Any weightlifting enthusiasts here?

So by weightlifting I mean Olympic Weightlifting. Started weightlifting in April and been bitten by the bug ever since.

Anyone here follow or do weightlifting?

No one?

This would be me but I’m currently too cheap to pay membership for a gym. Maybe when I relocate.
I believe Lu’s doing it tho’...... I think….

Sweet, if you do start it make sure you find a good coach as it is very very technical.

I competed in Powerlifting for 4 years, snowboarding is what actually brought a stop to that hah (Hard to train 5-6 times a week when you move to a town 60km from the nearest gym…)

I’ve used the oly movements quite a lot for explosiveness and just general fun, I like mixing them into my routines where appropriate. I almost always do some cleans before deadlifting heavy. I was based out of The Powerhouse Gym in Wellington, best gym in NZ for powerlifting and would have to be one of the top for oly lifting as well, so I’ve been around and talked to other athletes plenty. Are you planning on competing, or just enjoy the personal challenge?

Just for personal challenge. I love it. It’s fun, not boring, and it just feels good when you made the lift. I feel you on the powerlifting and snowboarding. In the winter, my squat basically is stagnant and sometimes regress in weight. So in the summer I have to build it back up again. I can’t really progressively overload when every weekend I ride Whistler for 5-6 hours. I’d rather lose some gains and be able to snowboard good than get strong but snowboard with jello legs.

I’m currently training at a gym, but I’ve never tried olympic lifting.
I’d really like to though.

Is there any prerequisites to start olympic lifting?

Also how did u get into it? I don’t even know anywhere that does it.

You need good mobility and flexibility first and foremost. Without it you are very limited to what you can actually do. If you don’t then you need to spend time improving your mobility (and stability), while working on some accessory exercises and maybe variations of the lifts from the hang position or blocks as they require less mobility.

Also find a GOOD coach that knows what he’s doing when you first starting out. The lifts are very very technical and you can easily injure yourself if you don’t know how to do them properly. You should search for a weightlifting gym if possible. If not then, any crossfit boxes (box = crossfit gym) will have coaches and every crossfit box allow weightlifting.

The thing though with crossfit, there’s so many bad boxes and bad coaches that don’t know what they’re doing and think that having a weekend course somehow makes you qualified to coach the Olympic lifts. If you can find a legit good crossfit box then go for it.

I’ve done most of those kinds of lifts in pump classes (with a lot less weight of course) so I feel like I have the mobility unless there’s something I don’t know about it.

The stability… maybe not for serious weight. How would I check that? Or build it up?

And yeah I’d prefer a specific gym for it. I know Whistler has one because a friend of mine does it, so maybe I’ll give it a go when I get over there.
I would be okay with doing it through crossfit if the coach has decent qualifications. As much as people joke about crossfit, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I’d love to be half as fit as the guys who compete.
Thanks for the info

@Andy: This is not the end all be all, but try to the an overhead squat with a PVC pipe or an empty bar and see how you look. It’s the easiest way to see if you have the mobility required to do the snatch (which is the harder of the 2 lifts). “Those kinds of lifts in pump” classes are way different than the actual thing. Once you tried it with a good coach you’ll know what I mean.

To make it simple, stability is basically the control you have over your mobility. You can be hypermobile but don’t have the stability in the world (think highly flexible gymnasts, yogis, ballet dancer).

If I’m training clients I like to start with an FMS screen, then progress to further assessments. These stuff are not as simple as people might think. A lot of problems stems from breathing problems and motor control issue where doing stretches might make things worse instead of better.

I hope you’ll find a good gym and coach!

I’ve been learning some basic oly techniques at the core, from one of the trainers there named Andy, actually. Mainly using kettle bells as the means to learn the hip movements (as a lot of the oly techniques stem from the hip).

Flexibility is key - I’d definitely recommend practicing your 3rd world squat, because you spend a lot of time in that position doing moves like snatches and cleans - you need to be able to get in and out of the ‘hole’. Also, it can be tough on your wrists, so I’ve not done anything heavier than just the oly bar so far.

In the mean time, if you’re really focusing on oly style lifting, work on your front squat, deadlifts (not to be confused with romanian deadlifts) and OHP in particular. Apart from that, building up overall strength and conditioning through whole body, or isolated workouts is highly recommended. Make sure you always warm up and start with lower weights.

I’m not a PT, but I’ve been powerlifting (plus accessories) for the better part of 7 years or so and was trained by a master trainer in Aus. At my peak I was able to squat 1.5x my bodyweight, bench press my bodyweight and deadlift 2x my bodyweight.

I love weights and weightlifting. People give me a hard time about it sometimes, but I don’t care.

Also, in terms of snowboarding and weightlifting, the two can absolutely be done and really complement one another. Personally for me, I find snowboarding is more of a cardio exercise than a hypertrophy, or weightlifting based exercise. If you eat well, drink lots of water and sleep soundly, your muscles should have ample time to recover, otherwise DOMS are not inherently bad for you and you should keep moving (in our case, snowboard) to help your muscles repair and grow.

@Andy - obviously you’re tall, but I’m not sure about your physiology - whether perhaps you might have longer legs to torso ratio, or vice-versa. It’s not necessarily a burden or difficulty, but certainly something you have to be mindful of when lifting. Every body will lift differently, so there is never one right way. In fact, Dan is 6’2 and has a way better third world squat/hip flexibility than me.
If you’ve never trained your major lifts - heavy squats, deads, BP & OHP (body pump doesn’t count), I’d start by working on your foundations of good techniques under weight and then build from there.

Anyway, that’s my 0.02c worth!

7 years! That’s cool, I knew you were into lifting but I didn’t know that! That explains your riding style.

Basically where I’m at is I’ve been going to gyms in between my snow seasons for a fair few years, but it’s only this season that I started going to the gym through the season as well. It definitely leaves me tired because I’m on snow 7 days a week. But I liked it to much to stop… so I might see you at the core this season lol.

But yeah, the gym in Jindabyne is awesome and run by an ex olympian who is really helpful. She’s been correcting my form with pretty much all my lifting of different sorts.
As far as things related to olympic lifting (I guess), I’ve been doing Deadlifts, Squats, Front Squats, OHP all with weight and “3rd world squats” lol without weight, but I’ve just started experimenting with weight for them too (just don’t want to hurt myself so I’m only lifting like 30kg with those.

Definitely not lifting my own body weight with any of that though. That’s impressive!

Hahaha, yeah in some respects I would say I’m more skilled and knowledgeable with weightlifting and training, than snowboarding - don’t tell anyone that, though

In any case, I think the approach to lifting depends on your own goals. If you are seeking to improve your riding, strength, fitness, endurance etc. then, the way you would lift to someone doing it for aesthetics and ‘gains’ would be different. For example, you might be in a situation where you would do more reps per set, with lower weights for muscular endurance (good for snowboarding).

I personally enjoy lifting in its’ own right. So, I will typically adopt fewer reps, higher weight sets to engage my fast twitch muscle 2 fibers (or, for muscle build/maintenance). I can also track and see my improvements in strength week to week. If I’m focused on my nutrition then ultimately I’m able to achieve body fat loss (as opposed to ‘weight’ loss) and muscle maintenance over a period of time. I haven’t been super vigilant over the last year or so, as I did find that going from a dedicated private gym facility to Squamish and then to Whistler has kind of thrown my mojo off a little bit, but I have all of the knowledge and skills to improve when I’m ready!

How confident are you with your weightlifting form? If you’re ready to adopt some oly techniques, work on your mobility and start some exercises like standing hip thrusts/kettlebell swing with the bar/kettlebell and work on getting into a good rhythm and adopting a solid stance/position (). Further develop your OHP into a ‘push presses’ as well (). From there, it’s ‘just’ about connecting (a lot of) movements.

The 2 main lifts are obviously snatch (fast, powerful move typically done in 1, or 2 main connected ‘parts’) . After the pull, you will get into the ‘drop’, or ‘hole’ and then overhead squat from there.
Then the clean & jerk which is 2 major movements connected and typically done with more weight than the snatch. The first part is obviously the clean, pulling the bar into a front squat position and then jerk to get it into the final position (most commonly a split jerk). See the bottom two in this image

I find things really hard to learn and do without any weight bearing, but yeah, make sure you’re super solid in front squats and that you can get deep into and out of the hole, both with and without weight. I’m still working on not tipping too far forward with front squats so deep. I’ll get there though!

As with all things to do with the body, if it’s not done correctly, safe to say, you can injure yourself. If you’re not sure, definitely get someone knowledgeable to guide you through the movements. It goes without saying my internet advice is not sufficient!

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Lu!

It’s funny, it sounds almost like you hide this side of you a little. I have no idea why though.
I would be proud of working hard on something and having achieved some serious results!

Anyway, sounds like I’ve got some work to do. I was looking at those images and I think I need to do some more squat work before getting into it.
Squatting past 90 degrees with weight is SO MUCH harder for me than only doing it to 90 degrees. So I might have some imbalances there…

I’ve also wanted to be able to do pistol squats for a long time and I can’t do those yet. So that might be my first goal, to build up some stability as you guys suggested.

Also remember if you’re doing back squats do them with the high bar position (bar on traps) instead of the low bar position like in powerlifting. When you do high bar back squats, remember to squat straight down and keep the torso upright (don’t sit back like in powerlifting). Your knees are gonna be well over your toes, it’s totally fine. Don’t let someone tell you you can’t do that.

In terms of strength training, what Lu said is basically right. Focus on getting strong in the basic exercises, squats, front squats, and pulls. I say pull because in weightlifting the pull is different than a regular deadlift. The first pull is similar to a regular deadlift but after that it’s a totally different lift. Deadlifts will definitely help but clean and snatch pull will definitely be more lift specific. Not a lot of weightlifting programs include regular deadlifts, but if you’re just starting out you should definitely get your deadlift strong; can’t go wrong.

For accessory movements any triceps and back exercises will help. Some weightlifting programs do not have many accessory movements (e.g. Bulgarian method) where as the Chinese do a lot more accessory exercises (dips, rows, pushups, handstand pushups, full ROM lateral raises, etc.) hence if you watch Chinese lifters, they are generally more jacked than other countries.

Also get a pair weightlifting shoes. These are by far the best investment I’ve ever made for lifting. Adidas Adipower and Nike Romaleos 2 are 2 of the most popular ones.

Andy Aitken - 28 October 2015 09:38 PM

Thanks for the advice Lu!

It’s funny, it sounds almost like you hide this side of you a little. I have no idea why though.
I would be proud of working hard on something and having achieved some serious results!

Anyway, sounds like I’ve got some work to do. I was looking at those images and I think I need to do some more squat work before getting into it.
Squatting past 90 degrees with weight is SO MUCH harder for me than only doing it to 90 degrees. So I might have some imbalances there…

I’ve also wanted to be able to do pistol squats for a long time and I can’t do those yet. So that might be my first goal, to build up some stability as you guys suggested.

I know, I don’t tend to talk about it all the time, because I don’t like to annoy people with my training/progress/ideas etc! I’ve had a lot of feedback from people (including trainers and professionals) that I should in fact study to be a PT, but I just enjoy training as a pass time, not as a job I think!
Now snowboarding…that’s a different matter, I’ll bug people about my riding day in/day out!

In terms of your squat work and development, it depends on what your ultimate goals are. Either way, progressing your major lifts are NEVER going to be ‘bad’ for you, so long as you are performing them correctly! That said, like I mentioned previously, if you want to work on lifting to complement your riding, then a specific conditioning program geared towards that would be better suited. If you want to train towards olympic lifting then you’d want to slightly adapt your lifts to complement that goal. For example, incorporating more front squats than back squats. Performed correctly, a front squat will allow for that deeper position needed for snatch and clean movements, from a body mechanics perspective.

Again, if you’re wanting to do super deep squats, then just practice your third world squat. You might be surprised at how short of time you can spend in the correct position. For me, I can last about a minute really, before I start to lose correct form and then fall forward. That’s a mobility and body mechanic issue for me, as I have a longer torso to femur & tibia/fibula ratio. But with time and training, it gets easier. The same goes for pistol squats. It’s all in the flexibility and mobility. Train, train, train!

Also remember if you’re doing back squats do them with the high bar position (bar on traps) instead of the low bar position like in powerlifting. When you do high bar back squats, remember to squat straight down and keep the torso upright (don’t sit back like in powerlifting). Your knees are gonna be well over your toes, it’s totally fine. Don’t let someone tell you you can’t do that.

I’m going to respectfully disagree regarding bar position. Some of the worlds most renowned lifters who are Doctors and peer reviewed subject writers would also disagree. Bar position is VERY individual as it always come down to body mechanics. As I mentioned yesterday to Andy and again here. If you have longer/shorter legs to torso or vice versa, will determine for you ‘where’ your bar will sit, and how you perform the movement. Some powerlifters have major successes with a high bar position as it suits their bodies better.

Although essentially, you do want to squat right down and keep your torso upright, I know a few professional powerlifting competitors (for example Dr. Layne Norton, who is the current International Powerlifting Federations world championship silver medalist in his weight division) will actually bend more forward as part of their movement in performing a squat.

That said, if you want to do oly lifts, you will need to be able to sit back in the heels and get down deep with your spine neutral (if not, upright). See here https://www.google.ca/search?q=third+world+squat&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI6MqWrfrlyAIVE9RjCh0GZA1G&biw=1280&bih=606#tbm=isch&q=pistol+squat&imgrc=cEEXQ4wsRJOuvM:

And for most people, that would mean adopting a front squat technique (which there are also a few ways to perform correctly!).

In any case, I just say you should see a trainer who really understands different body mechanics and can tailor the lifts to fit with you and your goals!

Might see you at the core soon though, hey? And, if you need a training buddy, let me know :-D