It might be too late to get to the 2012 Olympics in London. But if you start now with Olympic lifting training at Black Bear Fitness, you might just make it to Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Even if not, you’ll get in better shape.

Black Bear owner Rick Leonard started offering Olympic lifting training not only because of the upcoming games in London, but because, he said, “various new exercise programs on the market incorporate variations of Olympic lifting without giving proper instructions on how to do it. I wanted to give that service to my clients of being able to help them.”

Olympic lifts are more complex than regular power lifting, Leonard explained. They involve complex timing and the use of the whole body.

“There are multiple joints and muscles used in Olympic lifts, and they need to be done explosively,” Leonard said.

He described the two lifts that Olympic lifters do:

• The Clean and Jerk: The clean involves lifting the weight from the floor to shoulder height; the jerk comes with lifting the weight overhead with a split of the feet.
• The Snatch: In this left, the hands are placed far apart on the bar, which then gets lifted directly overhead.

These are different from power lifting, which includes the bench press, squat and dead lift.

In the Olympics, men generally lift from 300 – 500 pounds, while women lift 200 – 300, depending on their body weight.

Anyone with healthy joints can work on Olympic lifting, Leonard said. They can be done separate from a regular training program, or in conjunction with one.