Structural Balance for Weightlifters

By James Tatum

I became competitive in weightlifting very quickly.  I started in 2011 and won my first American Open in 2012 and made my first international team in 2013.  There are a few reasons I progressed so quickly.  First I had been doing powerlifting for 8 years before I started weightlifing.  I wasn't very good at it, but it gave me a good relative strength base.  Secondly I surrounded myself with coaches and training partners that greatly attributed to my performance and development.  But last of all I feel like I was able to stay injury free and adapt to movement quickly because of all the general preparation and structural balance work I had done in my off season (if you can call it that) of powerlifting. As weightlifters we tend to get stuck on just doing snatch, clean, jerk, squats, pulls, and variations of these movements. And rightly so because they really are the most fun!  But it is all too easy to neglect the things that will really keep you in the sport for a longer period of time.  I have made a general program that I published on TrainHeroic that address some of the areas I have found most weightlifters need help with.  You might not find that these movements make your lifts go up directly, but they should allow your body to stay healthy and injury free.  This in turn will really be what makes you a better weightlifter in the long run.  Below is a sample of the program, it is only 2 days a week and is designed to be done in conjunction with your current weightlifting training.  You can do it on an off day or after your weightlifting session. It is not very demanding so it should not take away from your other training. Purchase the full program here:  TrainHeroic

Day 1 Lower Body                      Setsxreps   Tempo  Rest

A Alternating Step to Split                 3x5@70% of clean and jerk

B1 Front Foot raised Split Squat        3x8   3010     60s

B2 RDL                                              3x8   3010     60s

C1 Hanging Abdominal Raise            3x20 2020     90s

Day 1 Upper Body                                                                Setsxreps   Tempo  Rest

A1 Standing DB Front Raise at 45 degrees with thumbs up          3x8    3010   60s

A2 Standing DB Overhead Press                                                    3x6    3020   60s

A3 Bent Over Trap 3 Raise                                                             3x6   3010   90s