Why'd you start?

[TehLegend]

What's the reason that you picked up Olympic lifting?

I used to do cross country and was skinny fat because of it. I looked into bodybuilding routines for awhile, but then realized I wasn't nearly big enough to justify working out muscles by themselves. I started Rippetoe's, and got a lot of strength gains. I became a lot more interested with being strong and powerful than simply being huge (Not to say there's not a part of me that wants broad shoulders and a thick chest), so I began to look in Olympic lifting. And here I am, trying to get my strength and power up to compete in the summer.

[madaozeki]

Nice idea for a thread :) I used to be a baseball pitcher, but screwed up tendons and rotator cuff around my right shoulder area. I've always been competitive, and thought powerlifting would be fun to try, but my shoulder can't hold up to the horizontal motion of heavy bench presses. I started going to a powerlifting/strongman/highland games gym, and they had an Olympic lifting platform. I figured I'm small (compete at 135lbs), quick and reasonably strong, so it might suit me as a sport. Here I am several years later, just as small, quicker and stronger :)

[CHS55]

Football coach, he came by and pretty much redid the face of our weightlifting program. We really didn't have a definite program and he pretty much set the standard for everything. I don't agree with a little bit of the stuff he does but from what I've seen his program is extremely effective, 1st year of doing it I made it to nationals and placed 2nd. Lost by a kilo. :/

[Marc27Default]

Watched too many awesome videos of olifters on youtube and such. The lifts look very sharp and fluid compared to powerlifting's smaller ROM lifts.

[crackyflipside]

Dad's old best in the clean and jerk was 200lbs, I started O-Lifting a few months ago to demolish his record.

[ThomasAnthony]

Because it is amazing to watch and alot of fun to do ...

[GoJu]

Watched too many awesome videos of olifters on youtube and such. The lifts look very sharp and fluid compared to powerlifting's smaller ROM lifts.

pretty much this, and the pictures of the Chinese national team and how ripped alot of their lifters are, I think oly lifters are athletic in a way most heavy sport athletes aren't IMO.

also the lifts are just fun to do.

[mochi]

i'm still extremely green when it comes to any kind of oly lifts but i got into for a number of reasons;

1) got bored of squatting, benching and deading all the time
2) snatches are cool looking
3) oly seems way more functional
4) jumping higher would be neat
5) getting out-wrestled by a guy who is 50 lbs lighter than you makes you realize how un-athletic you truly are

[tman0307]

To improve my performance on the football field...Just started seriously snatching and doing full clean a while back, and it is alot more difficult to learn than it looks.

Someone around here said that learning how to full clean was more difficult to learn if you learn how to powerclean first. I agree with that

[raffiki]

Dimas!

[Marc27Default]

Dimas!

Actually when I said videos earlier I should have said Dimas videos.

[™da1™]

Be more explosive

[Squinky]

I have never liked back squats, and front squats feel good, I realised how boring and overrated bench press is and I fell in love with military pressing. It started from there. Then I watched weightlifting videos and noticed how awesome the lifters were and started to do more and more weightlifting stuff.

[no_one089]

The main reason is all of the oly lifts are usually my favorites:D Plus they give you strength and help in other activities.

[ehlpitel]

For the girls.

They love it when I talk about my snatch.

[Big_fuzzy]

Powerlifing got boring.

6 second deadlifts are pretty boring.

but snapping a power snatch so fast that if you blink you miss the weight?

Nooow we are talking.

but the BEST bit is the squatting.

When i say i squat 450 I mean I SQUAT 450. rock bottom position, torso erect, no belt or wraps, me and the bar.

There are no excuses, no question of depth, the weight is locked over head or it isnt, and the squat depth is standard.

[ruga buga]

^^^ wow. get faster, more explosive etc and is something that i love doing.