In order to get the most from something, we might have to invest in it. This means giving something for something in return. Olympic weightlifting is something to invest in. In order to get good at it, you have to give a lot.

When we think of the word ‘investment,’ most of us probably straight away think of money, but there are other ways to invest too.

Financial investment

Olympic weightlifting requires some investment of your money. Common outgoings will be:

• Paying to use a gym
• Equipping and maintaining a home gym (if you have one)
• Weightlifting shoes
• Accessories such as wrist wraps or chalk
• Coaching

Coaching

Although expensive, coaching is incredibly important and very effective. The majority of people will need to be coached in order to first learn the Olympic lifts and everyone can benefit from ongoing coaching throughout their lifting career.

Some of us get into the mind frame that we know enough about weightlifting in order to get better at it. There are abundant videos and articles on the internet. Some of us therefore get into mentality that surely we must be competent and capable enough to make improvements on our own and that coaching is just “too expensive” to commit to. The reality is, there is usually no better substitute than a good coach! Coaches can:

• Teach you things that you could only get from experience (hence why they know this stuff and you don’t)
• Help you reach your goals quicker
• Take you beyond your own perspective (which can be really limiting, even if you don’t realise it)
• Give you a more specific focus
• Motivate you to get things done

We might often know we have a weakness in our technique. We might even know exactly what this weakness is and we might have studied online the exercises that will help us fix it. However, a coach will properly show us how to do those ‘remedial’ exercises, they will drill in the correct technique over and over again, and won’t let us put the weight up until our newly corrected technique is unconscious!
When we’re lifting on our own, we often rush through the remedial exercises, or we don’t execute them correctly, or we don’t do them frequently enough.

A coach can give us focus and discipline that we may not have of our own accord.

Coaching can be a great financial investment. However, you must still be sensible about who you employ as a coach. Do your research – ask their previous clients for honest feedback and look through their coaching portfolio to see what their experience is. Set yourself a budget and stick to it. If you find the sessions helpful, you can always resume having them at a later date.

Time investment

Olympic weightlifting requires a large amount of an individual’s time. Not only does a lifter have to dedicate around 1 hour a day 3-6 days per week inside the gym, time must be given outside the gym for other activities that support their lifting. For example, a person may want to eat a special diet that supports their lifting. This can require preparation and planning every week. A person might wish to spend time stretching and foam rolling in the evenings.

A person may also want to spend time learning about weightlifting by watching videos or reading, as well as spending time analysing their own lifting technique. Time must be allocated to do this as well as to create training programmes.

A person who is serious about weightlifting may also find they need to prioritize sleep and ensure they are getting the correct amount of hours every day. Time must therefore be given to sleep, rather than other activities such as working late or seeing friends. This one might sound a bit silly but anyone who wishes to get better at their sport will come to understand just how vital getting quality sleep consistently is.

Energy investment

In weightlifting we can think about the investment of energy in two ways:

Physical energy

You need to invest in eating a healthy diet and sleeping well. You may need to consider reducing or adjusting other physical activities in order to get the most out of your weightlifting training. For example, a person who does a lot of cardiovascular exercise may find their weightlifting suffers.

Mental energy

This means putting your head and your heart into what you are doing. You can do all the other forms of investment such as paying to use a gym, paying to have coaching, eating well and spending 1 hour a day in the gym, but if focus and/or passion aren’t there, you’re severely limiting yourself and are probably wasting money too.

In order to get the most from your weightlifting workouts, you must ensure you give them proper focus and attention. Turn your phone off. Consciously think about every rep you do. Get into a private ‘zone’ of headspace before your hands even touch the bar.

If you find yourself lacking enthusiasm for weightlifting, it may be time to reassess what you are doing and make a change. Weightlifting is an extremely difficult sport, it can be frustrating, and results are not easy or quick to achieve. Weightlifting is mentally and physically taxing. This all explains why it’s common for weightlifters to experience burnout (Greg Everett did a good video on avoiding burnout).

Sometimes simply taking a couple of weeks off is all it takes to reignite the spark, other times you may wish to try running another sort of training phase (such as a couple of months of light, technique focused sessions if you’re used to going heavy all the time) or you may wish to change the exercises you do completely and try new ones.

Bottom line

To get better at most things in life, you have to invest in them. This investment can be in the form of money but it is also in the form of your energy and your time. Weightlifting is no different. If you’re wondering why your lifting isn’t improving as much as you think it should be, consider whether you’re properly investing in it.