Introduction
What Weightlifting Is All About — It May Not Be What You Think!
Welcome! You hold in your hands a comprehensive guide to the most exciting strength and power sport ever developed—Olympic style weightlifting. Weightlifting is a sport that challenges its participants in a way that no other sport can—making them strong mentally as well as physically. Yet weightlifting is one of the most misunderstood sports in the world.
Mention the word “weightlifting” to anyone you meet and that person will probably affirm that he or she knows what weightlifting is. However, in my experience, most people do not understand the difference between those who participate in the actual sport of weightlifting and the millions of people who lift weights for a variety of other reasons. Moreover, an even larger majority of people harbor at least one major fallacy regarding the sport of weightlifting. Therefore, it is appropriate to begin this book by briefly explaining what weightlifting is, why one would want to participate in it and what major fallacies people often hold about the sport.
What Is Weightlifting?
Weightlifting is a sport that involves lifting a barbell overhead. Formally, the sport has existed on an international level in something resembling its current form for more than 100 years. Today, the sport is practiced in more than 130 countries around the world. It is the only event involving the use of heavy weights that is part of the Olympic Games (which is why the sport is often called “Olympic Lifting”).
The sport of weightlifting consists of two events (which is why it is sometimes referred to as a biathlon). The first event, the snatch, involves lifting a barbell from the floor to arm’s length overhead in one continuous motion. It is one of the most difficult, explosive and elegant events in sport. The second event is called the clean and jerk (C&J). It involves lifting a barbell from the floor to the shoulders in one continuous motion and then, in a second motion, bringing the weight to arm’s length overhead. It is by far the single greatest test of strength in all of organized athletics (see Figs. 3 & 4 on for examples of the snatch and C&J, respectively).
Weightlifting: A Sport That Is As Wonderful As It Is Misunderstood
There may be no sport ever conceived by the mind of man or woman that is as misunderstood or underappreciated as the sport of Olympic-style Weightlifting – the sport that tests how much weight a man or a woman can lift from the ground to arm’s length above his or her head.
That the strongest men and woman in the world compete in weightlifting is understood by some people (although many still believe a falsehood—that other athletes are stronger than weightlifters). But most people think weightlifting is far more dangerous than it is, underestimate the speed, flexibility and coordination that is required to be a champion weightlifter, and are completely unaware of the sheer pleasure that there is in mastering the technique of weightlifting.
There is literally no other sport that challenges your strength, skill and mental powers more fully than weightlifting. All of these factors and others make weightlifting the uniquely fascinating and unbelievably rewarding sport that it is for men and women of all sizes and ages.
Why Become a Weightlifter?
While the reasons that people fall in love with the sport of weightlifting are all different, the most important reason to become a weightlifter is that it’s fun to be strong, but there is much more.
Those who have acquired a proficiency in weightlifting, acknowledge that they’ve never participated in a sport that they enjoyed as much. There is a feeling that comes from executing a perfect lift with a maximum weight that almost defies description. Amazingly, a limit lift performed in perfect style feels almost weightless to the lifter. This feeling of effortlessness gives one a sense of triumph over the weight that is something akin to the way baseball players feel when they hit a home run, what basketball players feel when they “swish” a challenging jump shot, or what golfers feel when they’ve sunk a perfect put. But most athletes who have experienced the joys of other sports as well as weightlifting feel that weightlifting provides the biggest thrill of all.
Why? No one knows for sure. Perhaps it is because knowledge of your success is immediate and certain. In baseball, basketball, or golf, you have to wait for the ball to travel before success is assured. In football you may make a good “hit,” but your opponent’s response may still not be as desired. In gymnastics or diving an athlete receives a certain degree of immediate feedback, just as one does in weightlifting. However, the athlete must then wait to see if the judges agree with his or her own impression.
In weightlifting there are judges too. But these judges are there merely to rule on marginal performances. When a lifter does a clean lift there is no doubt the lift is good (there are no points awarded in weightlifting competition for technique per se). In my more than thirty years in the sport, I have almost never seen a totally clean lift turned down by competent officials. I have only seen marginal lifts judged inconsistently. When you make a lift properly, you know it, and you know it in a split second.
Perhaps another reason for the pleasure that you get out of weightlifting is the certainty that comes from being at your best. If you shoot a hole in one in golf, roll a strike in bowling or hit a home run in baseball, there can never be any certainty that the result truly came from your own best ever performance. The hole-in-one may have resulted from a gust of wind or a bump in the green. To be sure, you must have hit a very good shot, but other factors may have played a role. In rolling a strike you could have been assisted by a groove in the alley.
In baseball, the distance of a hit can be influenced by the speed with which the pitcher threw the ball or the liveliness of the ball itself.
In weightlifting, the barbell is the barbell. It is manufactured to exacting specifications and its weight is precise. Moreover, in competition, everyone uses the same one. There is generally little doubt that when you lift a new personal best you are at your all time best. The combination of training, diet, rest and mental preparation was just right to make it happen. Strength, speed and coordination were all at a peak. The reward was to hold aloft the greatest weight that you have ever lifted and to savor the fruits of your hard earned success. There is simply no other thrill like it in all of sport.
Another reason for the satisfaction that weightlifting provides is that there is probably no sport for which the training is harder. The training is not necessarily harder than that of other sports in terms of the calories expended, the time spent, or even the total weight lifted in a training session (some manual laborers lift more total tons in a day than even top weightlifters). Rather, it is the intensity of the physical and mental effort that goes into a single maximum lift that makes weightlifting such a tremendous challenge. Because the challenge is so great, the satisfaction that one gains from success in weightlifting is great as well—you truly must give your all to succeed.
Still another reason for weightlifting’s appeal is that while it can have a limited element of “team” competition, it is first and foremost an individual sport. Your success in weightlifting depends on you and you alone. Teammates can offer many kinds of indirect help. Coaches can provide valuable feedback on your performance. Friends, relatives and teammates can lend their moral support. But the ultimate outcome of competition depends on you. If you fail, the agony is yours. When you succeed, the glory belongs to you. If everyone on your team goes out to party the day before the competition, that is their problem. If you are the only one left in the gym late at night, gutting out the last few lifts on an exercise that you know you need, only you will benefit. Everyone else may have showered and gone home long before. Their lack of discipline cannot hinder your success, your extra effort cannot help them when they are on the platform, alone with the barbell. You are the master of your fate.
Officials are at competitions for only one purpose in weightlifting: to assure that you comply with the rules of the competition. They are not there to judge your strength, your technique or your character. The weights you lift are the measure of your competitive success. The officials don’t have to know you or like you for you to succeed. Your race, religion, nationality or economic status have no bearing on your treatment in competition.
This is not because of rules or laws, but because there is a strong tradition of judging people solely on their ability in the sport of weightlifting. All of the peoples of the earth have their strongmen and strongwomen. It has always been that way and so it will always be. It is no accident that arguably the four greatest weightlifters who ever lived (John Davis, Tommy Kono, Naim Suleymanoglu and Vasili Alexseev) were, respectively, of African, Asian, Asian/European (Turkish) and European heritage. All of mankind is welcome in weightlifting and has always been.
In competition nothing matches the drama of weightlifting. Each athlete, regardless of his or her level of ability, gets his or her moment in the spotlight. This is partly because weightlifting is an individual sport where the focus is on the efforts of the individual. But it is more than that. Unlike most individual sports, weightlifting is conducted one lift at a time. There are no multiple events going on at the same time (as in gymnastics or track and field). The focus is on each lifter as he or she performs. From the standpoint of the audience, this can make for a somewhat slow moving event as each athletes takes a turn. For the athlete, however, it means that each will have a moment to achieve his or her own personal glory with complete concentration. In addition, there is a natural build up in excitement as the competition progresses. Weightlifting competitions open with the lightest weight requested by any athlete and end with the heaviest, so even though every athlete has his or her moment in the spotlight, the “best” is saved for last. However, the astute audiences of weightlifting love a courageous battle with the barbell, so regardless of the weight on the bar, a lifter who has fought well—win or lose—is greatly admired, respected and applauded, as he or she should be.
Finally, one of the most endearing features of weightlifting is the camaraderie that is so much a part of the sport. Since there are so few weightlifters in the United States, we cherish each other’s friendship all the more. We converge often to hold local competitions and several times a year to hold national competitions. There, beyond the competitions themselves, we have an opportunity to renew friendships that seem to last forever. We are friends bound by the powerful adhesive of a deep love and admiration for the sport and those who engage in it. Looking at each other, we know that there is only one reason for our being at the event: our love of weightlifting. The essentially “amateur” nature of weightlifting has its drawbacks, but surely one of the overwhelming virtues of this amateur approach is that those of us who participate do so because our love for the sport is pure and deep. No one ever looks at another competitor or contributor and wonders: “Is he or she in it primarily for the fame or fortune?” In weightlifting, there is only one fundamental coin of the realm: devotion to, and love for, the sport.
Some Common Fallacies About the Sport of Weightlifting
So many fallacies exist about the sport of weightlifting that a very lengthy book could be written about them. While I want dwell in this book on the realities of weightlifting rather than the fallacies surrounding it, I believe that the process of learning about the sport will be greatly enhanced if some of the most common and most mistaken myths regarding it are addressed at the outset.
Fallacy #1: Bigger “muscles” are stronger muscles.
Intuitively, people believe that bigger “muscles” (what they can observe merely by looking at a person) are stronger muscles. Exercise physiologists acknowledge that larger muscle fibers are able to contract more forcibly than smaller muscle fibers. Logic therefore suggests that the athlete with the biggest muscles is the strongest athlete. Unfortunately, this simple rule of thumb is simply untrue.
When you look at what we commonly refer to as a “muscle” with the naked eye, what you see is a combination of muscle fibers; tissue and chemical substances that are involved in energy storage and transport within the muscles; blood vessels; and fat. Those tissues are surrounded by several layers of skin and connective tissue.
While you can get a limited sense of the degree of fat that is underneath your skin by a visual inspection, there is no way to tell how much of what remains is attributable to true muscle tissue versus the other types of tissue. Fortunately, research done by exercise physiologists can help us to understand the rest.
The research merely confirms and explains what experts in the area of weight training have known for many years—that there is little correlation between visible “muscle” size and muscle strength. Moreover, there is a fundamental difference between the large, unnatural looking, muscles of bodybuilders and those of weightlifters. Science has helped to explain that difference as well.
It seems that the high volume and relatively high intensity (terms that will be explained later in the book) training that most bodybuilders do tends to stimulate more muscle fiber types than the training that weightlifters perform. (Muscle fiber types, some of which are better suited for intense efforts and others suited for repetitive efforts are discussed fully in Appendix 2.) In addition, the kind of training that bodybuilders do increases the blood supply going to the muscles (capillarization), as well as the effectiveness of the portion of the muscle tissue that furnishes energy to the muscles.
Stated rather crudely, under a weightlifter’s skin are maximally developed muscle fibers of the type that are best suited for all out efforts of muscular contraction when supplied with enough energy for brief and intense efforts and just enough blood circulation to make this all happen. (Not visible is the ability that the weightlifter has developed through specialized training to contract more muscle fibers in a highly coordinated way to accomplish higher results with the same muscle fibers than could an athlete without such training.) In contrast, under a bodybuilder’s skin is a combination of highly developed muscle fibers of different types and energy transport tissue richly supplied with blood, ready to do great deal of work over an extended period of time but not as well equipped to explode as quickly or forcefully as the muscles of a weightlifter. Therefore, while the muscles of a bodybuilder may appear larger and more well developed than those of a weightlifter (although the muscles of a weightlifter can also be very large), the greater size visible in bodybuilders is due to greater development of muscle fiber types that are not of great help in maximum efforts, capillarization of the muscle tissue and more effective energy transport systems. Consequently, the muscles of two athletes can appear to be very similar in development yet have a very different functional capacity. So, in the usual sense of the phrase, bigger muscles are not necessarily stronger muscles (although, all other things being equal, an increased diameter in muscle fibers themselves leads to an increase in their contractile power).
Fallacy #2: Everyone who lifts weights is a “Weightlifter”.
The general public assumes that exercising with weights of any kind is synonymous with the sport of “weightlifting.” While it is true in the broadest sense that anyone who lifts an object that has any weight at all can be called a “weightlifter,” those who truly understand the “iron game” (the entire realm of activities that are performed with weights or exercising against “resistance” of any kind) reserve a special meaning for the term “weightlifting” (i.e., the sport of competitive weightlifting – which will be identified shortly).
If we were to include the lifting of any object under the term “weightlifting,” then bricklayers would be weightlifters, as would be mothers and fathers who lift their children. In fact, even pencils weigh something, so the proverbial “pencil pushers” of the world would be weightlifters too.
What separates those who exercise with “weights” from bricklayers and pencil pushers is really the purpose of their activity and/or the specific objects that they lift. Pencil pushers are seeking nothing in terms of added strength, muscle size or endurance from their efforts with the pencil. Mothers and fathers who lift babies seek only to care for their children, and bricklayers are concerned only with laying their bricks as planned. None of these groups can be said to be “training with weights,” both because they are not interested in stimulating the muscles of the body toward an enhanced level of functioning and because the objects they are lifting are not there for the purpose of pure exercise.
In contrast, those who lift weights, or exercise against resistance in any of its many forms are taking advantage of the body’s ability to make its muscles larger and stronger when the muscles are made to contract more and more forcefully. What separates those who lift weights (all of whom are properly called “weight trainers”) from one another is their purpose for using the weights. Those who train with weights generally fall into one of four functional categories: weight trainer, bodybuilder, power lifter and weightlifter. The last three categories all involve competitive sports. While these categories can and do overlap to an extent, the essential nature of each is quite different.
Weight trainers are those people who lift weights with a purpose other than competing in one of the three weight sports. Some are training with the purpose of improving their proficiency in a particular sport (such as swimming, football or golf). Others are merely trying to improve their overall level of muscular fitness (ability to perform work) or to improve or to retain the firmness and outward shape of their muscles.
Bodybuilders (such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Lee Haney and Dorian Yates) train with weights for the purpose of developing the size and overall appearance of their muscles. Bodybuilders use “free weights” (like dumbbells and barbells) and weights or other resistance devices that are part of “exercise machines” (which are lumped into category “machines”) in their training. Many bodybuilders train to get stronger and or to improve their overall fitness, but the fundamental purpose of bodybuilding is to build and display the skeletal muscles of the body (see Fig.1). Powerlifting is a sport designed to test pure strength. It is really just another way, besides the sport of weightlifting, to test physical strength (just as weight throwing ability is tested in one of several field events, such as the discus and shot put). Powerlifting involves three events: the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. The squat involves placing a barbell on the shoulders behind the neck, and lowering the body by bending the legs until the top of the thigh, near the hip, is at the same level as the top of the knee (roughly where the thigh is parallel to the floor) and then standing up. The bench press consists of pushing a barbell from a position against the chest to straight arms, while the body is lying in a supine position on a bench. The deadlift consists of lifting a barbell from the floor until the body is standing erect with the barbell approximately at a level just below the hips (see Fig.2).
When you understand the differences between the activities that involve the use of weights, you realize that calling all of those who exercise with weights or weight machines “weightlifters” is somewhat like calling all doctors “surgeons.” All doctors practice medicine and many could become surgeons if they were willing to undergo the extensive and rigorous training that is necessary to become a surgeon. However, not all doctors become surgeons, nor could all doctors become surgeons. In fact, the majority of doctors are not surgeons.
Similarly, all of those who exercise with weights are weight trainers. Many of these weight trainers could become weightlifters if they were willing to perform the extensive and specialized training necessary to master the sport of weightlifting (as was defined in the section “What Is Weightlifting” at the beginning of this Introduction). However, not all of those who train with weights are weightlifters, nor could all become weightlifters. In fact, the vast majority do not. It takes great dedication and much hard work to become a weightlifter, and many of the benefits of weightlifting can be achieved through mere weight training, which is why many weight trainers never take the step to weightlifting.
Unfortunately, by so choosing, they miss the opportunity to participate in the most challenging and rewarding activity that can be performed with weights. Those who have become proficient in the sport of weightlifting, most of whom have been proficient in a number of other sports, almost without exception regard weightlifting as the most challenging and rewarding athletic event in which they have ever participated.
Fallacy #3: Bodybuilders, football players, wrestlers, powerlifters, etc. are stronger than weightlifters.
Accomplished bodybuilders have large, well defined and symmetrically proportioned muscles. They represent the ultimate in the development of maximum muscle size with minimum bodyfat. They are strong people, far stronger than athletes engaged in most other activities. Men like Reg Park, Bill Pearl, John Grimek and Dorian Yates (some of the strongest bodybuilders in history) are all extremely strong. Yet, with all of their strength and despite the amazing appearance of their muscles, they are simply no match for the best weightlifters in the world in terms of pure strength or power.
This is not meant to be a criticism of bodybuilders; their objective is to develop the appearance of their muscles as fully as possible. Their primary objective is not strength. Muscular development is the basis on which they are judged. If one bodybuilder’s appearance is only slightly better than another’s, and the one who looks slightly better is only half as strong as the other, the weaker bodybuilder will win. Strength delivers no advantage whatsoever in bodybuilding competitions.
Some incredibly strong athletes are to be found in the ranks of football, wrestling, field events and other sports in which strength plays a major role. But the strength performances of those athletes do not compare to the performances of elite weightlifters, whose special focus is on the development of pure strength and power (as compared with athletes who must focus more on the skills and all around conditioning needs of their respective sports than on strength and power development).
Powerlifters are generally not quite as impressive in terms of muscular appearance as bodybuilders. Powerlifters may be very well developed in certain areas of the body, but they will seldom have the kind of balanced development of each muscle group that bodybuilders have. Bodybuilders have an incentive to achieve all around muscular development, since symmetry (well balanced muscular development throughout the body) is one of the bases on which they are judged. In some instances, the muscles of a powerlifter may be as large as those of a bodybuilder, but a powerlifter’s muscles are almost never as well defined as those of bodybuilders; since their bodyfat is not as low, their muscles cannot be seen as readily. Consequently, the powerlifter’s appearance is not as striking. What they give up in appearance, powerlifters more than make up for in terms of pure strength. Powerlifters are incredibly strong. They are undoubtedly among the strongest men walking the earth. But today, weightlifters, as a group, have the strength edge.
Many powerlifters will reject this notion out of hand. They will argue that weightlifting involves technique and powerlifting does not. They will argue that this distinction has three important consequences. First, since powerlifting only requires pure strength, the training of powerlifters is concentrated in that area. It makes sense, they reason, that training concentrated in a given area will lead to superior results. Second, the powerlifts themselves are designed to measure only pure strength, whereas the events that comprise the sport of weightlifting involve technique as well. Therefore, the champion weightlifter may not even be the strongest man in his sport, let alone the world. Finally, powerlifters will argue, powerlifting competitions consist of three events as compared with weightlifting’s two, therefore powerlifters must have greater all around strength than weightlifters.
While these arguments have merit, none is as telling as it first appears, and all are refutable. Moreover, there are a number of arguments that can be made for the superiority of weightlifters that are not so easily dismissed.
For example, while the training for powerlifting is oriented more toward strength development than is the training for weightlifting, the argument about concentrated training fails on three grounds. First, while powerlifters concentrate on the development of strength, many powerlifters devote considerable training time to bodybuilding exercises to improve the support that some muscle groups give others during the performance of the powerlifts. For instance, many powerlifters argue that increasing the size of the biceps muscle will have a positive affect on one’s bench press, because when the arms are folded up in preparation for beginning the bench press, a muscular cushion will be provided by the biceps. Many powerlifters also bodybuild for the sake of appearance and because they believe that increased muscular size will contribute toward the ultimate development of muscular strength. Regardless of the rationale, a large percentage of powerlifters (like weightlifters) devote at least some of their training to goals other than the development of pure strength. Second, even if it were true that weightlifters devoted a larger percentage of their training time to exercises other than those used for pure strength development, it would not prove that powerlifters spend more time on the development of strength. This is because top weightlifters train much longer and harder that top powerlifters—probably at least two to three times longer and in many cases four to five times longer. For example, Eastern European weightlifters generally train six days a week and most train at least twice a day. The average lifter squats at least once a day, while many top powerlifters squat once a week! Clearly, frequency of training is not proof of its effectiveness, but the argument that powerlifters devote more energy to strength development is patently false.
Finally, let us look at the percentage of training time spent on strength development. Top weightlifters spend almost no training time on bodybuilding exercises. There is virtually no one in the sport of weightlifting who argues that the leverage needed for weightlifting is improved by the development of certain muscles, that muscle size developed through bodybuilding will improve strength or that appearance should be achieved at the expense of developing non-functional muscles. More importantly, it is a myth that top weightlifters spend any significant degree of time on pure technique development. Most top weightlifters develop their technique at an early stage in their training. Once they have advanced from the novice ranks, they devote very little time to pure technique. It is true that top lifters spend a great deal of time practicing the lifts they perform in competition. In fact, the lifters from some countries, most notably Bulgaria, spend more of their time doing the competitive exercises (i.e., the snatch and clean and jerk) than anything else. However, they are not performing these exercises solely for the purpose of developing technique (although they always perform the lifts with the best technique possible and make every effort to improve upon their execution of the lifts at every opportunity). Rather, they choose to do the snatch and clean and jerk (C&J) because they believe that these are the best exercises available for developing functional strength in the competitive lifts. Like many powerlifters who perform the bench press, squat and deadlift with the best form possible when they practice the lifts, weightlifters’ primary objective in performing these exercises is to develop strength.
What about the arguments that the snatch and clean and jerk involve more technique than the powerlifts and that the strongest weightlifter does not always win? It is true that weightlifting involves considerably more technical skill than the powerlifts. In fact, as was noted earlier, one of the great sources of satisfaction in weightlifting, beyond the development of incredible strength, is that of the mastery of a difficult skill.
However, this skill tends to be developed at an early stage in a lifter’s career, and by the time a lifter has reached the advanced level, it is nearly second nature. Consequently, at a high level of competition, most competitors are relatively equally matched in terms of technique. Therefore, victory goes to the stronger and more determined athlete. Similarly, at advanced levels of powerlifting, the technique differences tend to be small, and the stronger and more determined athlete will tend to be the victor. Naturally, at the very highest levels of competition, even small differences in technique can mean the difference between success and failure.
This is true in powerlifting as well as weightlifting. In powerlifting there is the added technical consideration of who has the better bench shirt or knee wraps, items that support lifters while they perform. No comparable supportive items are permitted or are even of any use in weightlifting. Therefore, in powerlifting, the strongest lifter may not always win either. However, overall, in both sports, the strongest athletes tend to win.
The argument that powerlifting is a better measure of strength than weightlifting because it consists of three events is also unconvincing for a number of reasons. First, weightlifting really consists of three (arguably four) separate tests of strength: the pull (which can be further subdivided into the snatch pull and the clean pull); the recovery from the deep squat position (more of a challenge from the low position in the clean than from the low position in the snatch;) and the jerk. Each event requires different kinds of strength in differing degrees.
The test of leg strength in powerlifting is the squat; in weightlifting, it is recovering from the deep position in the clean. In squatting, heavier weights are handled than in cleaning. However, the squat performed in powerlifting is not nearly as low as the squat position in the clean, so recovery from the lowest position in the squat in powerlifting is much easier than recovery from the low position in powerlifting. In addition, the bar is not in as favorable position on the body in the clean as it is in the squat (i.e., while squatting with the weight behind the neck, on the shoulders or below, considerable weight can be shifted toward the back so that the strain on the legs is far less).
Finally, it is not possible for weightlifters to wear the kinds of supportive devices that powerlifters do (e.g., power suits and belts) because they would be unable to move as quickly and as freely as is necessary in the sport of weightlifting. All things considered, the recovery from the deep squat position in the clean is at least as great , if not a better, test of pure leg strength as the squat performed in powerlifting competition. Both the squat in powerlifting and the recovery from the low clean position in weightlifting are ultimate tests of leg strength.
The second event in powerlifting competitions is the bench press. The bench press is the best all around test of a lifter’s strength in the muscles in the chest (pectorals), in the back of the arms (triceps) and in the front of the shoulder (the anterior deltoids). A heavy bench is an awesome display of upper body power. However, in weightlifting, upper body power is tested in a different direction (overhead) by the jerk. In the jerk, the legs and arms combine to drive the bar upwards from the shoulders, then the triceps and deltoids (not just the anterior part, as in bench pressing, but the medial and even the posterior parts as well) take over to help secure the bar overhead. (The same muscles are used in holding a snatch overhead as well.) Overhead lifting does not tax the chest muscles in the way that the bench press does, so the bench press has the clear advantage in that respect, but it does tax muscles (in addition to the side and rear deltoids) that are not tested at all in the bench press. In holding a weight overhead, all of the supportive muscles of the trunk (e.g., the abdominals and obliques) are tested to the extreme. Getting a weight overhead and bringing it under control are also displays of awesome strength in the upper body. However, just as there is no guarantee that the strength garnered from overhead lifting will translate into the bench press, so there is no assurance that an accomplished bench presser will have significant overhead strength. Therefore, both the bench press and the jerk test the muscles of the upper body to the extreme. Who has a more powerful upper body overall, the powerlifter or the weightlifter? In a way, it is really like comparing apples to oranges; both sports are wonders of nature and both are sweet to those who partake in them. Similarly, both sports are to be admired and respected.
Finally, let’s compare the deadlift in powerlifting with the pull in weightlifting. Both involve lifting the barbell from the same position on the floor. In powerlifting, the object is merely to straighten up with the load. In weightlifting, it is to impart enough force to the bar so that it will go high enough, with sufficient speed, to permit the lifter to catch it on the shoulders (in the clean) or overhead (in the snatch). The mechanical positions used in the deadlift as opposed to the snatch and clean are somewhat different because of the ultimate purpose of the lifts; for example, in the deadlift the back is generally permitted to “round” or hunch, at least somewhat, while in weightlifting it is generally kept arched or at least quite straight. In weightlifting the muscles of the upper back (and sometimes even the arms) are used more than they are in powerlifting, because the bar is being lifted much higher. Which lift is a greater test of back strength? It is hard to judge. Both test the muscles of the back and hips to the maximum, but in somewhat different ways. Clearly, no other sports test the back and hips nearly as much.
Overall, which sport is a better test of strength? Obviously, there is no clear answer. Both weightlifting and powerlifting are wonderful tests of human strength. The athletes of both sports are admired and respected by everyone in the iron game. However, for the athlete seeking the ultimate challenge in terms of competition, overall athletic ability and physical courage, weightlifting has the clear advantage. Weightlifting today presents the superior challenge. How can such a sweeping statement be made? Let’s look at a few telling points.
First, there are far more athletes training for weightlifting today than powerlifting (probably at least 10 to 20 times as many and perhaps many more) and they are training in many more countries of the world. Not only are the number and distribution of athletes in weightlifting much greater than in powerlifting, but there are also far more full time weightlifters in the world than powerlifters, so the real differences in terms of the number who are training seriously (i.e., under professional conditions) are even greater than the ratios of 10 or 20 to 1 suggest. In addition, weightlifting is a much older sport, so it is far more developed in terms of technique and training methods. Finally, no top flight powerlifter has ever become a truly top weightlifter (among the current group of powerlifters, Shane Hamman looks like someone with the potential break that barrier). In contrast, weightlifters, even some who were not at all exceptional in weightlifting, have become successful powerlifters (several have become world champions). Therefore, I think there is little question that when the title of the world’s strongest man is awarded today, it clearly belongs to the world champion in weightlifting, not powerlifting.
None of the above is meant to demean the sport of powerlifting. Powerlifters are heroic athletes, men and women who are building a new sport devoted to testing strength in a different way from the sport of weightlifting. Someday the level of competition and performance in powerlifting may rival or even surpass that of weightlifting, but that day is still a long way off, and it may never come. I truly wish powerlifting well in its struggle for advancement and recognition. However, the fact remains that today, for the athlete who is looking for the ultimate challenge in the world of strength competition as well as all around athletic ability, weightlifting has no rival.
This is not to say that an individual powerlifter may not be as strong as his or her counterpart in weightlifting at a particular moment in time. For example, Ed Coan is an incredibly strong man, who, in his strongest condition, might have been stronger than the best 100 kg. weightlifter in the world at the time. But overall, comparing the best weightlifters in the world with be best powerlifters (the latter without wraps and other supportive devices and performing comparable movements to the weightlifters – e.g., full squats) the weightlifters will win.
The superiority of weightlifters over powerlifters in terms of power is even more pronounced. It should be noted that while laymen often use the terms strength and power interchangeably, from the scientific standpoint, power and strength are entirely different concepts. Strength has been defined in many ways, but in the context of athletics it can be defined as the maximum force which muscles can develop. In the laboratory it is often measured directly as the amount of force an athlete can generate against resistance. In the gym, it is generally measured by the amount of weight an athlete can lift one time (and no more than one time) in a given exercise.
Power is formally defined as the rate at which work is performed. For example, if athlete A requires one second to deadlift 250 pounds, while athlete B requires two seconds to perform the lift, athlete A would be considered twice as powerful as athlete B. In short, power is a measure of speed and strength.
Because powerlifters move heavy weights slowly, they develop relatively low levels of power when they perform. In fact, powerlifting is a poor name for that sport; it would be more appropriate to refer to it as strength lifting. Weightlifters, in contrast, lift weights as rapidly as possible (for technical reasons that will described in later chapters of this book). In contrast to powerlifters, they develop incredible rates of power when they perform—among the highest rates ever measured by sports scientists. There is absolutely no comparison between powerlifters and weightlifters with respect to power outputs; the weightlifters are far superior in terms of developing power when they lift.
When athletes are measured on a combined basis of strength and power, weightlifters are without question the winners. Powerlifters may come close to weightlifters in the area of strength, sprinters and weight throwers (e.g., shot-putters and discus-throwers) may come close to weightlifters in terms of the power outputs that they are capable of, but no athletes in any other sport possess the combination of strength and power of competitive weightlifters. They are hands down the strongest and most powerful athletes on earth.
Fallacy #4: Weightlifting “stunts” your growth and has a very high injury rate.
Long years of experience have proven that weightlifting is far safer than most people believe. There are fewer injuries in the sport of weightlifting than in most major sports, probably fewer than in casual weight training, where the number of “do-it-yourselfers” is high and the instruction one is likely to receive in many gyms is extremely variable in terms of its quality. In addition, in the sport of weightlifting, the injuries that do occur tend to be far milder than in many other sports. For example, head and spinal chord injuries are practically nonexistent in weightlifting. Serious contusions, ligament damage and broken bones are also quite unusual.
Contrary to popular belief, hernias are relatively rare among weightlifters, and, when they do occur, they are almost uniformly the result of non-weightlifting activities. There are several reasons for this. First, weightlifters carefully condition themselves for maximum effort. Well conditioned athletes are unlikely to be injured by their activities. Second, proper technique is of vital importance in weightlifting, and it is the first thing taught by qualified coaches. When an athlete uses proper technique, injuries like hernias are unlikely to occur.
Finally, the apparatus used in weightlifting—the barbell—has been meticulously designed and carefully balanced to facilitate safe lifting. That design, developed and refined over the course of more than a century, helps to assure safety.
The same general rules apply to bad backs, knees and other kinds of injuries. Proper conditioning, proper technique and safe equipment minimize the risk of injury and the proof of this is in the relatively low rate of injuries suffered by weightlifters. Therefore, the need for proper conditioning proper coaching and using good equipment cannot be overemphasized.
While no amount of skill, care in training and proper equipment can eliminate the risk of injury in a strenuous sport like weightlifting, the situation in weightlifting is not different from that in other sports, and in many ways it tends to be better.
Fallacy #5: Drug usage is rampant in the sport of weightlifting.
Drug usage pervades our society. Few would disagree that drugs pose a major threat to our culture. Weightlifting is not immune from the influences of the culture around it. Nevertheless, weightlifting has acquired an unfortunate association in the public mind with drug usage, principally because of the presence of a particular kind of drug usage that is common in virtually all sports: the use of anabolic steroids.
There are a number of popular fallacies about anabolic steroids. We will examine just a few. First, anabolic steroids are not—at least primarily—mind altering drugs. They are not taken by serious athletes for their mind altering effects. There is no steroid “high” that corresponds to that of drugs like cocaine or heroin. Second, steroids have no effect on people who do not train for sport (you do not become a “superman” merely by ingesting anabolic steroids, regardless how much you take or for how long). Third, steroid use does not confer any instant competitive advantage on an athlete. Instead, anabolic steroids have a performance enhancing effect that occurs over time and only in conjunction with the training process. Even those who are training intensely will experience a positive effect from the use of anabolic steroids only if their use is maintained for at least several consecutive weeks, and many months or even years of use are required in order to achieve the full effect of the drug. Finally, the health risks attributable to steroid use are not in the same category as those attributable to drugs like heroin and cocaine. To be sure, anabolic steroids have negative health effects, effects which should discourage all athletes from using them. However, such effects are on a very different level of magnitude from the negative effects of many “recreational” and “hard” drugs, and those effects have been overstated (at least in relation to any actual scientific evidence) by the media.
With the exception of anabolic steroids, drug use among weightlifters is probably lower than among most other athletes and the weightlifting public at large. Why? One reason is that most athletes who choose the sport of weightlifting do so at least partially because they want to enhance their health and well being through sport. They engage in the sport not only because they enjoy it (although that is a very important motivation), but also because they prefer a sport that is non-combative, leads to an aesthetically pleasing level of muscular development, builds high levels of strength and power and challenges the mind and character to the limit. These objectives are not consistent with activities that harm the mind or body.
A second powerful reason why most weightlifters reject drug use is that weightlifting, perhaps more than any other sport, is a measurement sport. Weightlifters are constantly testing themselves against the barbell in a way that measures strength, speed, flexibility and coordination. If you are doing something that is deleterious to your health, it will soon become obvious. When you are competing directly against other athletes in sports like football or wrestling (particularly when competing against other athletes who might also have been out “partying”), it may be difficult to tell whether you are having a good or a bad day; athletes can mistakenly think they are having a “good day” in spite of the fact that the previous night’s activities have hurt their performances, because their competitors have also indulged in activities that have had a negative effect on their performance. The bar permits no such speculation. It weighs the same amount regardless of how you feel. It is an unrelenting reminder of reality. If you have done something injurious to your mind or your body, the barbell will not let you delude yourself for long.
If weightlifters tend to avoid the use of most drugs, then what about anabolic steroids? Anabolic steroids can have a positive effect on strength. Since strength is an asset in most sports, many athletes, not just weightlifters, have resorted to their use. It is not unfair to criticize weightlifting for this fact, but it is unfair to single out weightlifting. This is especially true because weightlifting has been a leader in its advocacy of the elimination of performance enhancing drugs from all sports. The governing body for international weightlifting competition (the International Weightlifting Federation, or “IWF”) banned a number of performance enhancing drugs in 1968 and began to test for stimulants (then the prevalent category of performance enhancing drugs) shortly thereafter, long before most other sports even began to address issues of drugs in sports. Extensive anabolic steroid testing began at the 1976 Olympic Games, and testing for steroids, as well as other performance enhancing drugs, has been performed with greater vigor by weightlifting’s national and international governing bodies (the United States Weightlifting Federation, which now does business as USA Weightlifting or the “USAW” and the IWF, respectively) than by any other sport. Moreover, the penalties applied by these federations have generally been greater than those recommended by either the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, the organizations that govern overall Olympic sports
Why has the eradication of anabolic steroids from weightlifting competition not been accomplished thus far? Very simply, because a method for completely eliminating the advantage of using anabolic steroids in athletic competition has not existed. Until recently, athletes could take the drugs up until several weeks before an event, discontinue their use prior to the event and still perform at an elevated level. Since anabolic steroids take several weeks to several months to deliver their advantage to the user, it also takes an equal period for the performance enhancing effects of these drugs to wear off.
Now a method for greatly reducing anabolic steroid use has been developed. As usual, it has been deployed first within the sport of weightlifting, in particular by the USAW, the sole governing body for weightlifting in the United States In 1990 the USAW began random testing of its athletes several weeks before major competitions, as well as at the competitions themselves. Consequently, any athlete who uses steroids is forced to stop taking them two to three months before any major event in order to pass the random tests. Since major competitions take place every few months, this process makes it difficult for most top athletes to find a period when they would be able to take the drugs without being subject to testing.
More recently, the USAW has gone much further. Now the highest level athletes in the United States must agree to be tested on a random basis throughout the year—without any notice. An athlete is merely approached by a representative of the United States Olympic Committee (the organization that performs the drug testing for the USAW) and asked to produce a urine sample. An athlete who has been using anabolic steroids or any other kind of banned drug will not find it possible to mask the presence of that drug or have the drug clear his or her system before the test. US Weightlifters who are caught using steroids in competition or random testing are subject a four year suspension from competition for a first offense and a lifetime suspension for the second offense. Therefore, on a practical level, the advantages of taking anabolic steroids have been virtually eliminated.
Some weightlifting federations in other countries have adopted programs similar to that of the USAW and it is hoped that all other national weightlifting federations will soon follow suit (the IWF has a limited program of worldwide out-of-competition testing at present). Once this occurs, steroid usage, by and large, will become a thing of the past for weightlifting competitions. It has already been greatly reduced. For example, there were no weightlifters who were found to be taking any banned substance at the most recent Olympic Games in Atlanta, while some athletes in other sports were found to be doing so.
Testing in weightlifting competition will not eliminate our societal problem with anabolic steroids or with drugs in general. Education is the key to that process. However, testing will assure that weightlifters can compete on an even, drug free, playing field. The champions of weightlifting, the strongest men and women in the world, may once again be drug free. That fact will help to return weightlifting to its deserved position as one of the most highly respected sports worldwide, and its champions will serve as leaders in showing our youth what can be accomplished by hard training and dedication alone. Can any sport do more?
Fallacy #6: Weightlifting muscles make you “musclebound.”
The musclebound myth has probably survived as long as it has for only one reason; its proponents have never been willing to define clearly what they mean by the term. However, while musclebound “theorists” hate to be pinned down in their definitions, they would probably have to agree that wrapped up in the vague notion of “muscleboundedness” is the idea that those with large muscles are less flexible, slower moving and more poorly coordinated than the general population. In truth, none of these assumptions is supported by the facts. Unfortunately for those who hate, envy or fear those with large muscles, resistance trained muscles not only look better, they also perform better than untrained ones.
The musclebound myth has been losing ground on several bases. First, it has slowly been eroded by the millions of athletes worldwide who utilize weight training. They have gotten bigger, stronger and faster by training with weights. For example, most, if not all, of the world’s top sprinters and jumpers use weight training extensively; it does not seem to be slowing them up! Second, no loss of flexibility has been noted by those athletes who train properly with weights. Quite the contrary, many athletes have experienced improvements in their mobility through weight training. Scientific studies support this empirical finding in that they have generally found no decrease in flexibility as a result of weight training.
Finally, there is the issue of lack of coordination. Surely no one who has trained with weights has noted a diminution in their coordination associated with such training. In many cases, stronger muscles help one to perform a particular skill better because a certain level of strength may be needed in addition to skill. What then is the basis of the accusation that those with larger muscles are less coordinated? Perhaps it stems from the recognition that while a person who trains with weights will tend to have muscles that look “athletic” (i.e., well developed), such persons are not necessarily able to apply their muscle capacity successfully toward a particular activity with any less practice than a person who has not trained with weights. Consequently, while people expect those with an athletic appearance to be more skilled at moving their muscles than people who do not have such an appearance, there is no reason to believe that weight trainers or other athletes are able to dance better or to hit a baseball more skillfully than the average person. Weight training develops skills in performing the weight training activities that the weight trainer practices and it develops muscles that are more fit to perform certain activities, but it does not develop (or hinder the development of) the skills necessary to perform a particular activity (other than the aforementioned advantage that stronger muscles can make the performance of certain skills an easier process).
What about competitive weightlifters? Is the flexibility of weightlifters hindered by their intense training with weights? A study of Olympic athletes done in the late 1970’s found that weightlifters were second only to gymnasts in all around flexibility. In addition, weightlifters have been found to be among the very fastest athletes in the Olympic Games. Finally, with respect to coordination, you have only to observe the sport of weightlifting to realize that snatches and clean and jerks are among the most complex and exacting movements in sport. Weightlifting is hardly a refuge for the uncoordinated. Let us hope that the musclebound myth has finally been put to rest, especially as it pertains to competitive weightlifters.
Fallacy #7: The athletes of any one country (e.g., the US) can’t beat the athletes from another (e.g., Russia).
There is a widespread feeling in American weightlifting circles today that we cannot beat the athletes from the area that was formerly the Soviet Union, Bulgarians and athletes from any country whose lifters seem to be on the rise at any time.
One reason often cited for this state of affairs is that the athletes in certain other countries (we’ll use Eastern Europe as an example because that is probably the area most often named by US athletes) use drugs and that their drugs are superior to those available to athletes in other countries. This argument overlooks the relatively primitive state of science in general and the pharmaceutical industry in particular in the Eastern European countries. Even if it were true that they have “better” drugs, the discussion about drug testing presented earlier should serve to convince people in this country that arguments of this type are becoming less persuasive.
Another argument often given is that sports science in the Eastern European countries is far superior to that of the United States. In view of the dismal record of Eastern European science overall, it is extremely doubtful that sports science in these countries is the equal of, let alone superior to, the sports science that is available in Western countries. Political repression simply does not contribute to an environment in which science flourishes. Moreover, a centrally planned economy does not lead to the kind of economic well being that permits well rounded spending on scientific research or to the development of the kinds of technology that assist in scientific research.
To look at just one area, in an age where computer aided research is inextricably intertwined with modern biological research, is it likely that countries with weak computer facilities would lead the world in research in a biological area? Western superiority in medicine, biology, chemistry and engineering strongly suggests that sports science should be better in the West than in Eastern Europe (an advantage that may not long continue if the countries of Eastern Europe move toward Westernization).
How then can we explain the outstanding performances of Eastern European countries in the area of amateur sports in general and weightlifting in particular? Sports have long been in the realm of clinicians, not theoretical or research scientists. The best scientists are rarely the best coaches. This does not mean that the best coaches do not employ the so called scientific method (i.e., setting up a hypothesis and then testing it). Coaches employ their techniques in the real world, where double-blind verifications and the isolation of all variables that can affect outcomes are not normally possible. In this realm, the inferential thinker is king, not because of his or her sophisticated laboratory but because of his or her special ability to observe complex events and to identify the essential elements. This is something anyone living anywhere can do without a lot of high-tech equipment.
The legendary Bulgarian weightlifting program of the 1970s and 1980s was a case in point; Bulgarian coach Ivan Abadjiev built his team under difficult conditions (and with very limited formal “scientific” support). He certainly did not the human, economic or scientific resources of the neighboring Soviet Union of that era, but his team defeated the Soviets on many occasions.
Many European coaches excel in practical training analysis, and many more coaches are applying themselves to weightlifting in Eastern European countries than in the United States. Moreover, many coaches work full time with their athletes in Eastern European countries, where coaching weightlifting is regarded as a true and honorable profession. Consequently, in the course of a lifetime, an Eastern European weightlifting coach may have opportunities to observe many more athletes than his American counterpart. This gives such coaches the potential for enjoying a significant experience edge.
Does this mean that he necessarily knows more? No, because coaching 1,000 athletes can simply mean making the same mistake 1,000 times, while a thoughtful coach who handles ten athletes can learn many valuable lessons. Experience surely makes it more likely that one will learn more, but what a coach learns depends as much on the mental habits of the coach as it does on the coach’s experience. When you combine experience with an active mind you get a great coach and I have had the good fortune to meet and learn from some of them.
Finally, the training of Eastern European coaches is far more organized than in the United States In Eastern Europe, coaching is a profession which can be studied in a university with a major in a particular sport. In the United States a prospective coach might major in physical education and then gain practical experience coaching his or her sport. There are few academic degrees in coaching (and there are none in weightlifting coaching). Therefore, it is only reasonable to expect that some terrific coaches have developed under the Eastern European sporting system. However, while the advantages that Eastern European coaches have in many areas are significant, but they are certainly not insurmountable by the coach and athlete who wish to apply themselves by reviewing the published literature, learning from other athletes and coaches and to honing their knowledge and experience in the gym.
Is there another reason for Eastern European superiority? Yes, but it does not lie in the psychological training of the Eastern bloc athlete, although an Eastern European weightlifter, unlike many Americans, may have the advantage of believing he or she can be a champion. It does not lie in the mud at the bottom of the Dead Sea (recently touted as a health food) or any of the other forms of “snake oil” peddled by many would be entrepreneurs in this country. The answer lies in another realm entirely: the economic.
In Eastern Europe enormous economic resources have historically been devoted to “amateur” sports, to the point where such sports are hardly amateur. Young athletes are selected by the state. And other than politics, there is really no other game in town for the youngster who wishes to free himself or herself from grinding poverty and the travel restrictions that have been part of Eastern European life for so long. Notice that the nations that have tended to perform best in amateur sports have been the most closely tied to the former Soviet Union. A sports system that offers total support to athletes they are competing and thereafter is going to attract the talented individuals of a nation and will permit them to train with a complete focus on their sport. In the United States there has been nothing comparable. As lucrative as big time collegiate and professional sports can be, they cannot compare with athletics in Eastern Europe, because youngsters can make it big in many ways in the United States, not just through sports. In addition, a lower income person in the United States tends to live more comfortably than a professional athlete in the former Soviet Union. The economic drives for athletic success are simply not as great here.
As a case in point, it is estimated that before the fall of communism there were 300,000 to 400,000 weightlifters in the Soviet Union as compared with fewer than 3,000 in the United States. There are those who argue that numbers do not tell all because there are only two to three times the number of weightlifters in Bulgaria as in the United States. However, what is neglected in such an analysis is that the thousands of athletes training in Bulgaria are the cream of the school system and are enrolled in nearly full time programs with constant professional supervision.
In the United States more than one-fourth of our participants in weightlifting are masters (athletes aged 40 or above) and another fourth, or more, are transient young athletes who may compete only once or twice with little training and preparation and then disappear. Only a very small number of the remaining U.S. weightlifters are training for international competition, and none of them are truly “professionals” who do nothing but train for weightlifting competition (except, perhaps, the handful of athletes who are in the USAW Resident Athlete program in Colorado Springs or individuals who find themselves in similar conditions in other parts of the United States) . Moreover, the professional weightlifters in other parts of the world have often been “selected” from many candidates on the basis of their particular talents for weightlifting. Therefore, the real differences between the number of talented and devoted weightlifters who are training in the United States today and the number of athletes who are training in other countries are truly staggering.
Today, there is significant evidence that many of the competitive advantages that Eastern European athletes have long enjoyed are beginning to erode. For one thing, the Eastern European nations are on their way toward Westernization. With that will come a broader focus in the athletic and general tastes of the nation. The youth of these nations will not be forced exclusively into amateur sport, with an emphasis on weightlifting. Another consideration is that the citizenry is unlikely to support amateur sport as fully as the communist regimes did. The need for propaganda will be reduced, and the general population may well put other needs ahead of sport. Still another major phenomenon that will level the playing field is the final elimination of hypocritical amateurism from sport. For many years Western athletes have been denied the opportunity to support themselves through sports or have had to go through ridiculous gyrations to maintain the aura of amateurism while making a living. Today athletes all over the world are moving toward increasingly fairer forms of competition, competition aimed at deciding who is the best athlete rather than who is better at passing a drug test or disguising his or her income.
In short, the opportunities for athletes of all nations to compete in weightlifting are better than they have been in at least a generation. Many people have forgotten or never knew that before state sports became entrenched in Eastern Europe, the United States fielded World and/or Olympic championship weightlifting teams from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1956, finishing second or third several times before and after that period of dominance, having two individual male world champions as late as the World Championships of 1969. Women from the US have won medals in all but one World’s championship from 1987-1996.
A Time Of Unprecedented Opportunity In Weightlifting
Today there are many athletes in all of the countries of the world who, with the proper dedication and intelligent training, have the potential to become the champions of the future. Perhaps the only real obstacle that Americans (and athletes from other nations who have not been leaders in weightlifting in recent years) now face is the possibility of inheriting a massive inferiority complex from many of their immediate predecessors. Athletes who believe they cannot win will not win. They will not train the way they must to be champions and they will not be inspired by the infinite energy that comes from the dream of being a champion. But to those few who dare to be great, to undertake the challenge of meeting the best in the world on their own terms and with all of their advantages, will go the highest accolades and the greatest personal sense of achievement.
It took great courage for the first American international lifters to venture to Europe in the 1930s and to return victorious (the myth of European invincibility was at least as strong then as was the myth of Eastern European invincibility until recently – when weightlifters from other parts of Europe and Asia mounted a serious challenge to the Eastern Europeans). Men like Tony Terlazzo and John Davis will forever be remembered in the history of American weightlifting as those who led the way – those who had the courage to challenge the World’s best and to win.
Now the opportunity presents itself for a new generation of Americans and other athletes from all of the nations of the world to take up a similar challenge, to bring themselves and their nations to positions of glory in the world of weightlifting. It will not be easy and it will not come quickly, but for those few who have the courage to accept the challenge of that glorious effort, victory will be all the sweeter. They will be the weightlifting heroes of the new millennium.
This book is dedicated to the athletes of all nations who wish to accept the challenge of becoming the best in the world, the best who have ever lived!
There is another sense in which there is unprecedented opportunity in weightlifting today—the prospect of making a living as a weightlifter. Until recently, weightlifting, along with many other Olympic sports, was considered an amateur sport. Athletes who earned money (directly or indirectly) from their sport could be banned from competition. Today those limitations are a thing of the past. And, while there are no formal professional weightlifting leagues in which athletes earn large sums of money for winning competitions (there is at least one “semi-pro” league), there are countries in which high caliber athletes can earn a comfortable living. It is rumored that in at least one country in Europe, athletes who won the Olympic Games received several hundred thousand dollars as a reward for their victories. The USAW presently has a system for rewarding its top athletes which makes it possible for those athletes to concentrate on their weightlifting (though certainly not to become wealthy).
But there are many other opportunities for weightlifters to earn money. Many have become personal trainers. Although it is true that there is a “glut” in the personal trainer market today, it is also true that most personal trainers are people who like exercise and take a quick exam to become certified. When the expertise of such people is compared with that of a competitive weightlifter it generally pales by comparison. Consequently, the weightlifter who knows how to promote himself or herself can achieve great success in this field.
Similarly, a number of top weightlifters have become strength coaches for college and professional sports teams. This is another field in which people can take an exam and become certified. But there is no comparison between the expertise of someone who has merely studied to pass an exam and someone who has devoted his or her life to developing strength and power.
Finally, unlimited opportunities are available to those who can conduct effective seminars, secure endorsements and break into advertising. The world’s strongest man or woman who knows how to promote himself or herself has fantastic potential today (as compared with their predecessors—who could be, and were, banned immediately from competition for promoting themselves). This is truly an era of unprecedented opportunity in weightlifting!
Some Advice On Reading “The Weightlifting Encyclopedia”
In creating this book I have tried to provide the most comprehensive resource on the sport of weightlifting that has ever been published. There are nearly 400,000 words in this book, nearly 90 photos or illustrations and more than 100 references (many of them annotated) in the Bibliography. Hundreds of topics are covered, some at a level of detail that has never been available before, hence the term “encyclopedia” in the title.
Because this book is so large and complete, reading the book straight through may appear to be a daunting task. But such an approach to reading this book is no more necessary than reading a typical encyclopedia at one sitting.
For the person who likes to read, absorbs much of what he or she reads on the “first pass” and has the time to devote to the reading process, this encyclopedia builds progressively on what has been presented previously (unlike the typical encyclopedia, which is arranged alphabetically by topic). This permits the reader to go through the book from cover to cover with great benefit.
But beginners and novices, particularly those who are anxious to quickly apply what they have learned, will be better served by utilizing something like the following sequence in their reading:
Introduction (the part preceding this section of the Introduction as well as this section)
*Chapter 1 (through the section entitled “An Analysis of the Technique of the Snatch and Clean and Jerk”–studying the sequence photos in particular–it is not necessary to read the details of each phase at this point)
Chapter 2, the following sections:
*Proper Breathing While Lifting
*Selecting an Optimal Hand Spacing
*Selecting an Optimal Foot Spacing
Returning the Bar to the Platform…
*Practice and Feedback: The Foundations for Learning a Motor Skill
*Teaching Technique (the entire section)
*Perfecting An Athlete’s Weightlifting Technique (the entire section)
Methods of Identifying Technique Faults (the entire section)
*The Selection of Reps…
*The Selection of Weights…
Chapter 3, the following sections:
The Training Effect
*Guidelines Regarding Repetitions
*Guidelines Regarding Sets
*Developing Flexibility For Weightlifting (the entire section—unless you test your flexibility as suggested on pages 170-2 and find that it is sufficient without any special training, in which case you can skip that section for now)
*Chapter 4 (the Personal Equipment section, through the section on “tape”, then skip to the portion of the Gym Equipment section that focuses on the: Bar, Plates, Platform, Power Rack, Squat Rack, then the section on The Training Facility—the first two pages and the section on Spotters.
*Chapter 5, descriptions of the: power snatch, power clean, power jerk, dead hang snatch, snatch and clean pulls, squat (back, front and overhead), presses (especially behind the neck and military).
*Chapter 6, (the sections on the Workout Plan, Training Log and the Process of Developing Training Programs (particularly the description of “Cindy’s” program). You should also read the section on “The Special Needs of Powerlifters and Other Strength Athletes…” if you are converting to weightlifting from powerlifting or another sport for which you have done extensive strength training.
Chapter 7,(through the section on Positive Mental Attitude, then the section on Goal Setting through the section on the Importance of Concentration.
*Chapter 9, (if you are a woman, a lifter 40 or above, or an athlete under the age of 18—read the appropriate section of this chapter—which addresses each of these groups)
Chapter 10, the sections on achieving your “Ideal Bodyweight” and “Pre-Game Meals”.
*Chapter 11, the opening section on Prevention of Injuries and, under, Dealing With Injuries the initial section on first aid.
Appendix 1 (the section on the Technical Rules of Weightlifting through the section on Incorrect Movements Particular to the Clean and Jerk)
Appendix 4 (the section on Selecting a Coach (if you are a lifter who is beginning without a coach or who is looking for one).
Read the asterisked sections noted above before you walk into a gym and the other ones as soon as possible after you have begun training.
Another thing you should consider very early on is purchasing some video footage of weightlifters in action. The USAW has an instructional video on the subject of “pulling” and for its Club Coach’s course. Both videos have limitations, but both provide useful information for the beginner. Another important source of video information is Iron Mind Enterprises (for more information on the USAW and Iron Mind see the Organizations and Publications… section at the end of the Bibliography of this book). Iron Mind offers videos of top international events (purchase the two part tape of the Atlanta Olympic Games and you’ll have a good idea of what good technique looks like).
Join the USAW and ask them if they can supply you with the name of some weightlifting clubs that are near you. Visit several, if possible, to determine which most fits your needs. Every club has a different atmosphere and no one club is for everyone. If there is no club nearby, consider starting your own (see the section on Starting a Club in Chapter 4).
Use a video camera film your workouts. You’ll then be able to see what you are doing and make appropriate modifications. Using a mirror is a good idea to study static positions—you should not be looking in a mirror when you are actually performing the lifts (especially the competitive lifts) except with very light weights early in the process of learning and exercise, so that you can see, in real time, what you are doing versus what you think you are doing.
Go to a weightlifting competition (the USAW will be able to tell you about the events nearest you). At those events you will see the sport in action and can meet other lifters and coaches. Weightlifters and coaches are generally only too happy to help you get into the sport. Naturally, you do not want to approach a top lifter or coach during the heat of the competition, but well before or after the contest most athletes and coaches are happy to be of help (remember someone helped them when they were beginners too).
Read the other sections of the book as they make sense and interest you (e.g., read about competition about 8 weeks before your first meet so that you will understand what you will need to do there).
More advanced readers and those with limited time at any one sitting may prefer to read The Weightlifting Encyclopedia by selecting sections from the table of contents or topics from the extensive index. Most of the many sub-sections of the book have been written in such a way that they can be read by themselves with a high level of understanding (especially with the use of the index at appropriate points).
Whatever your approach to reading “The Weightlifting Encyclopedia”, I hope you will find it to be as interesting and enjoyable to read as it was to research and write. Most importantly, I hope it is helps you to achieve your goals in weightlifting, whatever they may be. Good reading, good training and successful competition!
By virtue of his sheer mastery of what was then a new style, perhaps no other athlete helped to popularize the modern squat style of lifting to a greater extent than Dave Sheppard.