Olympic Weightlifting Standards

KeithReilly

What would be considered a good achievable aim for most beginners in Olympic Lifting? I know there are alot of variable in this question but what do you think would be achievable for most people.

If I was to use the three lifts from Powerlifting as an example I would say:
Bench - Bodyweight
Deadlift - 2 x bodyweight
Squat - 1.5 x Bodyweight

Inspector Coptoor

An average lifer would be clean & jerking BW & snatching .75 BW.

A good lifter would be snatching BW & clean & jerking over 1.25 BW

Edwardius

I was gonna say snatch 1xBW and C&J 1.25xBW are fairly attainable for most people after training the lifts for a couple of years. Heavier lifters will find it more difficult to hit those numbers though, so a sinclair total would be a better indicator. Some people will get there faster (bastards ), some slower. It depends on a lot of things, but I think that's reasonable for someone at a recreational level with no major technical or mobility issues.

LuckyLloyd

Edwardius wrote: »

I was gonna say snatch 1xBW and C&J 1.25xBW are fairly attainable for most people after training the lifts for a couple of years. Heavier lifters will find it more difficult to hit those numbers though, so a sinclair total would be a better indicator. Some people will get there faster (bastards ), some slower. It depends on a lot of things, but I think that's reasonable for someone at a recreational level with no major technical or mobility issues.

Having started to learn and practice some Olympic lifting as a beginner for the past four months, I would suggest this WILL be an issue for a lot of people. Seems like age would be a big thing here. An 18 - 21 year old has a much better shot at progressing than someone taking them up for the first time ~30.

Don't underestimate the difficulty some of us have doing a proper depth Overhead Squatfor starters!! And people with the all too standard bench / upper body pushing focussed training history are going to have shoulder mobility issues that affect their ability to get weight above the ears or establish a good rack position, etc.

Doesn't mean it isn't fun to be trying them though!

token

You could use the calculator below to get a rough idea of what compares to the numbers above. Looks like a 1.6 BW Squat is comparable to a bodyweight snatch and 1.25BW Clean & Jerk.

http://www.qwa.org/Resources/Calculators.aspx

token

It would be interesting to see how many peoples ratios match up to that calculator? They are completely out of whack for me but I knew I was weird already. I've very high Olympic lifts compared to my strength numbers.

harryleech

Edwardius wrote: »

I was gonna say snatch 1xBW and C&J 1.25xBW are fairly attainable for most people after training the lifts for a couple of years. Heavier lifters will find it more difficult to hit those numbers though, so a sinclair total would be a better indicator. Some people will get there faster (bastards ), some slower. It depends on a lot of things, but I think that's reasonable for someone at a recreational level with no major technical or mobility issues.

Pretty much what Edwardius said - it depends on a bucket load of factors; bodyweight, previous training history, age, ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch fibres and of course *mobility*. If I had to list one of those things as the big variable it would be mobility.

Re the QWA calculator, it's a very rough guide - if your strength is good but you're a beginner lifter it will be completely out of whack one way, if you're good technically but weak it will be completely out of whack the other way.

It's useful in a way for average to good lifters with 5-7 years experience, but for everyone else it seems mostly to induce panic & confusion...

guydead67

I quite like the QWA calculator; if I get a PB I plug it in and see do my other numbers match up. If they don't then I work on getting them up while maintaining the other lifts.

On the off chance the OP hasn't figured it out yet, use the squat to calculate the relationship between Powerlifts and Olympic lifts.
Also I think you are aiming a little low, the average lifter should be able to achieve a bodyweight overhead press, 1.5 x bench, 2 x squat and 2.5 x deadlift.