Olympic weightlifting has never been an interest of mine, and in fact it strikes me as extremely weird. None of the lifts that I think of as the core, major lifts are actually in the competition. For example, all three of the Powerlifting lifts from the previous article are omitted. The overhead press is simulated to some degree by the clean and press, and since the legs are stronger you can probably clean the weight if you can press it. Still, for a sport called "weightlifting" it seems to be more about explosive, dynamic movements than the simple ability to lift weight.
The reason they are thinking about cutting the sport is because of doping. Now there they might take a page from Strongman and Powerlifting, and simply stop worrying about it. You want to see how strong a human being can be? Well, let them do whatever they want to prepare for the competition. This has the nice side effect of eliminating any trans*-competition concerns because, if you're going to let them juice with whatever they want, there's no reason to worry about natural hormones.
(I am myself a purely natural guy; no performance-enhancing drugs of any kind have I ever used. From my perspective, though, the reason to be strong isn't to win the Olympics -- it's to maintain robust good health and physical capacity for as long as I am able. Taking dangerous supplements would be counterproductive if that is the end.)
I'm no expert but I suspect that the unusual movements are the result of rules about what exact body actions constitute an Olympic 'clean' and 'press', as opposed to what somebody does in a gym. A snatch to overhead could be made to look like a clean and press if you didn't force the lifter to pause between the two movements of the weight.
ReplyDeleteHowdy Grim!
ReplyDelete"Still, for a sport called "weightlifting" it seems to be more about explosive, dynamic movements than the simple ability to lift weight."
I've competed in local weightlifting tournaments, USA Weightlifting membership required, and local powerlifting tournaments. As you say, the Olympic lifts (clean/jerk & snatch) are exactly more explosive and also more technical in nature than powerlifting lifts (bench, dl, strict press, & squat). That said, any serious training for the Olympic lifts requires the power lifts.
Christopher B:
"A snatch to overhead could be made to look like a clean and press if you didn't force the lifter to pause between the two movements of the weight."
No, the clean and press was removed from the Olympics because of the difficulty in judging the technique during the pressing phase- "layback" being a very subjective call. If you meant to say clean and jerk made to look like a snatch-- I just don't see it. The clean and jerk is two distinct movements, and the snatch 1.
Great to see you, Daniel! It’s been a long time.
ReplyDeleteStrongman is similar to what you’re saying. The power demonstration tends to be more in lifting-and-then-carrying or in outright throwing weight; but the last comp I went to had a log press that was similar to (yet different from) the barbell clean-and-press.
Daniel, I think your explanation was what I was aiming for but didn't have the experience to give, that form enters into the Olympic equation to a greater degree and has an impact on what the competitors do.
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