Weightlifting Exercises

Weightlifting or, more specifically, Olympic weightlifting, has been part of the Olympic games since 1920. In Olympic lifting competitions, lifters get three attempts at each of the contested exercises and the winner is the athlete with the highest combined total. While only two lifts are currently contrasted in weightlifting competitions, other exercises can also be considered as being specific to weightlifting.

  1. Clean and Jerk

    • The clean and jerk is a two-part lift. First, lifters raise the bar from the floor to the shoulders -- called the clean -- and then using a powerful leg drive, presses the bar above the head in a movement called a jerk. For a lift to be considered legal, the competitor must stand still with the weight held under control until the judge deems the lift to be good. The bar is then dropped as no extra points are awarded for lowering the weight under good control. Normally, the clean starts with the bar resting on the ground, but in training, the bar may be lifted from just above or below knee-height -- the so-called hang position. This reduced range of movement allows heavier weights to be lifted.

    The Snatch

    • The snatch is a very technical exercise that involves lifting the barbell from the floor to overhead in one movement. Lifters often catch the bar in a deep squat position with their arms above their head. This dive under the bar maneuver means that the bar does not have to be lifted as high off the ground and allows for greater loads to be lifted. The lifter will then use their powerful leg muscles to stand up while keeping the bar overhead. This requires very high levels of core strength and flexibility as well as strength. Like the clean and jerk, the snatch can also be performed from the hang position -- a common training exercise.

    Clean and Press

    • The clean and press is a defunct competitive exercise that was part of the sport of Olympic weightlifting until 1972. The clean phase is the same movement seen in the clean and jerk but the press differs from the jerk in that no leg drive was permitted. The lifter could only use the strength of his arms to push the weight up and over head. When the lift was contested, competitors would often lean back a long way to place as much weight as possible on their powerful chest and shoulder muscles so they could lift more weight. This dangerous practice combined with difficulties in judging lead to the demise of this exercise in competitive Olympic lifting. The clean and press is still used as a training exercise even though it is no longer featured in Olympic lifting competitions. It is less technical than the jerk and, providing it is performed using safe technique, is an effective way to develop overhead pressing strength.

    Powerlifting Exercises

    • Weightlifters sometimes use powerlifting exercises to build strength for their sport. An offshoot of weightlifting, powerlifting tests strength as lifters perform squat, bench press and deadlift exercises with heavy weights. Like Olympic lifting, powerlifting competitions are won by the lifter with the highest combined total across the contested exercises.