Weightlifters need stronger posterior chains. I’ve heard that more times than I can count, and always from someone outside the weightlifting community. I don’t want to say where they’re nearly always from… but it’s powerlifting.
 
It makes sense, from a powerlifter’s perspective, to put more emphasis on posterior chain strength and work in training—these are athletes who deadlift and squat as a competitive lifts, and who squat with the hips back far more than weightlifters in order to rely more on the hips than the quads. Like I said, makes perfect sense.
 
But in weightlifting, posture is everything, and the posture necessary in the squat is essentially as upright as possible. This means far more reliance on the quads and glutes and adductors than the hamstrings and glutes.
 
Having said that, I think the idea that weightlifters don’t train the posterior chain very much is inaccurate. Here’s just a quick list of extremely common exercises in weightlifting with a significant posterior chain demand:
 

• Stiff-legged deadlift
• RDL
• Good morning
• Lunge and variations
• Step-ups
• Split squats
• Step and walk to split
• Snatch and clean pull and variations
• Snatch and clean deadlift and variations
• Snatch
• Clean

 
Yes, the competition lifts themselves (snatch and clean) are very reliant on the posterior chain during the pulling phases, which, if you’re keeping score, is about 50% of the movement. The difference between a deadlift and a clean, in this sense, is that the deadlift stops after the first half of the movement, whereas the clean adds a second half with a squat that is less posterior chain reliant.
 
The primary accessory lifts—pulls—are very posterior chain reliant, as the lifter has to remain over the bar with the shoulders until high on the thigh—unlike in a powerlifting deadlift in which the shoulders can be behind the bar far earlier.
 
Let’s take a look at a week of a typical weightlifting training program (one of mine, of course) just to get an idea of how much posterior chain work there really is. To keep it simple, I’m going to classify an exercise as either PC (posterior chain), AC (anterior chain) or N (neither—accessory work that doesn’t have an effect on either AC or PC). This is based on the dominant feature—for example, a snatch complex with pulls and snatches is a PC exercise, whereas a clean & jerk complex with more jerks than cleans is an AC exercise. All squats are classified as AC to be generous.
 
Day 1

• Push Press + Pause Jerk - (5+1)RM; 95% x (5+1), 90% x (5+1) - AC
• Back Squat - 5RM; 95%x5, 90%x5 - AC
• Weighted Lunge - 3x5/leg - PC
• Back Squat Jump - 20%x5x3 (% of back squat) - N

 
Day 2

• Snatch High-Pull + Power Snatch + Hang Snatch (knee) - (1+1+1)RM; 95% x (1+1+1), 90% x (1+1+1) - PC
• Halting Snatch Deadlift (upper thigh) - 5RM; 95%x5, 90%x5 - PC
• Snatch Long Pull - 3x5 - N
• SLDL - 3x5 - PC

 
Day 3

• Snatch Push Press + OHS - (5+1)RM; 95% x (5+1), 90% x (5+1) - AC
• Pause Back Squat - 5RM; 95%x5, 90%x5 - AC
• Jumping Quarter Squat - 50%x5x3 (% of back squat) - AC
• Press - 5RM; 95%x5, 90%x5 - N

 
Day 4

• Clean High-Pull - Power Clean + Hang Clean (knee) - (1+1+1)RM; 95% x (1+1+1), 90% x (1+1+1) - PC
• Halting Clean Deadlift (upper thigh) - 5RM; 95%x5, 90%x5 - PC
• Clean Long Pull - 3x5 - N
• Good Morning - 3x5 - PC

 
Day 5

• Segment Snatch (knee) + OHS - (1+1)RM; 95% x (1+1), 90% x (1+1) - PC
• Segment Clean (knee) + Jerk Drive + Jerk - (1+3+1)RM; 95% x (1+3+1), 90% x (1+3+1) - AC
• Front Squat - 3RM; 95%x3, 90%x3 - AC
• SLDL - 3x5 - PC

 
Out of 20 total exercises in the week, here’s how it all breaks down:
 
AC – 7 (35%)
PC – 9 (45%)
N – 4 (20%)
 
So in a sport in which the anterior and posterior chains are arguably about equal in terms of the need for development, there is 10% more posterior chain work in a typical program. If we were to increase the amount of posterior chain emphasis, as many say we should, would that make sense? Seems to me we have it pretty much spot on.