Olympic Weightlifting and Strength Training
Some Olympic Sports are missing the School Sports Partnership initiatives in our area, especially those sports which can not readily be offered in school where logistics, reduced budgets and shrinking facilities make it difficult to deal with sports requiring individual coaching .
With your help we, at West London Weightlifting academy club, hope to make a small difference . This change of emphasis in LTAD, if accepted, is an opportunity for careful, professional, trained, CRB approved coaches to work with local teachers. Amongst the young people gaining fitness there will be those whose aim goes beyond fitness into sporting excellence and, for some, into Olympic Weightlifting. The sport is one of those classified as a gymnastic activity in the National Curriculum. Stars for the future weightlifting clubs based in five boroughs, apart from the sport, offers general weight training for fitness, especially suited for overweight or unusually small children, and specific strength and power training for other sports.
A key point is the qualification of the coaches. Lead coach Kazem Panjavi is a Iranian qualified national weightlifting Specialist and a Level 3 British Weightlifting and England National coach. His members include several Level 1 coaches and partnership with St. Marys Strength and Conditioning coaches.
Children under 11 and under 13, if they wish to compete in Olympic lifting, do so in modified formats which minimise the significance of the weight lifted, and emphasise the gymnastic skills. Naturally they compete in bodyweight categories. Small and very big youngsters are therefore, not disadvantaged.
Amongst the research literature one much quoted paper was authored by the club’s lead coach who showed that Weightlifting and training in British schools with coaches trained by British Weightlifting, had a much lower rate of lost training time injuries than the vast majority of school sports. Many authors have subsequently shown the same result. Weightlifting and training are safe if well supervised. Tales of epiphytical damage and growth stunting have been dismissed. They have zero evidential support. Evidence shows that the oestrogenic benefits are more marked with free weights than with the machines so often substituted, though these have a role, particularly for less coordinated and motivated strength seekers.
So: my question for local PE teachers and heads of primary & High schools is:
Can we work together to give your pupils a chance to try strength training and, if it appeals, Olympic Weightlifting?
To facilitate this the club is setting up free Sunday morning come and try it sessions. Teachers and parents will be welcome to watch. Please contact me for fuller details if this interests you. Call 07958685884 orkazem@starsforthefuture.com
To see the References and more information please click here:
Thanks toBrian Hamill ,the USA qualified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Level 3 British Weightlifting and training coach. His members include several Level 1 coaches, UK Strength and Conditioning Association accredited coaches and M Sc’s in S and C