WEIGHTLIFTING AS AN ADULT: SKILL & STRENGTH

Can you remember the last time you learned a new physical skill? Maybe it was playing a new sport in middle school or high school. Maybe you took a new activity course in college. Learning new physical skills at any point can be beneficial to us in so many ways. Our brains and nervous system light up like a Christmas tree from all the new things we are learning and subsequently doing. This creates nerve pathways that we can then remember and use again and again until we get better at that skill. What if learning that new skill also made us stronger and healthier? I am going to tell you about why learning a new skill like Olympic Weightlifting can be both a new route to your fitness goals and a fun and engaging physical skill. 

Chaotic Grace

Weightlifting as a sport is chaotic grace. These actions that we learn to improve strength and power are also used to improve our skill and precision. Unlike other forms of strength training that require a little bit less skill to master, like squatting, deadlifting, or bench pressing, weightlifting requires more timing, rhythm, and proprioception. This isn’t me bashing other strength sports; they require years of training and patience to make gains and progress. Speaking from my own experience, I trained those movements and many other resistance training exercises when I was playing sports, and I always had the same perspective on them. “I only lift weights because I have to get better at sports”. This is a totally normal perspective, and that is ok. However, my perspective changed when I found weightlifting. Weightlifting requires more skill to improve at it. You have to train the skill in the same way a receiver runs routes, a basketball player practices shooting, or a gymnast practices vaulting. Strength comes with the training of your squatting movements, pressing, rowing, and deadlifting. Skill acquisition comes with the repetition of movements, but how? 

When the snatch and clean and jerk are performed there is a fundamental concept that needs to be practiced. The bar and our body will be moving in opposing directions at some point in the lift. During the snatch and clean, we are trying to accelerate the bar as we bring it up towards our hip from the floor. When it gets to the hip, the bar begins to move at the fastest speed it will reach throughout the entire movement. From that point when we “catch” the bar in our receiving position of an overhead squat for snatch or a front squat for a clean, we have moved ourselves “underneath” the barbell. You and the bar move in opposing directions at a fast speed to accomplish the lift. That takes an enormous amount of timing and proprioception. The sensation of feeling where you and the bar are in space is no simple task. This requires hours and hours of training to grasp, even at a basic level. This is not to make it seem daunting and unachievable, but to show you that learning a new skill is an exciting challenge. 

Ready to Try Something New?

Weightlifting is fun. It made me love strength training because it gave me that feeling of learning a new skill again. I know it's something that is not only good for my health long term, but something I can take time to master and improve. I call it the relentless pursuit, not because I’ll never be great at it but because I can always work on it. I think something that can always bring you back to the gym is good for not only your muscles but your mind as well. Book an assessment now to get started on learning something new!