Olympic weighlifting: How to improve athletic performance

Olympic weightlifting will always be special to Filipino sports fans. It gave the country its first Olympic gold medal through Hidilyn Diaz in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The Philippines has been joining the Summer Olympics since 1924, making the Paris Olympics our 100th year of participation. In Tokyo, Diaz established a new Olympic weightlifting record of 127 kg in the clean and jerk, and lifted a total weight of 224 kg. 

A few days ago, Luo Shifang of China won the gold, while Maude Charron of Canada won the silver. Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei bagged the bronze.

Kuo was tearful during the interview after the awarding. She said she is almost 31 years old but still managed a podium finish. She admitted she is not certain she can do it again in Los Angeles.

Luo, on the other hand, is only 23 years old. She won after five attempts and was oozing with confidence and calm throughout the competition. Canada’s bet, Charron, 31 years old, appreciated the cheering crowd absent in Tokyo. “You don’t always have a big crowd at weightlifting, and anyone who qualifies for this amazing event deserves to be celebrated.”

Just to emphasize that the Olympic weightlifters have been progressing, an analyst pointed out that 217 kg was good enough for a silver finish but noted that third placer Kuo did 235. The 217 is the Paris Olympics equivalent to eight place.

Luo finished at 241, Charron at 236, and Kuo at 235. The fourth, fifth and sixth rankings went to three Olympians, who lifted 230 kg. These were Venezuelan Anyelin Venegas, Nigerian Rafiatu Lawal and Philippine Olympian Elreen Ando. European champ Kamila Konotop from Ukraine finished seventh after Ando at 227 kg. The 2022 World champion Yenny Alvarez from Colombia even failed to make a total.

In research done by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), including other current evidence, “there is ample justification to incorporate Olympic lifts into a sports performance conditioning program.”

Studies consistently show that “Olympic lifts and their derivatives improve rate of force production, high-load speed strength, maximum strength, and vertical jump performance while using dynamic postures (Universal Athletic Position) commonly seen in many sports.”

“The combination of all these factors should improve athletic performance for athletes engaging in explosive sports. However, before implementing an Olympic lifting program, it is vital to understand the technical aspects, complexities and functional requirements for athletes to perform these movements safely and effectively,” said Brian Sutton.

Sutton is a 20-year veteran in the health and fitness industry. Currently the content and production manager of NASM, Sutton has an MA in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco and an MS in Exercise Science from the California University of Pennsylvania where he taught graduate-level courses in Corrective Exercise and Performance Enhancement for eight years. He is NASM-certified for Personal Training (CPT), Nutrition Coaching (CNC), Corrective Exercise (CES), and Performance Enhancement (PES).

“While Olympic weightlifting is a sport, the lifts themselves are commonly used by sports performance professionals to help their athletes improve elements of athletic performance like strength and power. Furthermore, even more popular among athletes and strength coaches are the variations of the competition lifts such as the power snatch and power clean. Variation lifts are more widely used because many athletes cannot achieve the deep squat position necessary for the snatch and clean and jerk,” Sutton explained in his NASM blog.

He stressed, though, that an athlete has to be properly assessed by a training coach to check his capability to perform Olympic lifts safely and efficiently. A personal trainer with a technical background in sports science or sports enhancement such as the NASM-PES would understand how to assess an athlete properly.

Aside from the initial assessment, another crucial phase is designing a program for enhancing sports performance that includes selection of the appropriate exercises. “All exercises chosen should follow the Principle of Specificity also known as the SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands) Principle. The SAID Principle essentially means the body will adapt to the type of demands placed on it,” Sutton clarified.

“For example, if an athlete continuously lifts heavy loads, the adaptation will be maximal strength. Conversely, if the athlete continuously lifts light loads with high repetitions, the outcome will be muscular endurance. This is a fairly simple concept to understand. In essence, you get what you train for.”

He adds: “A majority of sports require explosive power (strength + speed) to play up to full potential. While the Olympic lifts do not mimic many specific sports skills such as running, throwing or catching, they do develop the specific adaptation of explosive power. Power is the ability of the body to produce the greatest amount of force in the shortest possible time. This is represented by the simple equation of force times velocity. Olympic lifts and their derivatives adhere to the SAID Principle and can be an effective exercise selection for enhancing overall power and athletic performance—as long as the athlete possesses the functional capabilities to perform these movements.”

He cited several studies with favorable conclusions regarding how Olympic lifts can enhance athletic performance. One concluded that hang cleans and hang snatches produce similar results for improving vertical jump, back squat strength, and 40-yard sprint times. Another said that weightlifting ability and vertical jump performance were strongly linked together.

One indicated that Olympic lifts, as well as power lifts, provide improvement in vertical jump performance. Another claimed that Olympic lifts may provide a modest advantage over power lifts for vertical jump improvement in high school athletes. 

“Olympic weightlifting and plyometric training improves force production, sprint times and jumping performance for children ages 10-12 better than traditional resistance training exercises. The authors concluded that with proper adult supervision, implementation of all three training styles is warranted to improve performance measures for children,” Sutton wrote.

Another study said that Olympic weightlifting improves the development of vertical jump height similar to plyometric training, while performance in the hang power clean is significantly related to jumping and sprinting.