With the Olympic Games ongoing in Rio, naturally the effectiveness of the Olympic lifts for muscle building and fat loss came to mind.
I did some research to try and come up with the answer. If you want to know more, keep reading.
The Olympic lifts have recently become increasingly popular. CrossFit and an increased interest in strength and conditioning training means you are quite likely to see the Olympic lifts performed in commercial gyms when they used to only be practiced in weight-lifting gyms.
But does this increase in popularity mean that you should be the doing the Olympic lifts also?
What are the Olympic lifts?
The Olympic lifts are the snatch and clean and jerk. Both involve lifting a weight explosively overhead from the floor. In the snatch, this is done in one movement and the clean and jerk is done for two. There are also variations such as the power clean and power snatch but these are basically just stripped-down versions of the standard lifts.
The Olympic lifts are a sport onto themselves – Olympic lifting – but they are also an effective way to develop power; power being strength demonstrated at speed.
Power is important for lots of things but is most commonly needed for sports. Sprinting, jumping, punching, kicking, and throwing are all examples of activities requiring power.
If you are involved in sports, you will undoubtedly benefit from developing more power and you can use the Olympic lifts to do it. For the rest of us, the Olympic lifts are probably not so useful.
The Olympic lifts and hypertrophy
While undeniably tough, the Olympic lifts are not the best way to make muscles bigger. When you do any exercise for hypertrophy, the length of time your muscles are under tension is an important consideration. Most experts agree that for hypertrophy your muscles should be under tension for 20 to 60-seconds.
In the Olympic lifts, time under tension can often be measured in fractions of seconds which means they are not ideal for muscle building. Olympic lifters are often big and muscular but this is more to do with the assistance exercises they perform and less to do with the snatch and clean and jerk themselves.
Also, the Olympic lifts involve no eccentric or negative phase. In other words, the bar is usually dropped rather than lowered to the floor. The eccentric part of an exercise is an important trigger for hypertrophy and the very fact that there is no lowering component to the Olympic lifts is another reason they are not a great muscle builder.
The Olympic lifts for conditioning and fat loss
It has become popular in some circles to do the Olympic lifts for high reps with light weights to produce increases in cardiovascular fitness and for fat loss. While this can be effective, it is not without drawbacks.
The Olympic lifts are very technical and are best performed fresh and while not excessively fatigued. Doing high reps will invariably drive your heart rate up and burn a lot of calories but your technique will also degrade – potentially dangerously. A rounded lower back, slack shoulders, lack of abdominal bracing – any of these things and more could result in serious injury.
Also, the idea of high rep Olympic lifting is flawed from a power point of view too. High rep Olympic lifting is like trying to sprint at maximum speed a long way; you can’t do it. The only way to effectively develop power is to generate maximal power and that is not possible if you do more than a few reps.
Olympic lifting and power
This is what the Olympic lifts are for – increasing power. Increasing power will allow you to jump higher, sprint faster, and punch and kick harder. This essentially requires heavy weights, low repetitions (1-5), fast movements, and long rests. You also need to be technically proficient in the lifts to get the most benefit with the least amount of risk.
Getting good at the Olympic lifts requires coaching from someone who is an actual weightlifting coach. There are lots of ways to teach the Olympic lifts and only a “real” coach will be able to a) identify the best method for you and b) spot technique flaws and know how to fix them.
For some, learning the Olympic lifts may be more trouble than they are worth. Thankfully, there are some viable power-building alternatives that are just as effective and much easier to learn.
They include: Plyometrics, Throws, Heavy Kettlebell Swings and Hill Sprints.
Despite the increase in interest and current popularity of the Olympic lifts, they aren’t for everyone and for every person doing them right, there are probably ten or more doing them wrong. While they are a good way to develop power, they are not ideal for hypertrophy, conditioning and fat loss.
Stay tuned, friends.
If you need help with building muscle or losing fat, shoot me an email: emmersoncampbell@gmail.com
