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This weekend I took my team to a local Olympic Weightlifting club so that they could learn the basic two Olympic lifts - the snatch and the clean and jerk.
I want to include them in the next 2 phases of our strength and conditioning program. I am familiar with them but I felt they would learn them better with someone who specializes in this sport.
Unlike traditional lifting (bench press, squats, etc.), Olympic weightlifting is quite technical and you have to learn the proper technique of the lifts before you can really use them in training. That was the goal of this weekend session - to learn the basic technique.
There are many benefits to using Olympic weightlifting. It requires strength, flexibility, speed, and coordination. All the same characteristics of great athletes.
If you want to improve your speed, agility, strength, and power then you need to add Olympic style lifting to your program. You will see a dramatic improvement in a matter of weeks.
All of these qualities are very important in softball. Everything you do you on the softball field is explosive whether be throwing, fielding, hitting, pitching, quick accelerations or change of directions.
Olympic Weightlifting is one of the 3 ways you can train power along with plyometrics and explosive medicine ball work. The last two methods are more commonly used because they don't require much of learning curve unlike Olympic weightlifting.
However, once mastered, Olympic Weightlifting can be a powerful weapon to turn your body into an explosive athlete.
Olympic weightlifting is also a big part of the training regimen at the college level, especially in schools that have professional strength and conditioning coaches working with their sports teams.
If you are serious about becoming the best you can be, you should definitely consider adding some form of Olympic weightlifting into your training regimen.
Make sure to learn the proper technique before you start using it. Seek the help a qualified coach or instructor.
I want to include them in the next 2 phases of our strength and conditioning program. I am familiar with them but I felt they would learn them better with someone who specializes in this sport.
Unlike traditional lifting (bench press, squats, etc.), Olympic weightlifting is quite technical and you have to learn the proper technique of the lifts before you can really use them in training. That was the goal of this weekend session - to learn the basic technique.
There are many benefits to using Olympic weightlifting. It requires strength, flexibility, speed, and coordination. All the same characteristics of great athletes.
If you want to improve your speed, agility, strength, and power then you need to add Olympic style lifting to your program. You will see a dramatic improvement in a matter of weeks.
All of these qualities are very important in softball. Everything you do you on the softball field is explosive whether be throwing, fielding, hitting, pitching, quick accelerations or change of directions.
Olympic Weightlifting is one of the 3 ways you can train power along with plyometrics and explosive medicine ball work. The last two methods are more commonly used because they don't require much of learning curve unlike Olympic weightlifting.
However, once mastered, Olympic Weightlifting can be a powerful weapon to turn your body into an explosive athlete.
Olympic weightlifting is also a big part of the training regimen at the college level, especially in schools that have professional strength and conditioning coaches working with their sports teams.
If you are serious about becoming the best you can be, you should definitely consider adding some form of Olympic weightlifting into your training regimen.
Make sure to learn the proper technique before you start using it. Seek the help a qualified coach or instructor.