Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches
Author: Greg Everett
-Introduction to the sport
-Basic explanation of the lifts, equipment, and general sports information (warming up, breathing, etc)
-Detail into the snatch, different progressions for learning the full lift
-Detail into the clean and progressions
-Detail into the jerk
-Correcting errors
-Programming
-Supplemental exercises, nutrition, flexibility, and competition
Review:
The book has a wealth of information that is really useful for the beginner and intermediate lifter. The introduction to the sport is useful for beginners that don't know much about what they are doing.
Where this book really stands out, in my opinion, is the detailed descriptions of the snatch, clean, and jerk, and the section on programming. It can be incredibly difficult to properly learn the lifts without a coach, and this certainly is not a substitute for an olympic lifing coach. However, for the times when a coach isn't there to answer questions, the sections explaining the lifts and the progression drill for them is well-written, easy to understand, and has good information.
The section on programming is useful for anyone who trains without a full-time coach to make programs for them. Many easy to find programs exist for powerlifting, bodybuilding, and general sports strength work, but olympic lifting isn't a mainstream sport. The information in this chapter was most useful to me, by far, since I make my own programs. Though it doesn't try to show how to program for an elite athlete, this is fine, because by then the athlete should understand what they are doing, and not need a book to tell them.
The sections on nutrition, competition, and the other resources are informative, but I would buy a book specifically on nutrition if that was what I was most interested. Nonetheless, the information is useful.
I am happy with this purchase and the utility I gained from this book.
Overall Score: 5/5
