THE JOY OF WEIGHTLIFTING - THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH SPORT

The pursuit of strength has been a profound and universal theme throughout human history. At first this interest was driven by strength’s importance for survival but, eventually, discovering who the strongest humans were, and celebrating their existence, became a thrilling end in itself. 

Many ways have been devised to develop and test strength, but the one that has emerged as the ultimate test, the proof of who the strongest people in the world are – is Olympic-style Weightlifting – which consists of two lifts – the Snatch (wherein a barbell is lifted from the floor to arm’s length overhead in one motion) and the Clean and Jerk wherein the barbell is lifted overhead in two stages – first from the floor to the shoulders (the Clean) and then from the shoulders to arm’s length overhead (the Jerk). Sometimes this port is mistakenly referred to as Powerlifting, which is a different sport entirely, consisting of the Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift, unlike Olympic-style Weightlifting, Powerlifting is not part of the Olympic Games). There, the strongest men lift nearly 600 lb. (272.2 kg.) from the ground overhead, and the strongest women lift more than 400 lb. (181.5 kg.) in the same way. No other athletes in the world can match such feats. And the “power” generated by such athletes during their lifts (the combination of amount lifted and speed with which it is lifted) exceeds the power generated in any other sport in the world. So the best Olympic – style Weightlifters are both the strongest (lift the most weight overhead) and the most powerful athletes in the world. 

An Amazing Fact About Weightlifters – Perhaps more remarkable than their achievements is the fact that none of these extraordinary athletes started out being super strong. None, not even one, was able to lift even half of what they ultimately achieved before they began training with weights. And many increased their strength threefold, fourfold or even more. So how did they get so strong?

A very special form of weight training was the key to their extraordinary achievements. That training developed the strength of their bodies, their minds and their characters, and it taught them the most efficient ways to lift. That’s why athletes in virtually every sport now train with weights in a similar way, doing the “Olympic” lifts, or simpler versions of those lifts, to improve their performances in their chosen sports. They’ve discovered the secret weightlifters have long known – that the practice of these lifts gives you an unmatched combination of strength and power.  

Extraordinary Inclusiveness – As if being the ultimate test and developer of strength is not enough to distinguish the sport of weightlifting, its inclusiveness is also unsurpassed. A single organization – the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) – governs the sport worldwide and it welcomes athletes from all of its 193 member nations to its annual World Championships and other international events each year. Throughout its history, the IWF, and its predecessor, the FIHC, welcomed athletes regardless of the race, religion, ethnicity or nationality (although it did not organize any women’s competitions until 1986). 

Compete Against Athletes Your Own Gender, Age and Size – In contrast to many sports, there is no one ideal size of body type for weightlifters. In competitions from the beginner through the world level, there are ten bodyweight categories for both men and women, so athletes can compete against those who are their own size. In addition, there are age level competitions that begin as early as the pre-teens, and include athletes in their 90’s. 

Unparalleled Access To Training Options and Special Camaraderie –  You can train in a basement or garage by yourself if you wish, and still make the Olympics. No stadium, field or other expensive training facility is needed. However one of the great things about Weightlifting is the camaraderie in a Weightlifting gym and at competitions, is truly special and universal. Mutual rRespect among weightlifters is legendary, in part because they are all in love with strength, but also because they all face the same challenge – learning how to lift more weight.     

For all the above reasons, and many others, we at the Weightlifting Workshop are radicals for Weightlifting and to the application of reason to its practice. We are in awe of the sport’s value. We love Weightlifting and weightlifters. We are dedicated to helping everyone who wishes to learn the sport, and to those who support them, by applying reason to the problems presented by weightlifting. And we’ve been at it for more than half a century. 

In addition to guiding you in getting stronger, we have a laser focus on teaching you proper technique, so that you can lift efficiently, in a safe and repeatable way. But we also focus on technique because lifting properly makes elevating heavy weights feel almost effortless – resulting in a joy reserved only to those who truly master technique. 

We recognize that you are an individual and base our entire coaching philosophy on that fact. Everyone starts at a unique place and they have many different goals for their lifting. So every training plan we create is bespoke (custom made) in nature – made specifically for you. Perhaps more importantly, we’ve learned that the road to your development of your ultimate strength and skill is paved by working with you to discover the kind of training that is optimal for you.  

Finally, your safety and well-being are as important to us as your success in the sport – and they are very much related. While Weightlifting as one of the safest strenuous sports in the world, we strive to make it even safer. You can’t lift big weights, or train to lift them successfully, if you are fearful or in pain. 

You eliminate fear by truly learning how to lift, and how to miss lifts, correctly. You eliminate pain by recognizing that “no pain no gain” is a dangerous fallacy. “No effort no gain” is absolutely true, but any pain that may arise during training needs to be addressed and eliminated from the equation. In reality, pain ultimately leads to no gain. In contrast, properly focused effort results in the joy of success.

Our mission at the Weightlifting Workshop is to help you experience the incredible joy of Weightlifting. While we’d love to teach you weightlifting at our training center, or virtually, we trust that our growing portfolios of blogs and videos will contribute to the body of knowledge that exists about our sport, for our readers and viewers. Further, we trust that our extensive charitable work contributes to the sport and those who practice it as well. Please join us in making successful weightlifting for all a reality!