Introduction
Olympic Weightlifting is often a sport by which athletes compete to the total weight of 2 lifts: the snatch and also the clean & jerk. The training methods utilized in Weightlifting can also be employed by Strength & Conditioning coaches as a means of strength training for a wide range of other sports. One of the first causes of exploiting various strength training modalities such is for power development. There are several variations on the theme of power training. Many of these training modalities include plyometrics (Wilson, Elliot & Wood 1990), assisted and resisted training (Faccioni 1993a; 1993b) and speed and acceleration drills (Cinkovich 1992). A well known method utilized to increase athletic power is Olympic Weightlifting (ie power cleans, push presses, snatches, jump jerks in addition to their variations) conducted inside the exercise (Garhammer, 1993). It has traditionally been seen as an effective way of manufacturing general explosive ability (Takano 1992; Stone 1993; Garhammer & Gregor 1992). However, there are many important considerations which need being addressed when implementing Olympic lifting exercises in the Strength & Conditioning program of your athlete, many of these include movement competency, training age, sport and coaching time with athlete. The goal of this informative article by Elite Performance Institute (EPI) is always to give a biomechanical and physiological discussion as to why weightlifting work outs are useful to improve athletic performance and exactly how they must be performed in a exercise program. For more information, kindly visit www.epicertification.com
Power Defined
Power may be defined as the perfect combination of speed and strength to create movement (Chu 1996). Specifically, power represents ale the athlete to create high degrees of work through certain distance. The more power an athlete possesses the larger the level of work performed (Wilson 1992). Power is often a combination of strength and speed:
POWER = FORCE (strength) X VELOCITY (speed of motion)
There are several physiological and neural adaptations which comprise the force component (Moritani 1992). Physiological adaptations to strength consist of a boost in muscle tissues through hypertrophy, ligament density and bone integrity (Tesch 1992a). Neural adaptations (Schmidtbleicher 1992) which can be produced are: (1) increased recruitment of motor units; (2) increased firing rate of motor neurones; (3) synchronised firing of motor neurones; (4) rise in intra-muscular coordination; and (5) rise in inter-muscular coordination.
Speed of motion is composed of many different interrelated factors (Ackland & Bloomfield 1995). They’re; (1) muscle fibre type; (2) skill; (3) muscle insertion points; (4) lever length; (5) muscular posture; and (6) elastic energy technique series elastic component.
Olympic Weightling exercises facilitate growth and development of the guts (Strength-Speed and Speed-Strength) of the force-velocity (FV) curve (see above). The FV curve acts a map to Strength & Conditioning Certification Ireland according to the kind of strength developed from each exercise, session or phase of training inside the program. As a result, the Strength & Conditioning coach can effectively plan what sort of power they would like to develop and which training modality (powerlifting, Olympic liftining, plyometrics, etc) is best utilised to elicit these adaptations.
Conclusion
Concern still exists regarding ef?cacy of including Olympic weightlifting exercises inside the strength training programs of athletes in sports aside from weightlifting. These concerns generally belong to 3 broad categories: 1) Perceived time required to learn the movements due to complexity of the lifts. 2) Deficiencies in idea of the possibility bene?ts which can be produced by performing Olympic lifting exercises correctly. 3) Concern in the possibility of injury resulting from doing these weightlifting movements.
It really is evident there are a plethora of biomechanical great things about doing these lifts with limited disadvantages. The biggest risk may be of the perceived danger of doing these lifts. Based on the research presented by Brian Hammill of the British Weightlifting Association (BWLA), it can be stated with con?dence that this injury risk is really as low or lower than most sports so long as there exists quali?ed supervision supplied by certi?ed Strength and Conditioning coach who are been trained in coaching the weightlifting movements.
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