Twisted Fitness proudly embraces the sport of Olympic Weight Lifting here in Madison.

Welcome to the Best USA Weightlifting Affiliate in Madison, WI.  Twisted Fitness has not One, but Two Level 2 USA weightlifting certified coaches to meet your Olympic Lifting needs!  What is Olympic Lifting, you ask?

Olympic Lifting or Weightlifting, is an Olympic sport.  The sport is comprised of 2 Lifts, The Snatch and the Clean & Jerk.   A lifter gets 3 attempts at each lift, to try and post the highest total amount of combined weight.  It may seem simple, but it is anything but.  Weight lifting is unlike any other barbell sport.  It require lots of work on balance, mobility, strength, speed, and most of all technique.  Having high level, professional coaches makes this journey much easier.  That’s why Twisted Fitness is THE BEST place to learn Olympic Lifting in Madison.   Hopefully with a little understanding of the lifts and the history of this sport, you will understand why Olympic Weightlifting is one of the best ways to train athletes, as well as every day folks!

History:

The first Olympic Games of 1896 included weightlifting in the Field event of the predecessor to today’s track and field or athletics event. During the 1900 Olympic Games, there was no weightlifting event. Weightlifting resumed as an event, again in athletics, in 1904 but was omitted from the Games of 1908 and 1912.

In 1920, weightlifting returned to the Olympics and, for the first time, as an event in its own right. At these Games, which took place in Antwerp, Belgium, fourteen nations competed. The competition lifts were the ‘one hand’ snatch, the ‘one hand’ clean and jerk and the ‘two hands’ clean and jerk. At the next Olympic Games, in Paris, France, in 1924, the ‘two hands’ press and the ‘two hands’ snatch were added to the program, making a total of five lifts.

In the Olympic Games after 1920, instead of requiring all competitors to compete against each other regardless of size, weight classes were introduced and, by the 1932 Olympic Games, weightlifting was divided into five weight divisions.  In 1928, the sport dropped the ‘one hand’ exercises altogether leaving only the three remaining exercises: the clean and press, the snatch and the clean and jerk.

After the 1972 Olympics, the clean and press was removed from the program due to difficulties in judging the event.  What remained were the two elements of the modern Olympic weightlifting program – the snatch and the clean and jerk.

The Lifts:

The Snatch is the first lift performed during a weightlifting competition.   The objective of the snatch is to lift the barbell from the ground to overhead in one continuous motion. There are four main styles of snatch used: squat snatch (or full snatch), split snatch, power snatch, and muscle snatch. The squat snatch and split snatch are the most common styles used in competition while power snatch and muscle snatch are mostly used for training purposes.

(The Snatch)

The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements.  During the clean, the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without resting fully on the clavicles. During the jerk the lifter raises the barbell to a stationary position above the head, finishing with straight arms and legs, and the feet in the same plane as the torso and barbell.  As with the Snatch, there are various techniques used when learning and/or performing both the Clean and the Jerk motions.

(The Clean and Jerk)

Twisted fitness has all the specialized equipment needed to train in weightlifting. We have Bumper Plates, Men’s and Women’s Barbells, 3 Wooden style Platforms, and Jerk Blocks.  Interested in learning more about the sport of Weightlifting?  Contact Twisted Fitness today to see how you can get started!