It is official! Coach BDoss and I have both received our USA Weightlifting Coaching Certification. The training itself was a fun get-away weekend revolved around being active which is something we both enjoy. Coach BDoss was a natural, of course, and we both had sore bodies to take home as souvenirs from our “vacation.” You are probably wondering why track coaches are getting certified to coach the Olympic lifts, so let me give you some background.

First, like USA Track & Field (USATF), USA Weightlifting (USAW) is the governing body for the sport in America. They decide the rules, ethics, and safety standards that we follow in sanctioned competitions in our country, and they decide who represents our country in international competitions such as the Olympics. They keep a list of certified coaches who understand the rules and basic principles of the sport, understand athlete development in the sport from age five through elites, and who are Safe Sport compliant. They also keep a list of weightlifting clubs that have certified coaches and insurance.

The Olympic lifts are the ones used in competition at the Olympics and the sport is commonly referred to as weightlifting. Competitors receive points for snatch, jerk, and clean, and those points determine the winner. Each athlete competes in a division based on their age, gender, and weight. Like running, open weightlifting competitions accept unattached and club athletes ranging in age from five years old all the way through 70 or older with adults typically competing in five-year age increments.

So, why do athletes who live to run, jump, and throw care about snatch, clean, and jerk? Honestly, it sounds more like a sibling squabble during chore time than something that can seriously benefit our speed and endurance. Let’s dive into (or should I say run through) some of the benefits of weightlifting for everyone. Keep in mind, the term “weightlifting” in this article refers to three moves: the snatch, clean, and jerk.

*This is functional training meaning that the movements mimic movements that you do in your everyday life. Training extensively to shoot hoops or swing a bat, on the other hand, while fun do not make you stronger for everyday living. (The health and fitness value of weightlifting is higher.)

*Yet, weightlifting is fun and challenging! And, like running, it is something your entire family can do together.

*Weightlifting is a full body workout that changes the shape of your body by decreasing body fat and increasing muscle. Don’t worry ladies! Because we have very, very little testosterone compared to men, we would really have to be in the gym two or more hours a day, six days a week to start looking beefy. Two to three training sessions per week for us will burn off body fat to reveal tone muscles underneath.

*Weightlifting increases your body’s strength but especially your core strength! This means better posture. Posture control is vital for the throwing events and sprinting events and the end of the distance events when our bodies start to fatigue and we want to go into shuffle mode. Having great posture is attractive and reduces aches and pains as we age. (Did you envision the Proverbs 31 woman as being tall, graceful, and confident or a hunched over little granny?)

*Coordination, rhythm, timing: We have to have it for sprinting, jumping, and throwing and weightlifting is a good place to get it. In fact, weightlifting moves are highly transferable to throwing and sprinting.

*Weightlifting, as opposed to other lifts, develops power. Power is strength with a time component. In other words, it is great that you can move a refrigerator (that’s strength), but how fast can you do it (that’s power)? Power is essential for all four throws and for a good start in the sprints.

*Weightlifting, like many sports, builds confidence. Have you seen weightlifters? You would know if you had because they exude confidence and strength in their stride which looks a bit like the tale-tell sprinter swagger.

*Weightlifting generates the most power of any sport. For example, the snatch generates about ten times as much power as a bench press.

*The combination of mobility, stability, and strength developed in weightlifting provides injury prevention in sport and as we age.

*Weightlifting improves bone density throughout the entire body.

*Weightlifting improves range of motion and flexibility (which are also vital for high jump and the throws). Weightlifters are only second in flexibility to gymnasts.

Good news for parents: Brian and I are offering a course this summer which is open to any sport, schooling status, or age (11yrs to 70+yrs) to teach the snatch, clean, and jerk. Learning the moves the correct way is vital to being able to lift the maximal amount of weight safety without injury. Dedicated weightlifting athletes train with a coach for many years on these three moves before their technique is truly perfected! We are lifting for sport performance and health and fitness, so we break the moves into unintimidating bite sized pieces. Feel free to jump in and join us at any point! For more information click here!

In the meantime, if you want to chat more about weightlifting or anything else on your mind, contact me!

~Coach Melissa

Thanks to Chris Lofland at Blue Wave Fitness for guidance and training on weightlifting, coaching, program development, and facilities. All numbers, stats, and benefits of weightlifting are from various scholarly articles as cited in the USAW Level 1 Coaching certification materials.