Olympic Lifting

Power= Work/Time



This weeks topic is one of my favorites, the Olympic Lifts. As a forming collegiate athlete and current strength and conditioning, I spend time performing and teaching these lifts. While I would consider myself adequate at doing so, I am far from a great, or even good, Olympic Lifting coach. For now:) Just as with any exercise, anyone can perform the Olympic Lifts with appropriate instruction and progression. From little kids to grandmas:)Below is some info form WIKI and a couple of really good sites including the USA Weightlifting Federation.

USA Weightlifting
Olympic Weightlifting Resource
Mike's Gym

In physics, power is the rate at which work is performed or energy is converted. It is an energy per unit of time. As a rate of change of work done or the energy of a subsystem, power is

where P is power, W is work and t is time.
Power= Work/Time

The Clean and Jerk
The clean and jerk is one of two olympic weightlifting events (the other being the snatch). It is a highly technical lift that is known as "the king of lifts" because more weight can be lifted above one's head as compared to any other known weightlifting technique.

The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor to a racked position across deltoids and clavicles. In early twentieth century weightlifting competitions, a variant movement called the "Continental" (because it was practiced by Germans rather than the British) allowed the lifter to pull the barbell up to his belt, where it could rest. Then with several successive flips, the bar would be moved up the torso until it reached the position for the overhead jerk. The Continental gained a reputation as clumsy, slow, and nonathletic compared to the swift coordinated movement required to lift the bar "clean." Hence, the clean movement was adopted by the early weightlifting federations as the official movement.
More from WIKI here

The Snatch
The snatch is one of the two olympic weightlifting events (the other being the clean and jerk).

The essence of the event is to lift a barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement. The barbell is pulled as high as the lifter can manage (typically to mid chest height) (the pull) at which point the barbell is flipped overhead. With relatively light weights (as in the "power snatch") locking of the arms may not require rebending the knees. However, as performed in contests, the weight is always heavy enough to demand that the lifter receive the bar in a squatting position, while at the same time flipping the weight so it moves in an arc directly overhead to locked arms (the quick drop). When the lifter is secure in this position, he rises (overhead squat), completing the lift.
The lift requires not only great strength but also a high degree of shoulder flexibility, excellent balance, and speed.
More from WIKI here