Are you Injured ? Follow these guidelines

So you're injured. You should NOT be surprised. You are an Olympic weightlifter. it's all part of the sport.

First thing's first. Diagnose the injury. If you are intelligent and confident enough to diagnose yourself, go ahead. Or go see an MD.

Step two, diagnose your new limitations. What can you NOT do anymore ? If it hurts even slightly, you can't do it. A wrist injury, for example, means you can't hold or press over-head. But you can still squat. A knee injury means you can't push. But you can still pull, and press. See how this works?

Any attempt to "ease" back into things, or to train "around" an injury, will simply prolong the injury recovery rate and you will lose out on gains in the long run, or even more likely, injure yourself further.

This is a slow sport that requires years of investment to reach peak performance. Would you rather be the go-hard who lifts hard and recklessly but makes great gains fast ? Or would you rather be the slow and steady turtle who makes his gains over the years. Oh and I should mention that the go-hard gets injured and cannot train for the rest of his life. Just calling it like I see it. Take this with a grain of salt. The stronger person is the one who trains the longest. Think two years of hard training vs 10 years of smart training.

Technique is subjective

Except for 3 rules that apply to everyone.

1. Shoulders over the bar *
2. Keep the bar close at all times
3. keep centre of gravity and weight on heels

Check out this translated Russian info graphic of technique.

What you need to know is that everyone has a unique technique that works for their specific anatomy. In general, you can break it down into two categories. Tall lifter and short lifter. Although you can be short with long limbs or tall with short limbs. This dictates your start position, power position, and back angle.

There are 3 things that make a successful Olympic weightlifter

1. Strength
2. Speed
3. Technique

 2 out of 3 of those components can be learned and/or taught. One of them cannot. Can you guess which ones?

Speed and technique is something you learn. You can practice and get better at them.

You cannot learn how to be strong. Strength you have to grind for day in and day out. Squats, pulls, dead lifts, presses, etc.

NOW GO LIFT SOMETHING HEAVY

AND THEN WORK YOUR TECHNIQUE

Training Frequency - The over training MYTH

I will keep this short and sweet. Over training is a myth. It really is. If your sleep, hydration, and nutrition is on point you can train every single day. You can even train heavy every single day, but you need to have a solid foundation for that.

I know this goes against what most people think but try it yourself and see what happens. Your numbers will skyrocket. Oh, and this is how the chinese, russians, europeans do it. Except they train twice a day, every day.

Try it for one week. Keep in mind that sleep, hydration, and nutrition is mandatory. If you go out drinking or eat pizza all day this will not work. Always warm up, stretch, and have plenty of easy sets in before your working sets.

Chance of injury and soreness is actually decreased by training everyday simply because you don't give the body a CHANCE to seize up or get tense. The lactic acid is constantly flushed out and circulated. This is a very trippy experience. You have to try training everyday.

Leave it up to synchronicity as well. Maybe you have to skip wednesdays workout because of work, or school or something. Treat that as a rest day. Any day you can go - go!

Don't knock it till you try it. Leave comments about your experiences.

Conclusion to Olympic Weightlifting Shoes

    Let's take a look at what I've discussed and discovered. In the sport of Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting shoes are a mandatory piece of equipment. Just like a hockey stick is to a hockey player, an olympic weightlifter has to have his shoes.

   Having said that, we have seen the many varieties of shoes currently available on the market and just how similar  they all are. 0.75 inch heel, a form of straps, and a non-slip rubber base. The uniqueness is in the details, which are only noticeable if you're looking for them. Beginners - feel free to buy whatever is cheaper, you won't be at any disadvantage REALLY... For the lifters who have been around the block, you need to pay attention to what each shoe has to offer, it's pros and it's cons and choose accordingly.

   It's still very common to see people lifting in chucks (converse, flat shoes) and even barefoot. Although I cannot recommend doing something as stupid as being barefoot in a gym. As long as being flat footed is purpose oriented ( i.e - you want you're squat/pull/whatever to be less quad dominant and more evenly distributed along the posterior chain ) then go for it. For the rest, you will use olympic weightlifting shoes.

Adidas Power Perfect 2

This is what a weightlifting shoe is supposed to be like. Lightweight, tight, solid, flexible on the sides, and have good heel support. The power perfect 2's are cheap, always in stock, and very underrated. The unisex color and design seems to throw people off but that is simply their lose.

These shoes have great build quality and nothing falls apart. I know because I use them. After having tried all the olympic weightlifting shoes at least once, these are the ones I am sticking with.

Note that the toe area is wide yet flexible. This is going to provide you with great flexibility and a stable support on your jerk - if you jerk correctly. Remember, it's back foot first, THEN front foot out. You want to be slightly diagonal but flat footed. For the first pull, the unique adidas plastic heel will not cave in. These are also a good choice for squatting because they are breathable, wide, and support the heel.

For practical, technical, but not so much aesthetic reasons, these are the number 1 choice of olympic weightlifting shoe for Beginners to Pros.

Nike Romaleos 2 - STAY AWAY FROM THESE

This is a weightlifting shoe gone wrong and there is a reason why its so unpopular.

I'm going to get right into it. The sizing is way off. Get atleast a 0.5 or 1 size higher than you would your regular shoe. This is a tight pair of shoes at the top and toe area. The heel is very rigid and not at all flexible AND it has poor stability on the sides. The straps are great and it does hold well, but why would that help if the above conditions are what they are? They are expensive, and they do not look very nice either.

At the end of the day, they are still really good shoes to lift in, and for people who are not very focused on the feeling they get from the shoe, or for those who are new, they will not even notice these things. Some people use these shoes and swear by them, but I have heard others disdain for the shoes, and in my own personal experience, I did not like the feel of these shoes at all. Lastly they look pretty ugly, and you have to agree with me there.

Adidas Adistar - The cadillac of Weightlifting shoes

Take a look at these shoes. They are good looking and the most effective shoe on the market today.

This is the shoe that has clearly had the most research and development done into the sport and have been deliberately engineered with training and competition in mind. The first time I used these shoes to do a work out in I felt it right away, it was night and day. The quality is fantastic I have seen these last for 3+ Years since they hit the market, and for a pair of shoes that get SO much abuse that is fantastic. The leather is genuine and will never rip. Huge bonus right there. The heel is tall, but not too tall ( they are all 0.75 inch heel ) and flexibility is great without compromising stability. The strap grabs the midfoot nicely and its easy to take the shoes on and off. Great shoes for long time lifters who are looking to get shoes that will help them and not hinder their performance.


The downside is.....the price. In my opinion, as great as they are, they are still too expensive. It's just a pair of shoes adidas....getting them on sale or at a discount (or atleast free shipping!) is really the only way to justify the purchase. I know of shoes that are JUST AS GOOD in every regard ( except for aesthetics ) for half the price. Follow my blog and you will know exactly which shoes I'm talking about.