Olympic Lifts…Why Use Them?

Many people have heard of the Olympic lifts, performed them at some point or another or seen individuals in the gym who are performing them. What many people don’t understand, however, is the benefits that come with using the Olympic lifts. I would have to say that about 2% of the participants I see in the gym actually use the Olympic lifts or their variants. There are a few reasons I believe this number is so low:

1.          Lack of knowledge
2.      They are frightened to get injured
3.      They don’t know how to incorporate them

Because I am a true believer in the Olympic lifts, I want to point out a few reasons why you should include them, and their variants, in your routines:

1.         Full Body Workout- The Olympic lifts are full body exercises in nature and they incorporate multiple joint movements and a taxing load on the entire body. For this reason, breaking your workouts up by body part is not necessary.  With this, you also won’t need to look further than performing the Olympic lifts and their variants when performing your workouts. This means you don’t need 15 different exercises each time you lift.
2.      Timely- Using the Olympic lifts will not only save you planning but will also save you time. Because you are working your full body through one movement, a 30-minute session using these lifts will provide you with a workload that would take about an hour and a half to receive with a split-body workout.
3.        Explosion- This is a point that may not apply to everyone in the audience but using the Olympic lifts, and their variants, provide you with explosive movements that are beneficial for athletics. The Olympic lifts are based strictly on power, which is the ability to move as much weight possible as fast as possible, in turn, creating explosion. Explosion is key in many sports and provides advantages for almost any athlete. 

Those are only a few of the benefits you will get if you implement the Olympic lifts into your routine. I am not even saying you need to change to a full-on Olympic workout. But adding one or two of the Olympic lifts or its variants into your routine will not only spice up your workout but will pay off in power, strength and your health in general.

WARNING: Olympic lifts are to be done only with correct form. Do not start off too heavy. Start with the bar and don’t move up in weight until your form is perfect. Once you have the form the weight will start piling on.

Some of the Olympic Lifts and their variants: Snatch, clean and press, hang clean, power clean, power pull, power shrug, hanging snatch, overhead squat, push press, push jerks.