Are you interested in starting Weightlifting?

If so, here is an Intro.

By “weightlifting” I specifically mean Olympic style Weightlifting; All things related to building the Snatch, and the Clean & Jerk plus all derivatives.

I say “all derivatives” because there are many people that love weightlifting but must make adjustments and not do every single type of lift because of some type of abnormality or limiting factor. Each person has their own physical background and we all come with some type of baggage. This could be tight hips, tight shoulders, tight ankles, so on and so forth. Because of this principle, if you are an older individual it is always BEST to start with an experienced and credentialed coach that has trained a variety of clients with good success.

Personally, I love the CLEAN and everything related to it and can perform these really well and focus attention on these. But, because of past shoulder trauma I cannot snatch with much weight. Same is true for any other type of overhead movement. My body is not a fan of overhead squats or any overhead jerking motion. Because I am unable to do those types of movements, I instead focus on the strength-building movements like strict presses of all types.

And so, that is why I say all derivatives. You very well may need another option because of a limitation or you may need another option because you are becoming an advanced athlete. Either way, a good coach and help you decided which movements to progress through…how much of each movement…in what sequence and for how long etc.

To give you an example list of a few of the “brackets” of movements just to give you an idea when we say “weightlifting” you know what I mean; read below. By default, all movements are with a barbell unless otherwise specified.

This entails things like Squats:
–Front Squats
–Back Squat
–Overhead Squats
and other types of various squats and leg-work too.

This entails things like overhead pressing movements:
–Strict Shoulder Press
–Push Pressing
–Push / Power Jerks
–Squat Jerks
–Split & Kick Jerks
and other types of various overhead pressing movements and upper body building things too.

This entails things like pulling movements:
–Deadlifts
–Snatch Pulls
–Clean Pulls
and other types of various pulling movements to build the midline–abs and lower back.

The full lifts plus derivates:
–Snatch
–Clean

That is just a partial list to give you an idea of the main components one would face if they are training as a weightlifter. There are numerous variations and complexes one includes in the training but those things come with time.

Stay tuned for more posts as I will be going into great detail about how you can become good at whatever component of Weightlifting that you like which is hopefully all of it.

Next Up:
3 things you need to get started