I don’t have any research to back this up, but I heard a exercise science grad student once tell me he read that there are less injuries in oly lifting than any other sport, and 90% of all of the injuries are due to bad technique/coaching and junk. Don’t hold me to those numbers though, we all know that 37.2% of statistics are made up on the spot
i’m using olympic lifting to rehabilitate myself.
my mobility is better than i ever remember it being.
my flexibility is better than i ever remember it being.
my balance is better than i ever remember it being.
my strength is better than i ever remember it being.
my posture is better than i ever remember it being.
would i have got the same results from other exercises?
i probably wouldn’t have gained as much insofar as those other exercises often don’t require as much.
i actually think there is a huge potential for olympic lifting both as a movement assessment tool and as a means of rehabilitating movement.
people sort of do this already e.g., overhead squat test.
IF you can do the movement safely then the nice thing is that you can make tiny (even less than 1kg) incremental load increases.
IMHO what sucks the most is the lack of proper equipment to learn / train the lifts safely. e.g., training bars and training bumpers.
the worst injuries i get from Oly Lifting are repetitive strain and / or jolt injuries from LOWERING the weight.
i’ve never injured myself by LIFTING it.
http://www.qwa.org/parents/content.asp
lots of references at the end
All of my three coaches are perfectly fine (two of them were international lifters). But I’ve also heard stories of local lifters who have busted their knees.
Just a story from me.
I have less aches and pains now then I did last year when my total was 50kg less. That being said, I have paid much more attention to my recovery work, rest, and nutrition. I believe the longetivity of an athlete is dependent on his or her own consistency in ensuring proper recovery. Although the affects of age are unavoidable and progress will eventually stall and even move backwards, nothing should be keeping an athlete from being able to participate in this sport indefinetly.
If I can snatch my age at 75 years old, I’d be okay with that.
Hmm I choose to go with the scientific research instead of the anecdotes of people knowing somebody who got hurt or someone who has lifted for 70 years without an injury.
(Its like: " MY grandad smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and he lived to be a 100 years old!". Not a very good empirical basis for concluding that smoking is not bad to your health).
And the scientific research says its safer than most other sports out there + it has some marked health benefits.
And by the way, life kills, nothing is a 100% safe and without risks (besides staying in your bed all day and locking your front door).