Is power lifting the future for athletes?
Power lifting is a sport/hobby where you lift for strength and power rather than size. Power lifting is a growing community of lifters ranging all ages and sizes. In the sport there are weight classes so no one person isn’t challenged.
Recently there have been athletes from other sports trying power lifting and seeing a positive feedback to their main sport. Power lifting can increase explosiveness, speed, strength, and even mental capacity. These attributes can put an athlete from mediocre to high level.
But there is a chance of injury in most situations, and because of this, form is very important in every lift where you’re putting up any amount of weight.
What are the main power lifts?
Athletes tend to do the “Big Three” Power lifts: the bench press, squat, and deadlift.
The bench press is a movement where you’re laying down on a bench and you push the weight off of you almost like a pushup. The bench press works out chest, shoulders, arms, and back.
The squat is a movement where you have to squat down and up with a barbell on your back. The squat works most of your leg muscles and your core.
Then there is the deadlift, a lift where you bend down and stand up while holding a barbell. The deadlift works legs, back, forearms, and core.
These three major lifts are the foundation to a strong and fast body.
All muscles are important, but they are also very vulnerable to strain. Most athletes do a lot of stretching before/after their workouts which prevents injuries.
Freak accidents may happen so they keep it in their power to stay safe by using lifting belts, straps, and sleeves.
Athletes are able to improve their athleticism by doing these lifts even though they aren’t doing the exact movements they would be doing during their sports, but they are using the same muscles that would be needed during their movements which supplements the movement most would guess they do.
Heavy weight is good for power lifting but these lifts have a different rep range compared to traditional training. The rep range for power lifting can be as low as needed and as high as needed; the point of this is to get as much speed as possible with the heaviest weight you can do while keeping good form.
Power lifting is not a fad, but rather a necessary movement for anyone looking to improve on any athletic motion.
