Thread: The Benefits Of Olympic Lifting

The Benefits Of Olympic Lifting
1. More Muscle
Olympic lifting (OL) is a staple component of training programs used by professional athletes because it can increase muscle mass and strength, but without making them slower or less athletic.
2. Better Technique On Other Lifts
It may look like there are only two main lifts in Olympic lifting, but these two moves actually encompass numerous other lifts. There's a deadlift. There's a clean. There's a front squat. There's plenty more than that, too!
3. Increased Strength And Power
This might be a surprise, but Olympic lifting can make you stronger at squatting than squat-focused powerlifting training alone! A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning compared 15 weeks of Olympic lifting to powerlifting and found an 18 percent greater improvement in squat one-rep maxes for the Olympic lifting group.

But aside from the ability to grind out a heavy max-effort single, studies have shown significant improvements in sprint and vertical-jump performance by those who incorporate OL into their training. Fast, slow—it makes everything better.
4. Improved Endurance And Cardio Performance
Believe it or not, a style of lifting build almost entirely around low-rep sets can increase endurance. OL training has been shown to increase maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and decrease resting heart rate—two adaptations you typically only see with endurance training.