Hello And Welcome
Are you completely new to Weightlifting and looking to get started? Maybe you’ve seen your friends lift and now you’re itching to join in!
Whatever your reason for wanting to get started in Olympic Weightlifting, this article will help you! Also, it’s worth noting, maybe you’ve started and are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the technique and, well, just everything. If so, this article is definitely for you too.
Here is our step by step guide to becoming an Olympic Weightlifter
By the way, we're using the term "Olympic Weightlifter" as this represents the biathlon; the Snatch and Clean & Jerk - we won’t be discussing “bench” or “strongman” here.
1) First and foremost you need to find yourself a club and join.
Don’t be one of those internet lifters. Yes it’s good to watch the best lifters in action, but it is very hard to copy the technique from an internet screen. You can find your closest Olympic Lifting club by clicking here for an up to date list. If you can’t find a Weightlifting club near you, alternatively you can find your closest CrossFit box* here.
2) Once you’ve got a club/ box, find a coach (most have them).
You want a coach with a good blend of experience and qualifications. Ideally, but not always, you want your coach to have been a lifter, someone who knows the score. It can be a lonely, hard sport and having a coach that understands this is key.
3) Naturally, follow the advice of Lifting Times.
We always recommend you seek a coach when learning Weightlifting, but it does help to read about the sport and the techniques. We cover everything from the basic technique movements to assistance exercises, equipment, interviews with GB Lifters & Coaches, training and more. We make the articles understandable and break down the technique into very simple, step by step instructions.
Keep up to date with the latest artices:
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you've got a good grasp of the technique.
This is often referred to as training.
5) Kit
Once you have established you are keen to do Weightlifting it may be worth investing in some kit (best to move away from trainers as soon as you can) – there are some ideas for your kit bag below.
Here's a link to our Equipment Page; there, you can find reviews and interesting articles of common/ useful Weightlifting equipment. Here are two key items you will need:
Something you may find useful...
6) Follow the best lifters & take a look at other useful lifting info.
Sonny Webster, Jack Oliver, Sarah Davies, Zoe Smith, Gareth Evans and many more all have active Facebook & Instagram accounts. Search for them and follow away!
They all upload useful weightlifting advice and training videos. Some run Weightlifting workshops/ seminars.
Jack and Sarah are the owners of the Online Olympic Weightlifting Coaching business Wisdom4Weightlifting, this is something that's definitely worth investigating.
We have interviewed a fair few lifters and coaches from the Great Britain team, you can read their interviews here.
It's worthwhile checking out Under The Bar too, they are the number one place in the UK for Weightlifting Videos.
7) Congratulations! You are an Olympic Weightlifter.
One last word about weightlifting. It takes a long time to master the technique and will likely take you months before you're churning out nicely executed Snatches or Clean & Jerks, so keep at it! God speed and good luck!
*A quick note about CrossFit clubs; yes they do Olympic Weightlifting. A lot of their training is Olympic Lifting. Some may even have an Olympic Lifting club within it. But they do not necessarily provide Olympic Lifting Class. Always best to check!
8) Share to let all your friends know you're starting Weightlifting!
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!
Everything is very open with a really clear clarification of the challenges.
It was really informative. Your site is very helpful.
Thanks for sharing!