Author(s): TSOUKOS, A., IAKOVIDIS, T., GEORGOPOULOU, S., BOGDANIS, G.C. , Institution: UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, Country: GREECE, Abstract-ID: 389

INTRODUCTION:
Olympic weightlifting consists of two lifts, the snatch (SN) and the clean and jerk (CJ), with competitive performance determined as the sum of best SN and CJ attempts, defined as total weight lifted (TOT). Strength and conditioning coaches commonly utilize strength- and power-based weightlifting derivatives to improve Olympic weightlifting performance [1,2]. To account for differences in body mass and allow meaningful comparisons of performance across athletes, TOT is often normalized using the Sinclair coefficient and expressed as the Sinclair total (SIN). This study examined the relationships between strength- and power-based weightlifting derivatives and Olympic weightlifting performance, as well as the individual associations of SN and CJ with these derivatives, using both TOT and SIN as performance indicators.
METHODS:
Ten amateur male weightlifters (age: 27.6 ± 5.0 years; height: 174.6 ± 6.1 cm; body mass: 85.1 ± 8.0 kg; body fat: 11.8 ± 3.3%) completed one-repetition maximum (1RM) assessments in the front full squat (FS) and the power clean (PC) in a randomized order, with the two testing sessions separated by one week. In addition, all participants competed in an official weightlifting competition, and their best competition results were collected for further analysis. Weightlifting performance level was determined as both TOT and SIN. Statistical analyses included Pearson’s correlation coefficients to examine associations between variables, with the level of statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05.
RESULTS:
The mean SIN was 333.7 ± 34.6. SN performance was significantly correlated with CJ, TOT, FS, and PC (r = 0.80, p = 0.005; r = 0.94, p < 0.001; r = 0.68, p = 0.029; r = 0.71, p = 0.021, respectively). CJ performance was significantly correlated with TOT, FS, and PC (r = 0.96, p < 0.001; r = 0.84, p = 0.003; r = 0.95, p < 0.001, respectively). FS performance was also significantly correlated with TOT and PC (r = 0.81, p = 0.004; r = 0.84, p = 0.002, respectively), while PC was significantly correlated with TOT (r = 0.89, p = 0.001). In addition, both FS and PC were strongly associated with SIN (r = 0.80, p < 0.01 and r = 0.82, p < 0.01, respectively).
CONCLUSION:
These findings indicate that, in amateur male weightlifters, SN and CJ performance is strongly associated with maximal strength and power-oriented resistance exercises. The very large correlations observed between CJ, FS, and PC highlight the importance of lower-body maximal strength and explosive pulling ability for weightlifting performance. Accordingly, FS and PC performance may serve as practical indicators of competitive weightlifting ability when competition data are unavailable.