Weight Lifting

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Weight lifting is a sport that has existed since ancient times. During the height of the Greek civilization, there were already many sports associated with weight lifting. The wrestler Mino of Croton carried a new born calf from the day it was born, everyday, until it reached maturity.

Weight lifting may refer to Power lifting, a strength based sport that involves three lifts. The Dead-lift, Bench press and the Squat all feature in powerlifting. This sport is not centralized and there are many governing bodies associated with it. Power lifters are some of the strongest athletes in the entire world.

Bodybuilding is another sport associated with weightlifting. Bodybuilding involves modification of the body for aesthetic reasons. This sport involves lifting weights mainly to increase your muscle mass. It also involves increasing muscle strength, but that is not normally the primary aim. Weight training is a type of exercise performed using weights. Weight training increases muscle strength .

Olympic Type Weight Lifting

Olympic weight lifting involves two basic lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. The main aim of the sport is to lift a heavier weight than all the competitors in your weight class. Olympic weightlifters are some of the strongest people in the world.

Powerlifting has many varied organizing bodies around the world. That means there are many champions depending on what part of the world you live in. Weight lifters have one central organization with the main event every four years at the Olympics. This means it takes a lot of training and hard work to make it to the top.

Olympic weightlifters and their coaches know more about the intricacies involved in effective training than any other professionals. Very few people know how these people train to achieve their very powerful muscles. Their very strong muscles and attractive muscular bodies surprise even the experts in your local gyms.

They are not essentially born with superior genes that enhance their strength. No even breakthrough supplements, steroids or drugs are not responsible in getting them like that. Weight lifters are easily stronger than the top bodybuilders like Dorian Yates and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Their flexibility and power is greater than that of pro wrestlers, football players and even the strongest man competitors. There is one amazing observation about the muscles of weight lifters. They are nor freakishly huge like those of some body builders you get to see on many magazine covers.

Yet they are stronger, flexible,  more powerful and functional than those of bodybuilders. How these athletes really train to get such strength without the huge muscular bulk seems to be a big mystery. The Olympic style weightlifting, applies it vast resource of knowledge to weight training to produce superior health and fitness results.

The right information is required to attain the proficiency in the sport of weightlifting. If your fitness goal is losing unhealthy weight and building muscle, then weight lifting is the best sport for you. If you are skinny or overweight, your perfect solution would be weight lifting. Weight lifting remains the top activity of choice in the world, for losing weight and gaining muscle.

Benefits of Weight Lifting

Weight lifting is Lifting dumbbell or barbell weights with the aim of improving your form. It greatly increases your muscle size and strength. Strength training is a sport whose main aim is to increase physical strength by lifting weights.

When weight lifting exercises are performed effectively, your metabolism gets boosted. A higher rate of metabolism is highly desirable for fat burning. The higher your rate of metabolism, the faster your rate of burning fats.

When your muscles grow strong and big, your body fat content is lowered significantly.  These exercises are also beneficial in improving your cardiovascular fitness. This means you chances of getting heart diseases like high blood pressure are greatly reduced.

Weight lifting  provides the basis of a strong muscular body. You get stronger as the weight on your bar is increased. Your bones grow denser and heavier as you progress in the sport. Your joints are also strengthened as a result.

Weight control is one important benefit  of weight lifting. You learn balancing the weights as you progress in the sport. Machines offer all the support while you exercise, which is unnatural compared to actual tasks like playing games or doing menial chores. Machines may force you into unnatural movement patterns likely to result in injures, especially when using heavier weights.

Another health benefit of the sport is that increases the testosterone levels in your body. Testosterone is important in the burning of body fats. Less testosterone levels, associated with less physical activity, contributes to unhealthy weight gain.

Weight lifting can highly develop your mental as well as physical qualities. Strength, power and confidence are developed. Qualities such as flexibility and concentration aid vastly in reducing your chances of injury. Compared to other sports like football, soccer and rugby, weight lifting is a very safe sport.

The benefit of lifting weights to exercise over machines is that it is more accessible. Pull ups/ chin ups and dips force you to lift your own body weight. Weight lifting simplifies this as you can start with minimal weights including even an empty bar for exercise. It is much easier to start with less weight and keep adding as your strength increases.

Using weights is a very versatile method of working out. A single pair of dumbbells can be used for a wide variation of exercises. No machines are required to achieve your fitness goals.

Injuries in Weight Lifting

Injuries in weight lifting happen for 3 main reasons. Improper technique is responsible for a huge no of injuries. It is important to learn the correct exercises and progress gradually by starting with moderate weights and add weights as you continue.

Proper weight lifting techniques are essential in achieving strength and other fitness goals. It pays handsomely to learn proper techniques first, rather than trying out everything. Most times unlearning the wrong techniques is harder and costlier than learning the proper techniques.

Pain in the back, thighs and neck including a tingling and numb sensation in the foot area can all result from poor techniques. Bending to picks weights using wrong techniques can also lead to arm and shoulder pain. Rather than bend always bend your knees when picking up heavy objects.

Another reason responsible for injuries is preexisting problems. Some of these problems may be lack of flexibility and a bad posture. Past injuries should be treated well to avoid recurring.

Ego is another big reason why injuries occur. It is important to use moderate weights while learning the exercise technique, then add weights later. It is always more difficult to maintain the correct technique while using heavier weights.

Proper attire should be worn while exercising. Using extra buggy clothes is dangerous as it may lead to injury. Always wear close fitting clothes when working out, nothing fancy is needed. A good pair of shorts, a cotton T-shirt and stretching pants are all that is required. Avoid clothes that can restrict your movement and mess your technique.

No gloves are usually required for these exercises. For better a grip, use chalk. If you feel pain while lifting put up and let the calluses grow. The pain goes away once the calluses grow. A notebook or training journal is also necessary for tracking your progress.

Belts are only necessary when lifting heavier weights at the maximal attempts.  Although belts reinforce abdominal support, they are not necessary for lifting moderate weights. Running shoes that contain air or gel impair stability and cause loss of power. Shoes with incompressible soles like North Star or Chuck Taylors are very suitable for weight lifting.