The Importance of Lifting Heavy
All too often do I talk to people that are scared of lifting heavy because they believe they are going to get big and bulky or that they are destined to hurt themselves. Well I am here, along with many other coaches that are here to tell you that that is just not true. You must take a step back and assess what it is you are trying to do and compare that to what your goal is. Meaning: I want to look good, so how will heavy lifting affect me? I will hopefully shed light on this situation for those of you that are just not sure of those “heavy weights.”
When we look at the benefits of heavy lifting, there are a lot of things to choose from, such as: develop a more toned body, improve athletic performance, naturally burn more calories from developed muscle, helps develop the brain and how to recruit motor units (in other words, a strong CNS), it will strengthen connective tissues, just to name a few. Someone who does not train with weights, I am talking between 70-100% of a max lift (heavy weights), will never develop all of the things that are listed above.
If you want to improve your body, but you refuse to lift heavy weights, then you relate to most of society that wants more for less (I believe that is Wal-Mart’s motto too). It is not going to happen. Now you need to evaluate what your goal is. If you look at it from a point of view that “I just want to be healthy and look good,” you do not need to push your body to the limits of that of an elite athlete such as an Olympic Weightlifter. Some of these athletes are pushing their body to the limits all the time and will eventually end up with some injuries.
In all reality that is just that way it is with any sport that you want to be competitive in, most of you need to look at it from a health and fitness point of view. I will use myself as an example for what I used to do. My passion for sports before I came across Welded and Olympic Weightlifting was Motocross and Snowboarding. There is a difference between the person that leisurely rides their motorcycle through the trails and someone who is doing 40-50 mph down the straight a way into a 110-foot jump with ten other guys. Both are on motorcycles, but both are doing completely different things and have completely different goals.
A weightlifter clean and jerks 400 pounds and someone clean and jerks 135 pounds, they both are getting stronger, but chances are they have completely different goals. We are also assuming that they both have good form.
Which individual has more stress placed on their body?
Like I said before, take a step back and realize what you want to do and what you want your body to look like. If you want it to be healthy all the way around the spectrum, you need to lift heavy while accompanying that with anaerobic and aerobic exercise. If you refuse to lift heavy but you are willing to hop on a treadmill for 45 minutes and expecting to have an all around healthy body. Well, you want more for less, so I suggest you go to Wal-Mart and hang out in the “I don’t want to be awesome” section and buy lots of “Anti-Gains” pills, because that is what’s really happening.
Assess what you want, lift accordingly to that goal and go after that. I will end this with one of my favorite quotes that relates to fitness and training, “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” – Socrates (This goes for both MEN and WOMEN). Push your body, because chances are, it’s a lot more capable than you think it is.
-Jacob
GROUP CLASS WORKOUT
Warm Up:
5 Rounds 30/30 Plank/ Air squats
15 PVC GM, 20 scorpions
75 second hip capsule stretch each side
Strength:
6×3 DL Start @70% and increase accordingly
(Every 90 seconds)
Metcon:
Welded
15 Min AMRAP
300 Meter Row
25 Wall Balls 20/14
Advanced: Ski
Welded Lean
15 MIn AMRAP
20/14 Cal Bike
17 Burpees
Mobility of the Day: Super Couch Mobilization (pg.
Improves: Top of DL/Deep Squats/ Anterior Hip Pain