greatness over the rest of 2022.

Featured Image: @tank_murakami on Instagram

The post Weightlifter Eishiro Murakami (+109KG) Sets 3 National Records During 2022 All-Japan Championships appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Check out the stellar PR squat below, via Nye’s Instagram profile:

 

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A post shared by Kate (@katherineenye)

[Related: Jamal Browner Notches A 345-Kilogram Squat (760.6 Pounds)Triple PR & 410-Kilogram Deadlift (903 Pounds) Double PR]

Nye completed the squat while wearing a lifting belt, knee sleeves, and heeled weightlifting shoes. These shoes allowed her to use more of her ankle flexibility and better engage her quads.

In addition, Nye uses a women’s weightlifting bar, which is lighter (15 kilograms) than a traditional barbell (20.4 kilograms). Along those same lines, women’s weightlifting bars have more flexibility. That might explain why Nye’s bar bends and shakes a bit more as she finishes the PR rep.

Given that Olympic weightlifters only focus on the snatch and clean & jerk in competitions, Nye’s squat is an impressive mark. In context, amongst fellow strength sports competitors, Nye’s 186-kilogram squat (410 pounds) compares well. Per Open Powerlifting, her squat would rank as the eighth-heaviest raw squat in history by female powerlifters who compete around the approximate 76-kilogram weight class.

Here’s where Nye’s squat PR stands all time:

Highest Squats — Female Lifters (~76KG)

1. Vilma Olsson (Sweden) —  209.9 kilograms (462.9 pounds)
2. Rachel Torres (United States) — 199.9 kilograms (440.9 pounds)
3. Amelia Mauritzon (Sweden) — 197.5 kilograms (435.4 pounds)
4. Jackie Garzez (United States) — 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds)
5. Agata Sitko (Poland) — 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds)
6. Kristen Dunsmore (United States) — 187.4 kilograms (413.3 pounds)
7. Alice Francis-Freeman (Scotland) — 187.4 kilograms (413.3 pounds)
8. Katherine Nye (United States) — 186 kilograms (410 pounds)
9. Jessica Buettner (Canada) — 184.9 kilograms (407.8 pounds)

Nye at a Glance

At only 23-years-old, Nye has built up quite the resume for an Olympic weightlifter. She last competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she captured a silver medal for Team USA. It was her first Olympic medal in her first career Olympic Games.

Since her debut in 2016, across the Youth, Junior, and Senior divisions, Nye has made a name for herself as one of the top names in Olympic weightlifting. She’s done so well, Nye even appeared in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019.

Here are the best results on the snatch and clean & jerk from Nye’s career:

Katherine Nye — Best Olympic Lifts

• Snatch — 112 kilograms (246.9 pounds) | 2019 World Weightlifting Championships
• Clean & Jerk — 138 kilograms (304.2 pounds) | 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Nye has built up quite a baseline of finishes throughout her career. According to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), she has qualified for the podium in nine of 10 IWF events.

Here’s a tally of Nye’s overall medal tally to date:

Katherine Nye — International Medals

• Gold — 5 (2019 Junior World Championships; 2019 World Championships; 2019/2021 Pan American Championships; 2019 IWF Championships)
• Silver — 3 (2018 Junior World Championships; 2020 Pan American Games; 2020 Tokyo Olympics)
• Bronze — 1 (2019 Pan American Games)

Note: These medal counts are medals awarded in the Total, which is the total sum of the athlete’s top snatch and top clean & jerk.

The Road to Paris

In anticipation of potential drug-related offenses, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) — the organization for the Olympics — has reorganized its categories for Olympic weightlifters. Come the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nye’s 76-kilogram weight class will no longer be a division. Nye has previously stated over Instagram that she plans to compete at 71 kilograms again — her division prior to Tokyo 2020.

Nye will undoubtedly be looking to improve upon her silver medal finish approximately two years from now. She’ll likely have to overcome the Neisi Dajomes — the reigning 76-kilogram Olympic Champion who beat Nye for the gold medal in Tokyo. If Nye’s new all-time powerful squat is any indication, she’s well on her way toward that ambitious goal.

Featured Image: @katherineenye on Instagram

The post Olympic Weightlifter Katherine Nye Squats 186 Kilograms (410 Pounds) for a New PR appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Hello there, it’s Oleksiy Torokhtiy speaking. You may recognize me from my participation in weightlifting sports for more than twenty years. For ten of those years, I was an active member of the national team from Ukraine.

Together, we ended up in global contests 23 times and on the national level 31 times. Besides, I won multiple championships in Europe and around the globe.

I also took part in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, and you may remember me if you watched them.

I Broke Records

The Snatch: 200 kg

The Clean and Jerk: 240 kg

In 2015, I found my calling as a coach. By the end of 2019, I had conducted more than two hundred seminars globally relating to weightlifting. Many athletes, both beginners, and pros shared that my approach to training helped them a lot.

I Hate the Jerk Lift As Much As You Do

Thus, in this post, I would like to tell you about these techniques. In particular, I want to explain why I hate the jerk lift as you do.

Weightlifting consists of:

1. The Snatch
2. The Clean
3. The Jerk

In all three of these cases, the goal is to pick up and hold the maximum weight possible.

At contests, athletes are more likely to do cleans than jerks.

During all of my seminars, I used to ask the participants about their preferences. They shared that they liked the snatch, but most of them hate the jerk.

The main reason athletes hate the jerk is a lack of training and understanding of the movement.

Understand the Movement and Train

I frequently practice various exercises. Once or twice per year, I pick one exercise from the clean and jerk to test. Many users have highly rated a video where I practice a jerk from the racks with 255 kg.

I have performed this feat in front of several hundred people. I tuned in, jerked, tore my T-shirt, and the spectaculars were impressed.

Over six months of ongoing training for those exercises helped me make a 60-minute performance one of my most outstanding achievements.

The show took place in LA in 2016. That was the day when I lifted 15 kg more than before.

I concentrated on experimenting with the specific exercise, investing all of my effort in the jerk. That is way smarter than trying to catch up with all three and miss something. I value the experience that I have obtained. I also focused on achieving results and breaking new records.

Sure, the jerk requires plenty of time and nerves. The primary components of a successful jerk are the dip, support, drive, and fixation. They depend on individual traits and preparation.

Currently, I am aiming high to stabilize myself and the bar in the overhead. I stay in position for up to four seconds while lifting extreme weights overhead. In the SOTS press, that means weight up to 60 kg.

Every two weeks, I jerk from racks with plates on rubber bands with a weight of roughly 75%, up to three reps.

If you have less than five years of experience performing the jerk, you may want to avoid doing the same.

This exercise can be rather traumatic and cause some serious injuries when you’re not prepared.

Raising power indicators is a significant stage of the exercise.

I include either a clean pull or the deficit Romanian deadlift in my training sessions at least once per week. Do it 3-4 rounds up to six repetitions.

Now, it’s all different when it comes to squats.

• As a rule: I combine front squats while performing a jerk from the racks.
• This way, I know that I will warm up perfectly.
• I load my limbs and get ready for the working regime.

After a Clean, the Bar Can Be Crushing

Many contest participants complain that after the clean the bar is like crushing.

That is because the athlete is not prepared enough to jerk while being anxious—the combination of a jerk and front squat trains workability in a state of exhaustion.

Also, I recommend trying the jerk support in static.

Just watch my video, paying attention to every detail, especially the starting position..

• Keep in mind that such practice predetermines the muscles of the stomach and back being somewhat tight.
• Many sports professionals lift something around 110-130% of the clean and jerk.
• I would advise you to lift to 120% up to four sets for no more than eight seconds.

One more hint to remember is practicing back squats if you plan to connect your life with weightlifting.

• Once or twice per week is enough.
• Heavy squats are sufficient for no more than once in two weeks 2-3 sets and up to three reps.
• Include variations of jump work in your training sessions.

Develop Strength and Stability

You should know that developing strength and stability of the limbs and body matters.

• I am a great fan of the push press and its different types: with front squats, discs on the rubber, and a pause in the dip.
• I do my best to make more reps, increasing their quantity from four to eight.
• I do plenty of exercise with my weight alone, including dips, deep-bench pushups, and reverse pushups.

I do this warm-up over and over again. An overall warmup does not require more than 25 minutes of your time.

Other cool ideas for getting ready are to involve exercises with rubber, gakk-squats, good mornings, and variations of hyperextension. I practice all of them daily. They even help me to overcome traumas and exhaustion.

Although preparation is only associated with the jerk, pulls, and squats, the clean and snatch are integral elements of the training program.

• Variations of these practices assist with switching and having a rest from the mechanics of the jerk.
• The clean, in contrast, is excellent for warming up.
• The load range should be up to 70 percent to preserve muscle tone.
• Leave some time for the so-called tech days.
• During that session, I consider weaknesses and how to handle them.

Excellent Outcomes With Proper Training

To conclude, I can share the following with athletes, both beginners, and professionals:

• For your legs empowerment, do squats and mix squats with jerks/jumps
• For your overhead bar stabilization, do not forget about a pause of 2-4 seconds in the overhead position
• Develop core muscles
• Do not ignore quality warm-ups of your hands/arms.

According to my followers, the clean is simple; the snatch is okay, but they hate the jerk. I recalled that the Ukrainian national team had athletes that felt the same way.

In the off-season, the main trainer picked an exclusive training program for up to six weeks.

During these weeks, he minimized the load in the snatch, pulls, cleans, and focused on jerks and squats with excellent outcomes.

The post Why Athletes Hate the Jerk Lift appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Watching Seb Ostrowics over at Weightlifting House on YouTube is one of my guilty pleasures. A bowl of Frosted Flakes, ice cold milk, and the droopy, sonorous musings of a weightlifting nerd are all it takes to reduce my cholesterol and keep me away from Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Ostrowics’ Just How Much Better Are Weightlifters Than CrossFitters is a little erudite, a little respectful, and a lot of geeky lifting love.

Let’s start with the basics, according to Ostrowics in the video below, Naim Suleymanoglu, known as the Pocket Hercules, and probably the best lifter, pound-for-pound, of all time, had a 142.5 kg snatch but Matt Fraser, one of CrossFit’s greatest competitors, and probably its best weightlifter, had a best snatch of 143 kg.

It’s just that Sulemanoglu weighed about 45% less than Fraser and was a teenager when he did his lift.

Ostrowics goes on to compare lifts by various CrossFit competitors, including the 200 lb snatches by Tia-Clare Toomey and Annie Thorosdottir at this year’s CrossFit Games, with those of weightlifting competitors.

So, the gist of it goes something like this, CrossFitters lift big but the comparable lifts, often bigger, by weightlifters, are by men and women who are half the size of the CrossFitters.

But, the CrossFitters, while not in the same class as compettive, elite lifters, make every other wannabe lifter look lame. CrossFit weightlifting isn’t ever going to be Olympic level weightlifting but the numbers ain’t bad.

As for form, well, Guilherme Malheiros looked pretty awesome at the CrossFit Games 2021. Toomey, too, but there are plenty of examples of straining and groaning and bending at weird angles for other competitors.

I guess weightlifters would run afoul of the same form issues if they ever kipped. Just watch Ostrowics, it’s not a trite treatise.

The post The Lifting Game: Weightlifters Versus CrossFit Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Personal trainers and or coaches who aren’t sold on online coaching, take note. This article will be a discussion about the win-win situation for the average gym patron and online coach.

Amidst the reopening growing pains, most beginners will continue to participate in purchasing or researching online programs or fumble.

Personal trainers and or coaches who aren’t sold on online coaching, take note. This article will be a discussion about the win-win situation for the average gym patron and online coach.

What Is Online Coaching?

In an era where the information highway is but a tap of one’s smartphone, jobs, including personal training, can be accessed online. This plethora of information, however, comes at a price.

This price is called the paradox of choice. The more information available about training, nutrition, rehabilitation, the less accessible it is, and even less screening takes place, which brings us to the era of online coaching.

I’ll begin with what online coaching isn’t. It’s not a random stranger with a CPT certificate asking you for money and merely providing a non-specific, non-measurable, non-attainable program and series of guidelines.

Indeed, it’s not fad dieting coupled with bro-science training programs. It is a legitimate business model and a way to kickstart progress.

Choosing a coach within certain circles will fine-tune what this will mean. For example, an online bodybuilding coach will ask for:

• Blood-work
• Physical Activity Readiness Questionaire, (PAR-Q)
• Food allergen testing
• Goals for competing
• Body composition measurements regularly

The coach should be:

• Dietitian
• Exercise specialist
• Sports nutritionist
• Have experience competing numerous times

In Olympic weightlifting, coaches should have competed in the sport, earned certification, and successfully taught others.

Coaches should be actively involved in their communities, whether that be within a federation or online community, not Instagram.

During the onboarding process of online coaching, the coach will then provide a series of questions to meet the needs of the client best. Programming should be a product of said questionnaires.

After the onboarding process, follow-up calls, check-ins, and in-person meetings ensue. This combination of expertise, support, and individualization creates a beneficial online coaching experience.

Start Online Now?

COVID-19 has caused closures of most gym facilities worldwide, and as such most people have forgone clean and sensible nutrition and, in some cases, activity altogether.

For those who have become passive and unmotivated, gym reopening will not miraculously rejuvenate the luster of fitness. Instead, having a gameplan to rejoin the gym and continue a healthy lifestyle begins in their home.

Within the home, there are great tools to discuss with your coach for weighted training such as gallon jugs, or couches. Home cooking is becoming more a mainstay considering restaurant closures as well.

Learning how to count your macros, weigh food, and understand the nutritional content hasn’t been more straightforward. With a healthier plan, most dishes aren’t from a can or a box; they require seasoning, marinades, and cooking of raw ingredients. Within the home, there is more time to spend with family without concern about the spread.

After Social Distancing?

Hybrid coaching. If a coach is stagnant and will not part ways with pen and paper in this era, they are at a significant disadvantage. Zoom workouts, Youtube, seminars are becoming more popular amongst the young and old.

Coaches now have more work to do. They need to be accessible outside of the gym or office, scale to their clientele, and provide obsessively excellent service or lose face to IG models.

Meeting in person may or may not become a premium, but it should be just as important as the online portion, if not higher.

Companies such as Starting Strength and Renaissance Periodization have taken this to another level. They offer seminars and camps, both in-person and online, while providing certifications for ordinary people to learn the technique and implement at home in the kitchen or out there in the gym.

Many patrons and clients will not return to gym facilities right away. With guidelines set, social distancing and awkward gym etiquette aren’t too far away.

Online coaching provides an opportunity to regain control of your nutrition, learn to become more consistent independent of the gym environment and, upon return, doesn’t seem like a far stretch.

I hope this was helpful and encourages you to regain control of your health and inspire you to support your local coaches. Lift with love, my friends.

The post The Symbiosis of Gyms and Online Training Post-Pandemic appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As an aspiring professional bodybuilder, entering the area of Chinese weightlifting in some regard is foreign. Why would a bodybuilder train two times daily for two weeks without bodybuilding training being the cornerstone of the programming?

Sure, the front squat, back squat, deadlift, pull up, dip, overhead press, and weighted abdominal sit-ups are a backbone to overall strength, but to most, they are irrelevant and not sport-specific.

After my trip to Changsha Hunan Vocational College, along with the opportunity to learn from Olympic athletes, I realized the importance of relative strength and how one may exploit this to become better.

The Role of Relative Strength

Relative strength, according to the American Council on Exercise, is the “amount of force generated per unit of body weight.

It can be increased by using all of the various types of strength training to improve the magnitude of force production while maintaining or reducing total body mass. If neuromuscular efficiency and muscle force production increase while maintaining a consistent body mass, relative strength will increase.”

I believe having an off-season program which demonstrates an emphasis on powerlifting and weightlifting provides an athlete the mobility, strength, stamina, and power required to excel.

This occurs because the greater emphasis is applied to biomechanics, mobility drills, and technique over ideas such as tempo scheme, time under tension, failure, pyramid training, and tricks to restrict blood flow like blood flow restriction/katsu.

In order to maximize relative strength, incorporate calisthenics (both weighted and non-weighted), powerlifting, weightlifting, and bodybuilding style training with a healthy dose of cardio. I also want to emphasize the importance of working on weaknesses. Do not allow yourself to fall behind on weak points for the sake of trying the latest program or stroking your ego.

Something that Coach Jianping Ma of MaStrength taught me is the importance of adding in myofascial release with training and acupuncture while modifying my off-season to incorporate more weightlifting—all of which will increase my mobility significantly.

For example, during a three-month period, one should focus on building a strength foundation in the basic movements and lifts along with basic calisthenics. After this period is over, the body has begun to adapt and now it’s necessary to focus on correction and increasing mobility through unstable environments such as dumbbell focused training and unilateral work.

As that period comes to a close, incorporating both aspects into one program can begin. For the average person, six months is the required amount of time needed to dedicate oneself fully to programs and begin an individualized journey.

However, it should be noted that you must diversify your training to yield the best result. As a bodybuilder, training in this way has allowed me to withstand greater weights for longer periods of time, deload more effectively in the off-season, and increase my endurance and conditioning in-season.

Keep An Open Mind

Coaching has helped me navigate the different avenues of strength such as weightlifting and bodybuilding and it may assist you in our goals. However, always remember to stay open-minded to new ways of lifting in order to maximize your genetic potential.

Lift with love my friends.

The post Diversify Your Training Portfolio appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Let me tell you about a character. A character you’ll find many times over in different independent gyms. This person is passionate, not only about their training but the idea of it. The type of training doesn’t matter. It could be:

• Olympic weightlifting
• CrossFit
• High-intensity circuit training
• Cycling

Passion Transforms Into Desire

It’s the same heart found in many. For this character, passion transforms into desire. The desire to create another place, maybe like the gym where they first got their spark, or a different place, where more people can come and feel what they feel.

Sometimes the person will think to immediately seek out teachers, courses, education, and experience coaching. But, the clock is ticking in their head as to when it’s time to open their gym.

Other times, this individual wants to create a place, however small it may be, with no intention of offering the coaching and instruction. They may want to bring in someone else to do the training or open a place where people can work out.

This person may not have the capital to create the type of place they imagined. And they also may not want to owe anything to anybody. I can speak to this person because I had the same attitude when I first opened my gym.

I’ve grown careful about the type of advice I give. Business is one of those matters I tread softly before speaking. A professional is one who has extensive practice.

I’m also more attentive to someone’s knowledge and experience when they advise me. Those who receive money for telling others how to run a company but haven’t practiced in a real business are not business professionals.

My gym has been operational and profitable for three and a half years now. Because of that, I feel like I can now confidently speak on how to start and drive a gym business forward. I have practiced. So to the person who has the passion for creating a gym focused on people and not things, but has a strict budget, these are my opinions.

Bare-Bones Means Service Is the Amenity

If you’re opening your gym with minimal equipment, you’ll have very few people sign up to use the space to train. When I opened my gym, I started simply with:

• Squat stands
• Barbells
• Bumper plates
• Wood for platforms

Few people are as romantic as I was about simplicity and focus on the practice of movement rather than equipment and amenities. So that meant I needed to pique people’s interest in my gym and draw them in with the promise of a better experience and an inclusive gym culture. Everyone I spoke to needed to have a clear understanding of what the value was in being a part of the gym.

Instruction Matters

It wasn’t the equipment or the place; it was the instruction. What mattered to the clients was:

• The coaching
• The systematized processes used to teach new members
• Tracking their training
• Continued improvement

My gym had to be known for instruction for it to be successful, and for the people to find value and commitment. It wasn’t going to be known for how little I started with or the amenities. Admittedly, I may have started a bit too bare-bones and blunted future growth in some ways.

You have to decide for yourself how much money you want to put in from the beginning and where this starting budget can take you. But whether you’re the head coach of training or you bring someone else in, you need first to research what the other facilities around you are doing.

See where the gaps are in your area, and become something that’s truly needed and aligns with your devotions. Ask yourself if what you’re offering speaks to enough people, or is the reason this type of service doesn’t exist in your area is lack of interest.

Confidence in What You’re Providing

I strongly disliked the way I was taught to sell personal training services during my brief employment at a health club back at the start of my career. I was told to find a way to get potential clients to give up their inhibitions toward buying.

I’ve found that if you believe in the quality and effectiveness of your service, based on real, repeated successes and not a prideful delusion, selling can be a conversation. Talk about what you love, followed by a quick ask of their opinion. If you are providing real value, those who see it will buy. Those who don’t see it don’t need to be bothered. Manipulating them into buying against their initial judgment will create a problem more significant than their dollars are worth.

I was confident that with a high level of coaching, program design, and team dynamic, I could create something in the area that people needed. People who came to see the gym and speak with me could see my enthusiasm, self-belief, clearly thought out responses, and easy to understand ideas.

If you’re starting a gym with a similar model to mine and you haven’t thought all this through, I believe the business will fail. You can’t be confident in your ability to sell your product if the product isn’t clear, and of real quality, even if you are charming. Part of this planning includes:

• The type of training you’ll provide
• The area best suited for this type of training
• Most Importantly- Are you worth the payment for the service?

Ask yourself if you or your head coach truly has the expertise to do what you say you will. Experience builds confidence, and if you don’t have it, you need to start there.

First, Make Yourself Worthy

Some remarkable people can figure things out quicker than the rest. These outliers can open a gym with almost no professional coaching experience and learn everything on the fly not only theoretically but also practically. They quickly develop a reputation as an expert from the start.

I’m not one of them, and you probably aren’t either. This isn’t negative thinking, its healthy self-scrutiny. For you and me, opening a gym without experience coaching elsewhere would have revealed our inadequacy, and our lack of confidence would have been easy to see.

By the time I opened the doors to my gym, I had already had around a decade of professional coaching experience. I’d worked in college strength and conditioning, health clubs, and other independent gyms. I had helped collegiate athletes perform better and built a following in NYC of people dedicated to barbell sports who improved under my coaching.

When the first, potential member came though my doors at JDI Barbell, I had the confidence to speak to him as a professional because of my experiences and successes.

Impatient as we all may be, we have to spend time working at the best places under the best teachers we can find. Before you have people come to you, you have first to seek out the best people to learn from to make yourself someone worthy of being sought out yourself. Your time is the only thing you have to offer when you’re young or inexperienced. Give it to employers who can give you the experience you need to be of real value.

Once you have shown yourself and others that you can produce results in people repeatedly, you will have a polished product to offer and the enthusiastic confidence to do so.

Jesse competes in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, and he was also formerly a competitive powerlifter. He was featured in main strength and fitness publications. You can read more of his work on his website.

The post How to Create a Gym on a Bare-Bones Budget 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.

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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.

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The body weight category that an athlete competes in will largely depend on their current body weight and body fat levels. The lifter will want to have as much muscle on their frame as they can to enhance their strength potential while being relatively lean to increase power output.

A weightlifter should strive to be in the optimal weight category for their body to be able to perform the best they can. It can certainly be the difference between a podium finish and a mid-field finish.

The body weight category that an athlete competes in will largely depend on their current body weight and body fat levels. The lifter will want to have as much muscle on their frame as they can to enhance their strength potential while being relatively lean to increase power output.

The Body in Space

Many studies have shown that in sports where the body moves through space, as in weightlifting, a higher percentage of body fat has been shown to decrease athletic performance.

One of these studies tested young men with different levels of body fat on a number of performance tests to determine the relationship of body fat with performance. The figure below shows the results of these performance tests—specifically looking at the standing long jump which is an assessment of power output.

The table below shows that there is decrease of performance in relation to high body fat levels. It is not unreasonable to assume that power output increases the leaner the athlete is. One reason for this is that muscle is metabolically active—it can contract to produce force whereas body fat is inactive and its primary use is to store energy.

The less body fat an athlete has, the less force is needed to move inactive body mass through space. Although performance can be hindered if this is taken too far and body fat levels are taken to unhealthy levels.

The effect of relative body fat on select performance tests in young men (sum of three trials). Adapted from Riendeau, et al (1958).¹

Body fat can be easily measured and, from this information along with weight, a coach/athlete can calculate what weight an athlete can safely achieve. Body fat can be indirectly measured through a skinfold caliper, which measures skinfold fat thickness at multiple sites in which the value obtained can be used to estimate relative body fat.

Once the body fat percentage has been determined then the weight of fat-free mass (muscle, bone, organs) can be calculated in order to determine what an athlete should weigh at a specific body fat percentage. An example is given below with the calculations used.

How to Drop Body Weight

Reducing body weight is a process that has three different components; the weight lost mainly through reduction of body fat, weight lost through glycogen depletion, and weight lost through water lost through perspiration. Most of the weight should be lost through reduction of body fat and glycogen stores in the body.

This can be done by gentle dieting with the aim of reducing food quantity to elicit a small calorie reduction but not so much that it leaves the athlete hungry throughout the day. Junk food should be eliminated or at least minimalized during this period.

Only a small calorie deficit should be done so that it does not affect the athlete’s strength or performance levels. The athlete should aim to be no more than 3% over body weight a week before competition.

In the last week before competition, protein and fat sources like chicken, beef, eggs, and nuts should be favored over carbohydrate sources. Also, a conscious effort should be taken to increase water intake in order to encourage perspiration due to the hormone changes that decrease water retention.

When carbohydrate foods are ingested by the body, the body breaks the food down to its basic components, one of which is glucose. Any glucose not used by the body is then transformed into glycogen to be stored in the liver and muscles, to be later transformed back into glucose for energy.

Since weightlifting primary uses the creatine phosphate energy system which is responsible for providing energy from the breakdown of creatine then the reduction of glycogen in the body will not affect weightlifting performance on single lifts but it may affect recovery between lifts.

Time for Competition

With the reduction of glycogen stores, the athlete will see a reduction in body weight due glycogen being attached to water molecules. Specifically for every 1g of glycogen stored, 3g of water is stored with it. It is not unusual for an athlete to lose 1-3kg through this process.

The athlete wants to be no more than 0.5kg overweight by the time they go to bed the night before the competition, in which case the remaining weight will be lost through water lost by perspiration.

On the morning of competition, after weigh in, the athlete should drink an isotonic solution like Powerade or Lucozade to replenish some of the glycogen stores. They should also eat some food that they are used to eating, preferably sources of protein and carbohydrates. This is to ensure good recovery between lifts.

Reference:

1. Riendeau, R.P., Welch, B.E., Crisp, C.E., Crowley, L.V., Griffin, P.E., & Brockett, J.E. Relationships of body fat to motor fitness test scores. Research Quarterly. 1958, 29, 200-203.

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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.

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For some bizarre reason, Olympic weightlifting is treated as a very different discipline from general strength training by newer adoptees. Things that make intuitive sense in weight training aren’t applied to weightlifting (Olympic). One of these crucial components includes working on weaknesses and being aware not increase primary muscle strength while forgetting about all the rest.

It’s not even about preventing imbalances that may lead to injury, it’s about actually using the musculature that should be strong and should work in a sequence in the movement. Your muscles should work in harmony and contribute to the lift and then you can lift heavier weight at a higher frequency with much more predictability of outcome.

It Won’t Always Be This Way

My Olympic weightlifting coach, Yasha Kahn, has spent years learning from the best coaches and lifters in the world. One of the best ideas he took from them is that certain muscles need to be used and triggered at different points of the snatch and clean and jerk—there is a very distinct timing to this.

I’ve seen my fair amount of new lifters learn the snatch and clean and jerk and what’s usually common in all of them is that even seemingly muscularly balanced lifters, will move to gravitate toward movement patterns dependent on a certain emphasis of muscle groups. Most people can’t help this and if they don’t have a coach who knows what he’s looking at, they’ll continue to use what feels strong and solidify these patterns.

This all makes complete sense. New lifters try to create a technique based off of what they think should be happening in the lift. This is either from a picture in their head of what they think they see from watching the coach when they’re shown the lifts or even a segmented portion of them, or an abstract interpretation of the verbal or tactile cues the coach gives them. They do whatever they can and contort themselves in any way possible to try to move according to the idea of what they think should happen.

The issue becomes that when new lifters begin to internalize the movement more, they’re not taught that the next step is to feel the movement itself, or if they are told this they don’t grasp the idea. They keep defaulting to whatever helps them make the lift and those prime movers get stronger and stronger. The result is that the actual muscle that contributes to a solid lift will atrophy.

An example of this would be receiving the barbell in the snatch on the legs rather than supporting and reversing the downward movement of the bar with the hips and lower back. If the adductors and quads are not strong, stable, or trained enough to receive the load in a quick, dynamic manner, then the lifter will never shift the feet out when receiving the bar with heavy loads in a knee out position because the immediate response of the body will be to shift the stress to the already stronger and active hips and lower back.

As a coach, when you try to correct this in a lifter and tell them to use their legs or try to elevate the barbell with the shoulder girdle, they will be awkward and have difficulty doing it. They will tell you that it feels weaker and they are right because the wrong muscles and patterns are strong, or maybe it’s more accurate to say the muscles and patterns contributing to the lift are inadequate.

And this is what my coach, Yasha, always tells people, “What feels strong today won’t always feel strongest.”

Help Your Muscles Catch Up

Just telling someone to use muscles or move a certain way is wasted effort if those muscles are weak and inactive and the patterns supported by those muscles aren’t built. Muscle groups must be built up and stimulated by other exercises. In Olympic weightlifting, the exercises to focus on these muscle groups don’t necessarily need to be special exercises and variations that resemble the snatch and clean and jerk.

They can be, but they don’t have to be. Bringing up these muscle groups, to borrow terminology from bodybuilders, can be just like how they focus on hamstring exercises because they notice it’s not in the correct proportion to their quads. It could also be like a powerlifter doing a ton of upper back exercises like rows and face-pulls because they notice that their upper-back is giving out when they pull heavy deadlifts.

A great example of this would be addressing the problems of an Olympic weightlifter not receiving the barbell with their legs tensed and activated. Most of the population who start weightlifting at an older age have been sitting for most of their lives. As a result, their adductors are remarkably weak and inactive.

You can tell this person to shift their feet out when they receive a clean over and over but if their adductors do not work then they will not do this. But a very low-level exercise that addresses this very effectively would be the wall squat. Start with your toes pointing out one to three inches away from the wall and slowly move them closer over time.

Another example would be using a special exercise that resembles the snatch. This addresses the problem of muscle groups not being used properly and at the correct sequence during the lift. When you go into the final extension of the snatch, the shoulders/trap should fire at the same time as the ankles extend forcefully against the ground.

Only after this will the arms activate and the elbows guide the barbell upwards. Big muscles fire before smaller ones. If this is done correctly the shoulders will still be in an elevated strong position to receive and stabilize the heavy barbell overhead.

A great exercise to practice the timing of this and strengthen the muscles in the correct manner would be trap pulls:

If you would like my help on anything I have touched on here feel free to visit me at my gym, JDI Barbell in New York city if you are in the area or, you can connect with me online at JDI Strength.

Jesse competes in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, and he was also formerly a competitive powerlifter. He was featured in main strength and fitness publications. You can read more of his work on his website.

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