The Olympic lifts require and develop 8 of the 10 elements of fitness strength, flexibility,
speed, power, coordination, balance, accuracy, and agility. When done with lighter weights and
high repetitions, you can add cardio/respiratory endurance and stamina to the list, so that with
CrossFitness workouts involving high rep O-lifts you can work all 10 elements of fitness in one
workout.
The Olympic lifts train athletes to effectively activate more muscle fibers more rapidly than through
any other mode of training. The explosiveness that results from this training is of vital necessity to
every sport. Practicing the Olympic lifts teaches one to apply force to muscle groups in proper
sequence, i.e., from the core of the body to its extremities (center to extremity). This
vital technical lesson benefits all athletes who impart force to another person or object
as is commonly required in nearly all sports.
Martial Artists often do well in the sport. Why?
In the Martial arts, we learn to use the muscle groups of the entire body in the proper
sequence in order to develop and unleash power. Technique, timing, leverage, use of momentum,
the combining of speed and strength to create power, all are used in the martial arts
and Olympic lifts.
In addition to learning to impart explosive forces, the clean and jerk and snatch condition the
body to receive such forces from another moving body both safely and effectively.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the Olympic lifts unique capacity to develop strength, muscle,
power, speed, coordination, vertical leap, muscular endurance, bone strength, and the physical
capacity to withstand stress. Also worth mentioning is that the Olympic lifts are the only lifts shown
to increase maximum oxygen uptake, the one most important marker for cardiovascular fitness.
Olympic Lifts Playlist
rikd-
assistance exercises for power
