Barbell Club Olympic Lifting

In CrossFit we teach that in order for ones fitness to be all inclusive, we must train the ten general skills. As we continue to increase our abilities in all ten skills we build elite athletes with complete physical competence. Those skills are; cardiovascular respiratory/ endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy. Olympic weightlifting addresses and trains ALL ten of these skills. While their primary targets are strength, flexibility, power, speed, balance and coordination, they train all ten. Olympic lifts are unique in their ability to create neurological and muscular adaptation. “They train athletes to effectively activate more muscle fibers more rapidly than through any other modality of training. “The explosiveness that results from this training is of vital necessity to every sport.” (CrossFit Foundations, 2006) In addition to Olympic lifts addressing all ten general skills, they are the essence of a functional core to extremity movement. A core to extremity movement starts with a stable core/spine and creates a wave of muscle contraction to the weaker extremities. These are the “natural” muscle recruitments patterns of our bodies. By using our bodies as a whole, each piece gets stronger!