How Weight Training Has Changed
It’s easy to believe that lifting weights, or weightlifting, is a sport born in the gym. But looking back in time shows that it began to emerge long before facilities. When you think about how long gyms have been around and open to the public for membership?
Artwork in Egyptian tombs, for example, appear to depict a range of weight training equipment, such as sand-weighted bags. Historically, similar customs existed in ancient Greece and Rome. So, as written on the wall, weightlifting has been around for a long time.
One notion about the origins of weightlifting is that it was for survival. Early weightlifters would have had a hard time because their diets were limited and had rules. While it may appear that our forefathers, like many of us today, were concerned about their health and appearance, this may not be true.
Weightlifting: A Sport for Warriors
Given the history of battles and conflicts, many of which were fought by hand, it’s easy to see why strength, power, speed, and stature were attractive traits for fighters. Training to strengthen these traits and gain an advantage on the battlefield was a good idea. Now that I think about it, each strength has advantages and disadvantages. If warriors knew how to do many different things, they would often be very aware of their weaknesses. They were making it ideal for learning many techniques rather than becoming overly skilled at one method.
Several of today’s events show signs of weight training’s battle-based origins. Olympic sports like a shot put, hammer throw, discus, and javelin demonstrate the fundamental skills to hurl a spear, stone, or ax. This is a handy, essential primal skill.
Contemporary strongman competitions exhibit these warrior-like abilities as well. Competitors lift big things, as seen in traditional construction duties or any uses needing bulk and strength, such as military purposes.
Enter the Olympic Weightlifting Competition.
Olympic weightlifting was a formal event in Athens in 1896. Initially, only men were permitted to participate. Women’s weightlifting became an Olympic event more than a century later, in 2000, at the Sydney Olympics. It has been a considerable success since being added to the Olympic Games.
Weightlifting had a difficult start in the Olympics. It appeared in the 1896 Games and disappeared from the 1900 Games. It returned in 1904 and did not return to the Olympics until 1920 when it was accepted as a separate event. Its numerous followers and fans now look forward to it as a staple event. It would seem complete with weightlifting in the Olympic Games.
Weight classes make weightlifting competitions fair. Some rules for Olympic weightlifting events used to be strange compared to what they are now. One example is using one- and two-handed dumbbells and barbell lifts. In addition, there were no weight classes in these early events. Without weight, classes would be a huge disadvantage for a 100-pound competitor versus a 300-plus-pound competitor in any weightlifting type of challenge. Weight classes are necessary to keep the competition close since weightlifters of the same weight will have the same chance of winning.
The format of this global tournament became more consistent in 1928. The snatch, clean, and jerk are two of the lifts pioneered that year that have endured the test of time. The clean and press were also used in 1928 but were taken away in 1972 because it was hard to judge.
Olympic weightlifting has seven weight classes for men, ranging from 135 to 240 pounds (61 kg to 109 kg). Women have seven weight classes, ranging from 49 to 87 kg (108 to 192 pounds). Countries are permitted two athletes in each category, provided they achieve Olympic qualifying standards.
Sporting Powerlifting
The tactics and culture of powerlifting differ vastly from those of Olympic weightlifting. There is a distinct difference in the goals of the powerlifter and the weightlifter. Powerlifters aim to find out who can lift the most weight the fastest. Their competitions comprise three exercises: the deadlift, bench press, and squat.
Despite its popularity, powerlifting is not an Olympic sport. Nonetheless, powerlifting is available through the Special Olympics. The International Powerlifting Federation supports these competitors, who started competing in the 2013 Women’s and Men’s World Masters Powerlifting Championships.
Which Is Better for You: Powerlifting or Bodybuilding?
Weightlifting Equipment Evolution
The equipment competitors use, and the sport of weightlifting has evolved. The term “dumbbell” is thought to have come from a contraption built in the early 18th century to practice bell ringing without ringing the bells, hence the term dumbbell.
Kettlebells and club bells have a similar history, dating back to the early 1800s. Barbells first appeared in the late 1800s. They were round globes filled with sand or gravel. More flexible plates or disks eventually replaced these globes.
Charles Atlas, noted for transforming his 97-pound body into solid muscle through isometric exercises, popularized his equipment in the 1930s. Arthur Jones is in the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame. In the 1970s, he made the Nautilus machine, which quickly became popular.
Free-weight machines and primitive cable machines have also evolved. As a result, there is now an extensive range of machine trainers and home gyms accessible for use both at the gym and at home.
Weightlifting Equipment in the Future
With minor changes to how they look or are manufactured, barbells and dumbbells will still be the most common weight training tools. One example of how these weights better fit the needs of today’s weightlifters is adjustable dumbbells.
Kettlebells, club bells, resistance bands, and tubes will be used in future weightlifting exercises, but to a lesser extent. These gadgets sometimes give weightlifters the resistance to build muscle, so other tools are better for this sport.
In terms of novel machine designs, the sky is the limit. Technology makes these improvements even better by giving weightlifters and powerlifters more options, such as mirror-like equipment and machines that can help them make more personalized workout plans.
No matter what equipment you use, you can train like an Olympic athlete and do what they do.