VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — While watching Olympic weightlifting, it’s easy to marvel at the seemingly impossible amount of weight these world-class athletes are able to lift and hold above their heads. While the sport may initially seem daunting to try for yourself, the team at Towpath Fitness says it’s extremely safe and accessible for all ages.
“It’s an exciting sport, it’s a solo sport,” said Joseph Fischer, owner and manager of the gym. “It’s that constant progress. There’s always another personal best to achieve. Whether one pound, or a couple of kilograms, or whatever it is, there’s always that room for improvement”
Fischer, a certified coach, has been weightlifting for eight years and was introduced to the sport through his work in CrossFit.
“That’s one of the great things about Olympic weightlifting, is that it’s real easy for anybody to start. It’s one of the safest sports in the world that you can participate in,” he said. “I've trained athletes as young as eight, my youngest athlete right now is 11, and we coach anybody - I think our oldest athlete is in their 80s right now.”
In the gym with the GO! team, Fischer walked through the fundamentals, first using a PVC pipe to model form, then graduating to a light barbell to work on basic movements.
“Your coaches are going to make sure that you’re lifting properly, so we’re lifting with our legs and not just our low back. We’re hitting correct forms, correct positions. One of the big things that we teach, especially to new lifters, is how to fail at a lift, so that you know, in the event that the lift goes wrong, that you can’t get that weight up to where it needs to be, you know how to get away from that barbell and keep yourself safe.”
Fischer explained that in the Olympics, there are two movements: the snatch and the clean and jerk. He described the snatch as a movement bringing the weight from the ground to overhead, while the clean and jerk include two separate movements, bringing the weight first to the shoulders and then above the head.
“Those are athletes that are the best of the best in the world, and the weights that some of them will be lifting are almost impossible to fully grasp,” he said. “Their warm up weights are like they’re lifting me from the ground overhead in one motion. So to see them at the peak of their game, the speed and technique at which they move, it’s impressive.”
To learn more about Towpath Fitness, click here.