Benefits of Olympic Weightlifting

As you can see on my idol, Lu Xiaojun, has massive back muscles.

Olympic Weightlifting as a sport or training modalities has many benefits. Olympic Weightlifting helps you develop acceleration and generate power. But what I really care about is how it applies to everyday life. You can train for the sport and the lifts, but if it doesn’t apply for life, then I almost don’t see any benefit in training it if you aren’t competitive in the sport.

As there are many benefits to exercising in general, I will address some of the uncommon benefits that people don’t typically notice right away.

1. Tendon strength

I noticed that as the months progressed, I got stronger, but my muscles stayed the same size. Usually a stronger muscle also becomes a bigger muscle. With what I knew about Exercise Science and the human body, I was getting a little confused at why I am still the same size, weight, height (haha), etc. There were little differences in how I looked on the outside, but the numbers kept going up. I also knew I was getting stronger.

I talked to my coaches, who have coached for over 40 years, simply puts it as “tendon strength”. The tendons and ligaments connecting the muscle and bone are getting stronger. Usually these tendons are small in nature due to their makeup. As the tendon gets stronger, the muscle is also able to produce greater contractions. Hence, the bigger lifts. The muscles will grow over time. Just be patient and stick to the workout plan.

Tendon strength is a great thing to build. I see it as building a larger foundation for you to become stronger. It really sets you apart from the rest who just focuses on the way the muscle looks or functions.

2. Mental Strength

It is not easy to put heavy loads over your head in an explosive manner. A lot of times it really tests your mind. Your body might know what to do, but if the mind gets in the way, it can lead to serious injury. I have had a few close calls myself because I was not in the right frame of mind. But as you put in more hours, more challenges, more maximal lifts, you start developing the mindset of commitment. Once you commit to doing something, most likely you will make it.

This has helped me with my life because it allowed me to become more singularly minded. Put your mind to one thing and do it. Many times when you lift heavy loads like in Olympic Weightlifting, if you miss or fail, the impact can be serious. So, it’s all in or don’t do it. I have seen that I take my tasks more seriously because of weightlifting. I also take one step at a time vs jumping around and trying to find short cuts. I tried to work fast and efficient, but nothing really trumps going through the process of taking things step by step.

3. Attention to detail

In weightlifting, You will notice when a foot is not where it is supposed to be, hands are too wide, a lift feels better than before, elbows locking out at the end of the lift, etc. There are many nuances to Olympic Weightlifting and they all matter, somewhat. I have found that the more time I put into every smaller detail, the better the overall outcome. A small difference matters because as it is repeated over and over, I learn how to do it in the better way, which will increase my overall lifts.

This has helped me with one thing in life. And that is everything. A book I just read also makes the same point. Extreme Ownership. I start to notice the small things that I used to slack off on like cleaning my room, fixing my bed, doing things on time. These things started to eat at me if I didn’t tend to it. Just like in Olympic Weightlifting, habits will make or break you.

This was a short benefits to weightlifting. If you found something helpful, please comment below. If you learn other things from weightlifting, please share! I would love to learn from you!