Kiwi Barbell Weightlifting Club
In competitive Olympic weightlifting, the two lifts are the snatch and the clean and jerk. We offer Olympic weightlifting Classes for everybody that is interested in improving their technique or wants to learn it from scratch. You don´t have to be a CrossFitter to train with us.
As an offshoot of Kiwi CrossFit, Kiwi Barbell offers the most up-to-date training and coaching in the Olympic lifts. We provide specialised coaching in Olympic Weightlifting. We cater for men and women, beginners and advanced lifters, juniors and masters, those who wish to compete or just lift more than they ever did before. The Olympic lifts are the snatch, clean and jerk. They involve a combination of skill, speed, balance, and flexibility - it's functional strength.
Head Coach, Hugh Lawrence is one of the current New Zealand Olympic lifting coaches. In addition to his Olympic lifting experience, he has coached internationally across a number of sports and can provide you with individual coaching sessions or a full programme leading to competition. Amongst Kiwi Barbell's competitive lifters since 2017 are current international (two world championships) and North Island 80kg class champion, Lauren Fargher; and North Island 75kg class champion, Camilla Andersen.
Learn more about our coach on his blog www.hughlawrence.org.
Aside from competitive Olympic lifting, this kind of training has numerous benefits such as:
ATHLETICISM
Olympic weightlifting can completely change your level of strength and fitness. Developing on basic gym lifts, such as the squat, deadlift and shoulder press – Olympic weightlifting is unrivalled for developing speed, flexibility and coordinated, total-body strength and muscle. Olympic lifters have some of the highest vertical leaps of all athletes as a result of the training style. The speed of the movement requires Olympic lifters to recruit every fast-twitch muscle fibre, of which the type IIb fibres which are associated with sprinting can give you that extra edge like no other form of strength training.
CONTROL AND SKILL
It takes a time to master the intricate technical aspects of Olympic weightlifting. Both lifts demand coordination, flexibility and complete concentration. The technical aspects of the sport go a lot further in developing mental and motor skills than regular free-weight lifting.
WORK CAPACITY
Olympic lifting gives you a whole range of exercise movements that you can utilise in your training in new and varied ways. Don’t expect constant improvement if you train the same way forever – you need to mix it up a bit. As an example you could try a 10 min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 30 double unders (skipping) and 10x35kg snatches – you will be astonished at just how breathless you quickly get. World class athletes will perform a round or more every minute.
RAPID BRACING SKILLS
A very real mechanism of value with Olympic lifting is the incredibly quick switch from propulsion (getting the bar off the ground) to reception of the bar (you under the bar). That transition can really help athletes understand bracing skills.
MOBILITY
Olympic lifters are amazingly flexible and supple through their shoulders, spine and hips. Try holding a bar overhead and squatting – its not as easy as it looks and these lifters are doing it in under 1 second.
PHYSIQUE
Like any lifting, you can expect muscle hypertrophy. Unlike body builders who are often “all show and no go”, weight lifters are considered some of the strongest people in the world. It is possible for under 50kg female athletes to lift greater than 100kg above their head. Olympic lifting will however most definitely change the way you look.
A SPORT FOR EVERYONE
Olympic weightlifting is a sport that can appeal to everyone. In part this is because there are a range of weight and age categories meaning that you are going head to head with people similar to you.