Benefits of stretching for a weightlifter

Davit Ghazaryan-Sargsyan
Oct 3, 2015
2 min read

Start stretching and you'll see the benefits very soon.

Just for fun Author - unknown

A weightlifter's training mostly consists of power exercises.

Athletes usually do not consider stretching to be a part of everyday trainings.

The reality is that all or at least the majority of elite athletes do stretches... Often.

Dmitry Klokov

What are the benefits?

Flexibility

That's not a secret that the oftener you stretch the more flexible you are.

Why do you need flexibility?

Flexibility gives you and any athlete, representing a power sport, a large range of technique varieties, gives you an opportunity (if you don't yet have) to do new exercises.

Athletes with inflexible joints and muscles faces a lot of problems in power sport:

he/she can't snatch or clean the bar properly, can't hold the bar properly for a successful jerk etc.

The most common injuries will pass by if your body is flexible enough.

Jo Pok-Hyang (North Korea) ©AFP/Getty Images

Recovery

Stretching is used also for recovery matters as it creates a massaging effect.

When stretching you make more blood flow to the muscles (stretched ones). The more intensively you stretch the faster your body recovers, thus making your muscles grow faster in the means of strength, speed and volume.

What to begin with?

First of all we recommend you not to stretch your muscles before you warm up, we also recommend to do stretching exercises after a workout and to warm up instead (before your workout).

If you want to increase your body's range of motion - hold yourself stretch for several seconds (or more if you find this helps), but if you think you have the ability to do the moves needed (in your sport),we recommend to do short-lasting stretches: just to get your body part to the needed position and give up the movement, Dmitry Klokov uses the second technique: By ATG (allthingsgym.com)

Here is a video showing a stretch moves for beginners: (the video does not belong to the USSRWF, it has been taken from the http://www.nerdfitness.com/)