Andrew Charniga
www.sportivnypress.com
Most academics, conditioning coaches, therapists, athletic trainers, doctors and others comprising the academic – medical – complex; have at best; an inadequate understanding of weightlifting; due in no small part to an inability to distinguish fact from fiction. This is all the more pertinent; since much of the fiction about weightlifting is the product of academia, sport medicine, personal trainers, gurus, strength and conditioning coaches, various hucksters, charlatans and others.
Post World War II weightlifting competitions comprised a triathlon of exercises: the press, the snatch was and the clean and jerk. At this stage it was essentially a static – strength – sport. As the press evolved into a test of speed strength and along with it, the development of modern technique in the snatch and the clean and jerk weightlifting morphed into a speed strength sport. At the present time weightlifting has evolved into a speed sport; such that an athlete’s static strength is no longer relevant. (V.Stepanov, V. Tomilof, Teoria I Praktika Fizicheskoi Kultury, 1984?)
That being said, myths connected with the physiology and kinesiological aspects of the classic snatch and the classic clean and jerk are in effect, false narratives; beliefs lacking a basis in experience and knowledge of the history of weightlifting training. The myths originate in weightlifting’s past; without substantiation in the present.
Figure 1. Soviet sport scientists testing a super elite weightlifter’s static strength on a force plate with oscillograph in the period of the late 1970s – early 1980s. The value of such evaluations were already questionable. The weightlifter’s static strength has long since lost its relevance. (Stepanov, 1984); Cover design Teoriiya I Praktika Fizicheskoi
Due in no small measure to inaccuracies that are put forth from academia from such disciplines as Biomechanics, Kinesiology and Physiology; the actual characteristics of the classic weightlifting exercises (the snatch and the clean and jerk) have been cast aside; spawning a ‘devolution of knowledge’. A host of myths; fictions confused as fact and numerous false truisms have arisen in place of critical thinking.
This ‘devolution of knowledge’ is responsible for the spread of misinformation; and; in and of itself; one of many cause – effect sources of the non – contact lower extremity injury epidemic in American sport.
A brief history of weightlifting sport is helpful to understand how and why this current state of ‘devolved knowledge’ came about.
In the aftermath of World War II; weightlifting sport evolved from a triathlon competition format; an era of absolute strength; into a biathlon era of speed strength up to the 1970 – 1980s period. Early on, weightlifters tended to be shorter in stature; in part, due to the range of weight classes from (56 – +110 kg). Furthermore, the strict version of the press exercise was a test of absolute strength and performance of the correct technique favored the better leverage of the shorter, heavily muscled athlete.
As the sport evolved into the post war era; it was accompanied by a growing body of specialized research from weightlifting sport scientists; most notably from the USSR. The biomechanical advantage a weightlifter, short of stature, found confirmation in the Soviet literature as late as the 1980s:
“A negative correlation is observed: within a given weight class, the higher the sportsman’s qualification the shorter his height.” Oleshko, V. Managing the Training of Weightlifters 1982, translated by Andrew Charniga
However, a factor missing from the ‘math discovers science’ with respect to the “advantages” short weightlifters was the tendency to recruit shorter athletes for weightlifting; based on the assumption shorter stature is better; and, the height/weight research seemed to offer proof.
However, a blind eye was turned to the role of a ‘skill of strength’ in Olympic weightlifting. This ‘skill of strength’ encapsulates the multi – faceted energy producing possibilities of the human body; which, in its turn, involves a lot more than, for example, so many myofilaments which decline as a weightlifter’s stature rises past 183 cm and 175 cm for males and females respectively:
“the weight lifted depends on the number of myofilaments arranged in parallel.”
“those with thicker muscles will lift more weight” and “there is an absolute upper limit to lateral muscle growth at a height of about 183 cm in men and 175 cm in women”. Ford, et al, 2000
Errant ideas of the sort refenced above; published in 2000; support a ‘devolution of knowledge’ such that these ideas are seized upon by others in the academic community; who, likewise discover:
“… the shorter height and limb lengths of weightlifters provide mechanical advantages when lifting heavy loads by reducing the mechanical torque and the vertical distance that the barbell must be displaced. Furthermore, the shorter body dimensions coincide with a greater mean skeletal muscle cross-sectional area that is advantageous to weightlifting performance. “Unique aspects of competitive weightlifting: performance, training and physiology”, Storey, a., Smith, H. Sports Med 2012 Sep 1:42(9):769-90doi: 10.1007/BF03262294.
With little heuristic, if any, in weightlifting sport; academics inevitably ‘find’ truth in their classroom knowledge and pass it on; which in due course fosters not only an atmosphere intellectual stagnation; even a devolution of knowledge, i.e., old ideas are not only frozen in time, they facilitate backwards thinking as forward. Hence, the fixation short guys with thick muscles dominate weightlifting; and, by proxy, the perceived value of weightlifter’s static strength.
For instance, tests have shown weightlifters are able to produce the largest force up to 500 kgs and more in the explosion position which corresponds to knee angles of 130º – 140º and hip angles of 60º – 70º (barbell at mid thigh height). However, they are only able to realize about 40% of this strength (see figure 11) in the actual performance of the classic exercises (A.N. Vorbeyev, 1977;1978). Yet, what passes for knowledge in academia is stuck in the static strength era of weightlifting: more muscles, short stature, more static strength translate to bigger weights lifted.
Figure 2. The explosion position of the snatch: the barbell is situated at about mid – thigh; which is the strongest disposition of the weightlifter’s links in the classic exercises (knee angles 130 – 140º, hip angle of 60 – 70º). A weightlifter is unable to realize the maximum isometric strength in this position during the snatch or the clean. {diagram from Tiiazhelaya Atletika, FIS, Moscow, 1972} Charniga photo on left.
The belief short weightlifters have the advantage; and, lifters with thicker muscles and proportionally more myo-filaments will dominate the sport are myths; yet, are still passed on as fact today.
A cacophony of myths
1/ Bench squats, lifts from blocks, or, from just above the knee, or just a high pull, and so forth are just as good as Olympic lifting;
Partial range of motion exercises such as bench squats, squats to parallel, cleans from boxes or from the hang do not encapsulate the complexity of the weightlifting exercises. Raising a barbell from the floor to the chest in a power clean, for instance, involves producing force against a backdrop of increasing difficulty to preserve equilibrium, i.e., the toppling over effect of the barbell; as well coping with variable mechanical advantage for the lifting muscles.
Simplified weight room variations of the weightlifting exercises such as those listed; are ‘one way’. That is to say a re – bending of the knees after the shins have reached vertical in a pull or clean is absent.
More muscles are employed in full range lifts and even ‘re – used’ such as soleus and other plantar flexors when knees re – bend; and likewise more power can produced under more complex conditions (Van Ingenau, Bobbert, 1985). So, half movements just don’t cut it.
Nevertheless, these abbreviated versions of the classic snatch and/or the classic clean and jerk are in widespread use in collegiate weight rooms for training athletes. The coaches the athletes believe without justification they obtain sufficient benefit from partial movements or ‘equivalent’ simple strength exercises using a ‘trap bar’ and so forth.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
1a/ A high pull is just as good as a power clean, snatch or squat clean because the ‘catch’ (fixation overhead or at the chest is inconsequential.
The belief fixing the weight at the chest or overhead is inconsequential to obtaining benefit from the weightlifting exercises is a myth; the basis of which has several facets.
Most coaches are unaware the beneficial carry – over to dynamic sport of skills encompassing switching directions and moving the body around the barbell: the lifter has to switch from lifting up to pulling the body down which entails rapidly relaxing muscles and ‘turning off’ one or more group of muscles to flex the body down in order to fix it.
Skills involving rapid change of direction, switching muscle groups and high speed muscle relaxation are qualities with high carry over to other dynamic sports: football, track and field, basketball and so forth.
Furthermore, avoidance of fixing (the catch) the barbell allows the coach and athlete to sidestep the issue of flexibility of wrist, elbows, shoulders, spine, ankles and so forth. Multi – joint flexibility is a quality usually found in short supply in high school, collegiate and professional weight rooms where power lifting, machine and various other simple strength exercises, i.e, anti-flexibility exercises; predominate.
The specificity of rapid multi – joint flexibility is part of the weightlifter’s topography of strength. The power differential between two lifters of equal stature, bodyweight and equivalent static strength can be apportioned by flexibility. The force a weightlifter can realize in the classic exercises is facilitated by less resistance to movements; which, in effect, enhances the specificity of the lifting forces. So, all things being equal for two athletes of equal strength; the strength of lifter whose movements encounter less resistance produces will be more effective.
Consequently, the inconsequential ‘catch’ phases of the classic exercises including weight room exercises like power clean and power snatch should not be avoided; their complexity offers the best carry – over from the weightlifting exercises for athletes in dynamic sports.
1-2/ Weightlifters perform a “triple extension of knee hip and ankle to lift the barbell to the necessary height. A triple extension is an important skill in running, jumping, and others.
Elite weightlifters do not execute a triple extension in snatch, clean & jerk; because energy is not transported efficiently to the feet after a knee angle of 165º. Energy expended to forcefully straighten the knees past 165º is counterproductive (Zhekov, 1976; Zatsiorsky, Zajac, 1993). The myth of the triple extension persists across a wide spectrum of sports fueled by academic myth mongers. This despite empirical and scientific evidence to the contrary.
The actual extension of lower extremities in weightlifting occurs against a backdrop of raised heels (see figure 12); well before the end of the pull phase of the classic exercises. And, as such, a weightlifter will continue to straighten the knees against the already raised heels. This circumstance, in and of itself, would seem to represent a mechanical insufficiency of technique.
Figure 3. Super elite female weightlifter forcefully straightens knees and trunk against a backdrop of raised heels; not sequentially as suggested in the Soviet era weightlifting textbooks: which stipulate knees and trunk straighten fully followed by heel raise. Charniga photo.
On the contrary, the power of the thigh muscles is more effectively transferred to the feet when the heels raise, i.e., triggering an inter-compensation of energy to the support. This reflex engages the biarticular gastrocnemius, a thigh muscle; which in turn, results in a speedy extension of the foot; delivering more energy to the support than is possible from the nearly extended knees (Schenau, 1989).
It is of interest to note doctors attributed the sudden onset and subsequent rise in the number of Achilles ruptures in the NFL (from 4 – 10 to an average of 22 – 25 per season) (see Charniga, “Achilles rupture and the NFL, www.sportivnypress.com) to an action of knee extension against a raised heel (see this benign, in weightlifting, action in figure 3). A ridiculous assumption and profound expression of ignorance. It is pretty much impossible to run about any athletic field without pushing off raised heels.
3/ Weightlifting is essentially the same as a vertical jump; weightlifters can jump well because they do a vertical jump to lift the barbell.
There are many commonalities; such as basic joint angle displacements between the classic weightlifting exercises (the snatch and the clean and jerk) and the vertical jump. However, weightlifters ‘jump down’ not up.
Figure 4. The weightlifter has stopped lifting up and is descending into the squat in the figure on the left. He is dropping in the figure on the right; even though he looks to be jumping up with feet raised from the platform. Charniga photos.
Consider the weightlifter depicted in figure 4 dropping under the barbell in the snatch. The height of the lifter’s pelvis and the disposition of the lifter’s legs are apparent from the horizontal lines on the figure at left. Most coaches and athletes will conclude from the height of the same lifter’s feet from the floor in the picture on the right as evidence of vertical jumping in the snatch exercise.
A logical conclusion; since the feet are off the floor, the pelvis is flexing and the feet are dorsiflexing. However, at closer examination it can be seen the lifter’s pelvis (and with it his center of mass) has descended as the knees and feet have risen. The horizontal line from the lifter’s navel intersecting the number 26 at the same level on the scoreboard in the figure on the left has dropped significantly. The elevation of feet is an optical illusion. The lifter is forcefully flexing the hips; which in turn raises the feet. The effect of this hip flexion is to accelerate the descent into the squat.
Consequently, the body is descending, i.e., the lifter is jumping down not jumping up. Were he jumping up, the lifter’s navel area would be rising; instead it is dropping.
A counterintuitive has been established in this regard. The longer the feet are off the floor during the descent; the faster the lifter drops into the low squat (Druzhinin, 1974). The faster and lower a weightlifter can drop into the squat, all other things being equal, the more weight can be lifted.
In the opposite case, were weightlifting just like vertical jumping, the descent into the squat would be significantly slower. The lifter’s body would have to first come back down (from jumping up) to where it began; before descending into the squat. This of course would slow the drop into the low squat.
4/ A weightlifter produces the power to raise a heavy weight by moving the barbell fast;
The salient skill – of – strength in weightlifting is the ability to lift a slow-moving barbell. The maximum vertical speed of the barbell recedes along with the increase in its weight. Weightlifting involves a complex interplay of internal work, which is the mechanical energy produced to move body segments and the body as whole; and external work, or the mechanical energy produced to move the barbell (Latash, Zatsiorsky, 2016).
That being the case; the role of internal work rises along with the increasing weight and receding speed of the barbell. Consequently, the ability to produce the energy for internal work becomes all the more critical as the weight of the barbell increases; which in turn means the ability to switch from lifting up (external work) to pulling the body down; all the while switching direction and posture to squat under the weight are accomplished mostly with internal work.
This switching of emphasis from external to internal work occurs at the same time as the lifter must relax muscles very fast and produce a complex of flexibility in multiple joints: wrist, elbow, shoulder, spine, hip, knee and ankle.
Figure 5. Switching from lifting up to pulling the body down is a complex action which is only possible in the presence of very fast relaxation of muscles. Charniga photo.
Of course, if a weightlifter were to focus on moving a barbell fast he/she would not be able to execute this complex of internal work, rapid relaxation of muscles and complex flexibility.
That is besides the fact that since the aim is to lift a maximum weight; the speed of the barbell recedes as the weight increases. Consequently, the speed of muscle relaxation and the lifter’s speed of movement are the crucial speeds; not the barbell speed (see Charniga, https://www.sportivnypress.com/2021/speed-in-weightlifting-an-optical-illusion/).
5/ The knee is the weak link in weightlifting; deep squatting loosens ligaments;
Considerable effort has been expended debunking the vulnerability of the weightlifter’s knee joint; a common refrain in American sport; where knee injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament tear (ACL) abound; constituting a national disease. The rate of knee injury is relatively low in weightlifting; the incidence in females is even lower than males. This fact stands in contrast to the exponentially higher stress strain energies these joints are subject in the classic exercises in comparison with knee hazardous American sports like soccer, football, basketball, lacrosse and so forth.
Figure 6. Fully flexed lower extremities with knees well in front of toes is not connected with injury in weightlifting; all the more so for female weightlifters. Charniga photo
Debunking the many erroneous ideas originating in academia is the fact there is less strain on the knee ligaments due to what is called the “wrapping effect”. When the knees are fully flexed:
“retro patellar compression forces decline due to the wrapping effect after knee angles of 80 – 90º” “Analysis of the Load on the Knee Joint and Vertebral Column with Changes in Squatting Depth and Weight Load” Hagen Hartmann · Klaus Wirth · Markus Klusemann, 2013
The obvious, in this context, is outside the stilted ‘science of loose ligaments and fragile knees’ emanating from USA academia. Fully flexing knees, hips and ankles; stretches tendons and ligaments. It does not make these tissues susceptible to injury; on the contrary they become less susceptible. Springy tendons and ligaments are capable of dissipating and/or re – distributing mechanical energy; unlike ‘tight’ tendons and ligaments which are more likely to fail over time from sudden movements and lack of ‘springy’, stretchy’ activities.
Restricting bending at the knee to a maximum of 80 – 90º for safety; has the opposite effect: the largest moments on the knee joints occur at this range of joint angles; and, as a consequence of avoidance springy qualities of tendons and ligaments is neglected.
6/ Bend the knees slow to just below parallel and/or don’t bounce at the bottom of a low squat;
The first and most significant myth about squatting and stress on the knees concerns a distortion of a simple fact: the relative strain on the knee joint. The largest strain occurs at a knee angle of about 90º. Stopping at this angle or in the immediate range of 90º places the most stress on the knee.
Since many coaches, trainers and various health practitioners are in lock step when it comes to teaching or otherwise advocating flexing at knee and hip so as to limit bending in squats to half bends; it is not possible to attribute the American athlete’s predisposition to knee injury; such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL); to extraneous factors.
This fact is all the more germane since it is common knowledge the athletes who not only routinely fully flex the legs in sport exercises such as the classic snatch and the classic clean and jerk (weightlifters for instance) have very low incidence of knee injury.
This circumstance, contradicts contemporary thinking; which in and of itself confirms its incorrectness; since knee injuries are very common in American sports where exercises for the legs feature half bends at the most stressful knee angles.
Whereas, the safety of deep squatting is likewise confirmed. That is to say what is ‘safe’ (half bends) are unsafe; and, what is ‘unsafe’ (deep squats) are safe (see Charniga, “Why safe is unsafe”, www.sportivnypress.com).
The myth of injury susceptibility and squatting encompasses the depth as well as the speed of decent. If the speed of squatting were an issue for enhanced susceptibility to injury; weightlifting competitions would be impractical; because, a fast, low squat is a necessary condition for lifting maximum weights.
The overwhelming body of empirical evidence shows every lifter has to squat down very low and very fast. This circumstance coupled with the very low incidence of injury to knees in weightlifting debunks the myth of slow – half – squatting for safety.
It should go without saying, that since fast squatting is a necessity in weightlifting; bouncing is not dangerous either. In point of fact, the fast squatting and bouncing characteristic of the classic exercises is necessary to performing the exercises correctly; while at the same time facilitates the elastic qualities of the ligaments and tendons.
6a/ the lumbar area of the back is the most common site of injury (over-strain) for weightlifters;
Considering the deluge of fear regarding full squats; coming from academia and the medical community; it isn’t surprising the ‘experts’ fail to apprehend basic kinesiology of the Musculo – skeletal system.
For instance, the lumbar area of the spine is most common site of over – strain injury in weightlifters is (Vorobeyev, 1982, 1988). This area was particularly susceptible to overstrain from the press exercise; due in no small part to performance of the exercise with the lifter rapidly hyperextending the spine as the barbell is pressed to outstretched arms (see figure 7).
Figure 7. World champion pressing a world record with significant hyper – extension of spine. This particular action activates spinal as well as abdominal muscles. Kono photo.
With the elimination of the press after 1972; lumbar over-strain was (and still is) connected with big weights in squats and pull. These exercises with big weights (110% – 125% and more of maximum in the C&J) involve a large strain on the back: the trunk tilted forward from the vertical (see disposition of lifter’s trunk in figure).
That being said, an expressed dialectical contradiction of cause/effect of lumbar over-strain; a misguided effort has emerged to ‘safeguard’ the knee joint, falsely assumed to be the weightlifter’s weak link; advice from the academic arena is to shift the stress away from the knee and place it squarely on the back (see figure 8). Bizarre to say the least.
Figure 8. Comparison of squatting with large amplitude of bending at hip, knee and ankle (on right) with low stress on spine due to vertical disposition of trunk); with ‘avoidance squatting’, i.e., with tilted trunk shifting the strain squarely on the lumbar spine. Charniga photo on right. Photo on left from NSCA approved text.
The recommended squatting technique depicted by the figure on the left places all the more strain on the lumbar spine because the technique demonstrated has the weight on the chest.
Furthermore, the curves (cervical, tyhoracic, lumbar) in the human spine are adaptations to vertical posture (bipedal locomotion) and as such are poorly suited to strain with the trunk close to or at a horizontal disposition.
So, myths linked to academia; which favor ‘avoidance squatting’ (see figure 8) have the notion of weak links backwards: the recommended technique places undue strain on the lumbar spine: the weak link; by shifting it away from the perceived; but, in reality; not true weak link; the knee joint.
Figure 9. Heavy pulls and or deadlifts subject the lumbar spine to a large loading as illustrated in (figure) with trunk tilted forward. Charniga photo.
Some Biomechanical/Kinesiological fallacies
The relative role of the various muscle groups is an area enshrouded in considerable myth; much of which emanates from university/textbook and old ideas passed down as fact over the years.
7/ Trapezius muscles play a major role for weightlifter;
The role of the trapezius muscle in the performance of the classic exercises predates war years. The myth surrounding the importance of this muscle originates in weightlifting’s era of absolute strength. A forceful shrugging of the shoulders at the top of the pull was (and still is) believed to give the final impetus to the barbell; which in turn would enable the lifter to fix it on outstretched arms, or at the chest.
The main reason this idea persists to the present day is because most athletes and coaches believe muscle contraction is the sole engine at work to raise the barbell; which is the same as saying external work is the sole means of raising the barbell.
In point of fact, these muscles are most efficiently deployed along with the arm flexors to lower the athlete into the squat. Neither the leverage nor the amplitude of motion of shrugging the shoulders will have a significant impact on a lifter’s ability to raise a maximum weight ‘at the top of the pull’.
Furthermore, waiting to shrug before dropping into the squat is an unjustified delay to a rapid switch from lifting up to pulling the body down. Even the latest version of the Soviet weightlifting textbooks for the institutes of sport confirmed the trapezius along with the arm flexors are the weightlifter’s ‘pull down muscles’, i.e., most active to pull the body down – not to lift the barbell up.
8/ Gluteus muscles and the source of the weightlifter’s power;
“The gluteus maximus comes into its own in man when power is needed to give the hip joint more play for such activities as running, walking up a steep slope or climbing stairs. Its chief function in these circumstances is to correct any tendency for the human trunk to jackknife on the legs. John Napier, 1967; Scientific American
The above reference from Scientific American should preclude speculation the Gluteus Maximus muscle is the ‘secret’ source of an athlete’s power; in point of fact the development in man is an adaptation to walking upright. This adaptation is all the more obvious when the anatomy of a human is contrasted with a monkey of gorilla. The development is insignificant in the animals which do not stand or walk erect; whereas, the muscle is well developed in humans; functioning mostly to keep the trunk from “jack knifing”, climbing, running and so forth. But, then again, so are many other muscles involved in these activities.
The myth of the gluteus maximus as the main source of the weightlifter’s power has more to do with powerlifting; which has almost nothing in common with weightlifting (see Charniga, https://www.sportivnypress.com/2019/distinctions-between-static-powerlifting-bodybuilding-and-dynamic-weightlifting-ballistic-expressions-of-strength-training/).
Nonetheless, the gluteus myth persists; in a large part due to ideas dating back to the 1950s and the commercialization of all manner of things in the fitness realm. There are even special studies of this muscle group; which in turn are cited for means of selling ‘a cult of glutes’??
Many lifters of today straighten lower extremities while heels are raised and shoulder joints already behind the vertical projection of the barbell (see figure). This circumstance by its very nature, tends to reduce the action of the gluteus; especially as it pertains to any significant contribution to imparting a vertical lift of the barbell.
A further corroboration of this muscle’s low significance is the fact that it does not appear on Soviet era EMG diagrams along with the main muscles tracked in the classic weightlifting exercises: quadriceps, hamstrings, soleus, anterior tibialis and so forth.
Figure 10. Depiction (at left) of a weightlifter’s strength potential with concentric circles originating at the hip and expanding to ever larger circles. This graphic is intended to demonstrate a person’s strength potential recedes along with the increasing distance from the center of the hip joint. It erroneously relegates a low potential to produce energy to the gastro – soleus complex. In point of fact, these muscles which are closest to the support are at the apex of the weightlifter’s strength potential. Charniga photos at right. Kono photo at far left f igure 10.