Olympic weightlifting >One man puts chalk into his hands >Walks

Olympic Weightlifting is centered a lot more form and technique, which isn't fully understood by normal spectators

Powerlifting is purely picking up 1000s of pounds and then putting them down, which is understood by just about anyone

>>40676758
No one watches powerlifting. No one.

It's because of its accessibility as a sport to perform. You take normal weightlifting movements, optimize them a bit, and do it in front of 45 people.

>>40676758
But the average joe can't really tell the difference between 200kg and 300kg

>>40676783
Yeah but the average joe can tell the difference between a bar bending and one that doesn't.

>>40676783

And the average Joe can't tell what makes one person's clean a good lift, and someone else's not.

>>40676815
Olympic barbells bend too, because the "whip" the bar makes is crucial for elite performance

>>40676694
Tbh I'd like to try weightlifting, but my gym doesn't have an oly platform or even bumper plates.

Squat racks, benches, and floors, on the other hand, are readily available.

>>40677017
Sucks right? Lots of PT's and gym machines.. But a single oly coach (even someone who has a decent understanding of the exercises) and a platform is too much to ask.

>>40677045

I've been trying the movements and learning them from other dudes who do them in my gym, but it seems like their experience is from doing the same, so I've got no idea if I'm actually doing them properly.

An actual coach would be a godsend

>>40677017

Crossfit places always have them. Of course that means you'll be in a Crossfit gym but give them a call and see if they have some sort of olympic weightlifting only program. Also a good idea is searching for said crossfit places on instagram and look at the videos posted. If you see anyone lifting with retarded posture immediately ignore that place. I found one thats 10minutes from where Iive but then I saw a video of someone deadlifting 225lbs looking like that cat on Elgintensitys videos. Into the trash it goes.

I got lucky and found a place here thats serious enough about lifting to offer OWL classes. All the equipment is Eleiko and they bring experienced athletes to give seminars sometimes. Theres even a video of Torokhtiy practicing there.

Feels good man. Cant wait to actually check out the place in person tomorrow.

>>40676694
You need less instruction and equipment to powerlift

File: 1481861151772.jpg (263KB, 764x551px) Image search: [Google]

263KB, 764x551px

>>40678540
and less brain mass

Because you can be a fat, out of shape, shit brain with piss pour form and be a "powerlifter"

>>40676694
Simple answer - because it's easy. With the advent of 5x5 routines and Youtube gurus raw powerlifting became the en-vogue form of lifting weights. Because 2/3 of the competition lifts are lower-body focused anyone can be at least half-decent at the sport should they desire to run Smolov+Coan/Philippi.

Suddenly, you had an explosion of skinny-fat kids with no visible muscle mass that could deadlift in the 200 kg bracket and squat for about the same. The rise of raw also saw the massive fall of the average gym-goer's bench press numbers but I digress.

To be good at Olympic lifting, like to be on a national level, you have to do it from a very early age because the Olympic lifts themselves do not promote strength and hypertrophy while requiring technique and a degree of explosiveness and athleticism. Alan Thrall's recent adventure into the sport highlights this more than anything with his static strength falling as his specificity increased. Then again Alan has never had good upper-body strength.

>>40678697
Dude. What?

>>40678697

Didnt Alan drop some weight during his olympic weightlifting thing

>>40678736
I am just butt-blasted that my sport isn't popular desu. It's not uncommon to see guys train but then switch over to Crossfit because they can make more money there as a trainer rather than an athlete.

>>40678776
I don't think that would have been that big of a deal, considering he is used to cutting weight. He should have hired a coach to write him a prep cycle or something. Despite his antics, I like the guy.