Olympic lifting IN SPORTS PROGRAMMING.

Ive been asked before on more than one occasion why Olympic lifting is so often prescribed within other sport specific gym programming. Just in case you are unsure, there are 2 olympic lifts, the barbell snatch and the clean and jerk. Now, there are many reasons why these 2 lifts would and should be included when programming for other sports. Let’s start with the fact that it helps increase speed, strength and power. Those reasons alone would be enough to justify their inclusion within programmes. However in my opinion, the most valid reason is how they affect something called the rate of force development. Rate of force development put simply is how quickly an athlete can develop force. It is a measure of explosive strength and is defined as the speed at which the contractile elements of the muscle can develop force. Athletes with higher rates of force development have been shown to perform better during numerous physical performance tests. This, therefore highlights the potential this value has in the role of athletic development. Higher rate of force development has been directly linked with better jump, sprint, cycling, weightlifting and even golf swing performances. 

So if we take away the obvious sports from that list above, the jumps (high/long/triple), cycling, sprinting and weightlifting those attributes are still vital in numerous sports. There is a familiar saying within the strength and conditioning world, and that saying is ‘speed kills’. Meaning more often that not, the faster team or the faster individual will be victorious (there are exceptions of course). So having a faster, more explosive sprint will be hugely advantageous in most sports. Take the fullbacks in football for instance, they are usually the busiest individuals over the course of a match. They cover a huge amount of ground and then have to make lung-busting overlapping runs before sprinting back to defend if their team looses possession. So you can bet your bottom dollar that they perform plenty of explosive exercises in training, like the olympic lifts. 

Let's try and look at a different example, what about a prop forward in rugby? Now, their main job is to recycle the ball at the breakdown and to scrummage. Breakdowns happen all over the field every few seconds, you’re lucky if you go 5 whole seconds without a tackle and subsequent breakdown. So as in individual, you cannot be involved in each and every breakdown, it's near impossible. However, they will spend a lot of time getting up and down from the floor, the longer they take do this the more breakdowns they will miss and their team will suffer. A prop forward isn’t usually the lightest person on the field so it is going to take some strength and power to get up and down repeatedly at speed. I believe the rate of force development would come into play here also. Think of it like a burpee (another explosive movement). It’s also easy to see the link when you look at the scrum. The forwards bind together as a pack of 8 and wait with bated breath for the referees signal to engage with the other team. When this signal is given, the explosion of power from each side is frightening, forward units regularly weigh in just shy of a tonne each! This example of a scrum in rugby union is very similar to the offensive and defensive lines in American football, they use sudden bursts of strength to overpower their opposite number, and the play is over in seconds, they then reset and do it again…a lot like olympic lifting.

The one tiny snag with olympic lifting is that it is not like learning to squat or bench press. There is far more to it than that. The barbell snatch is often referred to as the ultimate lift. Ultimate as in the hardest and ultimate as in the last. It is usually the last lift you learn (you learn everything else first!). Therefore it is certainly advisable to work with somebody to help you get them right. There are a lot of mechanics, a lot of key timing issues and hundreds of muscles being used all in one lift, so I’m afraid that does mean a lot can go wrong. So my advice to all you athletes out there (no matter what your ability), if you want to be better, get yourself a coach and become proficient in these movements.