Weightlifting is a sport in which competitors attempt to lift heavy weights mounted on steel bars called barbells, the execution of which is a combination of power, flexibility, concentration, skill, will power, disipline (very important) athleticness, fitness, technique, and mental strength. The term "weightlifting" is often informally used to refer to weight training. Olympic weightlifting trains the athlete for functional strength, utilizing the body's major muscle groups. For this reason, the Olympic lifts (or simplified versions such as the power snatch or clean) are extensively used in training for other sports such as American Football.

The lifts

There are two events—the "snatch", in which competitors must lift the barbell over their heads from the floor in one continuous movement, and the "clean and jerk" where competitors first "clean" the barbell from the floor to an intermediate position, "racking" the bar in a front squat, then standing up in the concentric portion of the front squat, and finally "jerking" the barbell to a position above their head. In both cases, for a successful lift, competitors must hold the bar steady above their heads, with arms and legs straight and motionless. A third lift, the "clean and press" or simply "press", was practiced in the Olympics until 1972. The clean and press differs from the clean and jerk, in that the weight is pressed directly up from the chest with the arms only, while remaining standing, while the jerk uses the legs' power to assist the arms part of the way up, followed by the body sinking downward into a split or squat to complete the extension of the arms, before once again standing. The press was eliminated due to the difficulty in judging whether the lift was performed correctly: Lifters were bending so far backward as to turn it into a "standing bench press".

Three judges oversee the successful completion of the lift. Once a competitor has met the requirements in their opinion, each judge shines a white light. When at least two white lights are shown, the lift is regarded as successful and the competitor may return the bar to the platform. If the competitor fails to achieve a successful lift in the opinion of a judge, a red light is shown. The bar must be lifted to at least knee level within 60 seconds of the bar being loaded or the lift does not count. If the competitor is making two consecutive lifts then they are permitted 120 seconds for the second lift.

Training

Training requires a lot of hard work, a strong mind and discipline. In training for the snatch and the clean and jerk, lifters practice other exercises to assist parts of the lift. The snatch breaks down to 3 main parts (the pull, the quick drop, and the squat). The clean and jerk breaks down to the main parts as well: the pull, the drop, and the squat are the parts of the clean, and the dip, the drive, the split are the parts of the jerk. In addition to practicing these individual parts of the lift, weightlifters may practice other weight training lifts.

Snatch (weightlifting) assistant exercises

• First Pull (assisted by high pull)
• Second Pull (assisted by high pull)
• The Shrug
• The Jump and Quick Drop
• The Overhead Squat

Clean and Jerk assistant exercises

(Clean)

• High Pulls
• Hang Jump Shrug
• Pull Under and Jump
• Front Squat
• Dip
• Drive
• Drive Jumps
• Split Jerks
• Romanian Dead Lift aka. RDLs

Other general exercises

Squats, especially front squats, are essential to a weightlifter. Proficiency at the pull is also very important. Also, on the "skill" side of weightlifting, exercises such as snatch balance (Quick Drop) jerks etc, are very important to a lifter. Also, Deadlifts and press are other Brute strength exercises important to a weightlifter. Particually the deadlift - A world level contender should be deadlifting at least around the 300 kilo mark (or more accurately about 1.5 x their P.B clean and Jerk), so for e.g. a 220 kg clean and jerk, the athlete will be able to "rip" the weight off the floor without much trouble.

Training

A world-class Olympic weightlifter will train every day for a few hours. However, for normal purposes, a lifter will normally train only 2 or 3 maximum times a week for an hour or two.

Competition

Competitors compete in one of eight (seven for women) divisions determined by their body mass. These classes are currently: men's: 56 kg (123.5 lb), 62 kg (136.7 lb), 69 kg (152.1 lb), 77 kg (169.8 lb), 85 kg (187.4 lb), 94 kg (207.2 lb), 105 kg (231.5 lb) and 105+ kg, and women's: 48kg (105.8 lb.), 53 kg (116.8 lb), 58 kg (127.8 lb), 63 kg (138.9 lb), 69 kg (152.1 lb), 75 kg (165.3 lb), and 75+ kg^[2]. In each weight division, competitors compete in both the snatch and clean and jerk, and prizes are usually given for the heaviest weights lifted in the snatch, clean and jerk, and the two combined.

The order of the competition is up to the lifters—the competitor who chooses to attempt the lowest weight goes first. If they are unsuccessful at that weight, they have the option of reattempting that lift or trying a heavier weight later (after any other competitors have made attempts at that weight or any intermediate weights). Weights are set in 1 kilogram increments (previously 2.5kg increments), and each lifter can have a maximum of three lifts, regardless of whether lifts are successful or not.

Weightlifting can be an awe-inspiring spectator sport, as competitors expend massive psychological and physical efforts to lift weights over twice their own body weight. Although its popularity has been in decline since losing some fans to the relatively new sport of "powerlifting", weightlifting continues to attract many followers, especially in some European countries where it is the most popular sport.

The competitive sport is controlled by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Based in Budapest, it was founded in 1905.

Top lifters

From the 1950s to the 1980s many successful elite weightlifters were from the USSR and parts of eastern Europe, including Bulgaria and Romania. A poll completed by the IWF in 1982 produced Tommy Kono as the greatest weightlifter in history. Tommy Kono represented the United States setting 26 world records, winning 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1952 and 1956) and an Olympic Silver Medal (1960). Kono remains the only weightlifter to set world records in four different weight classes. Vasily Alexeyev of the USSR set 80 world records and won two gold medals during the 1970s and is considered the greatest superheavyweight ever. Since then, lifters from China, Iran, Greece and Turkey have competed successfully at the international level. In the history of the sport, only four weightlifters have managed to capture three Olympic gold medals. Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won Olympic gold in 1989, 1992 and 1996, while Pyrros Dimas and Kakhi Kakhiashvili of Greece and Halil Mutlu of Turkey repeated the same feat, with three successive victories through the 2000 Olympic Games for the two Greeks, and through the 2004 Games for Mutlu. In 1996, Andrei Chemerkin of Russia won Olympic gold in the Super Heavyweight class. Reports were dominated by photos of the nearly 400 pound weightlifter bounding jubillant and triumphant in mid air over his fully loaded bar, having jumped for joy over his victory. Chemerkin won the bronze in 2000. At the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, Dimas won a bronze medal in the 85kg class, becoming the fourth weightlifter in history to win a medal at four different Games after Norbert Schemansky (1964), Ronny Weller (2000) and Nikolay Pechalov (2004). The men's Super Heavyweight Class (at present, the 105+ kg category), a perennial favorite among spectators, is currently dominated by Iranian Hossein Reza Zadeh who first set a world record at the world championships and another on the road to a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Reza Zadeh has since broken his own records on a number of occasions, including at the 2004 Athens Games, where he captured his second olympic gold medal.

"Best Lifter" A title commonly awarded at local competitions, "Best Lifter" is based on the Sinclair formula. While the best Superheavy will almost always lift more total weight than a Lightweight, the Lightweight will often lift more kilograms per kilogram bodyweight. The Sinclair provides a means of comparing totals across weight classes.

Qualities of a top weightlifter

• Strong physically
• Strong mentally
• Effective and efficient technique
• Athletic
• Flexible
• Short for weight class (yielding less vertical distance to move weight and a lever advantage (i.e, the muscle force is actually lighter, assuming there muscle tendon in same position)) Shorter weightlifers can typically lift heavier weights easier. But, this is not always the case (about 65 % of the time))

Weightlifting requires strength, speed, power, technique, skill, flexibility, accuracy, and consistency. A weightlifter's strength comes primarily from the legs, specifically the muscles of the quadriceps and posterior chain, but also the back and shoulders as well as the core muscles for support. In truth, weightlifting is a full body activity, but these muscles receive emphasis over the others within the body.

Records

The total record in the men's 56 kg class is 305 kg, in the 105+ kg class it is 472.5 kg ^[3]. The Sinclair Coefficients are used as a tool to devise rankings of weightlifters across different weight classes^[4].

The current official record for the clean and jerk in the men's +105 kg class is held by Hossein Reza Zadeh of Iran, who clean and jerked 263.5 kg (580.9 lb) at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. He snatched 213.0 kg (469.6 lb) in September 2003 at Qinhuangdao. Reza Zadeh scored a record total of 472.5 kg at both the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. The current record for the clean and jerk in the women's 75+ kg class is held by Gonghong Tang of China, who lifted 182.5 kg (402.3 lb) at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics^[3].The current official records held by Roy Lee at the (2001)Natural Nationals - Oklahoma City, OK "Natural Athlete Strength Association (NASA)" 190.91 kg (420 lb) bench, 275 kg (605 lb) squat, 102.27 kg (225 lb) curl, 170.45 kg (375 lb) clean.

The heaviest snatch of all time is 216.0 kg (476.2 lb), lifted by Antonio Krastev of Bulgaria in 1987. The heaviest clean and jerk of all time is 266.0 kg (586.4 lb) lifted by Leonid Taranenko in Canberra, Australia on November 26, 1988. In the same event, Taranenko set a world record of 475 kg (1047.2 lb) in the total. Due to the restructuring of the competitive weight classes that took place in 1993 and 1998, these lifts are no longer recognized as the official world records. However, these remain the highest figures ever posted in competition.

See also

• Bodybuilding, a related activity which focuses more on the visual aesthetics of a muscular physique.
• Powerlifting, weight-training to achieve maximum strength on the bench press, squat, and deadlift.

References

External links

• International Federation of Weightlifting
• Weightlifting Exchange