Pop quiz at the 1968 Olympic games who had the highest vertical leap? Who had the fastest sprint times out to 25 meters?
Answer No the high jumpers didn't have the highest vertical leap and the sprinters weren't the fastest out to 25 meters! The Olympic liffters won both contests!
Of course there is a few things that could have factored into these results. But it's still clear that doing the Olympic lifts can make you very fast and can make you jump very high.
What are Olympic lifts? There are two different lifts that Olympic liffters do, the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. I have heard the Snatch described as a "deadlift, barbell shrug, jump squat, and overhead squat performed consecutively in one fluid motion." and a Clean and Jerk as a "A combination deadlift, upright row, front squat, and push press."
But if you are using the Olympic lifts just to train for OTHER sports then there are some variations of the lifts that aren't offcial lifts but are very benifical and much easier to perfrom.
Before we go any further I want to point one thing out. Olympic liffters lift drumroll please...Olympic lifts! But they also train using other methods including power liffting and plyometrics. So if Olympic liffters train with one goal in mind. Olympic liffting and still train using more then Olympic lifts then it makes sense that athletes trying to train for speed and quickness or jumping ability should also train using other methods. But I feel that Olympic liffting easpical snatches should be considered by anyone traning for speed and quickness or jumping ability.
So where do we learn how to Olympic lift? Here are some very good resouces on that subject
The Greatest Workout Known to ManLearn how the Olympic lifts can benifit you and how to perform several easy to learn variations that may be the best lifts that you have never tried!
Explosive Lifting for Sports-Enhanced Edition The movements in competitive weightlifting;the snatch, clean, jerk, and other variations;can make you a more powerful athlete, no matter what sport you in. The enhanced edition of Explosive Lifting for Sports shows how to incorporate these exercises into your own sports training program.
USA Weight Liffting
Vertical Jump Bible
Here is another good resource that doesn't cover Olympic liffting but covers jump and speed training in general
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