Olympic Weightlifting - A complete guide for Athletes and Coaches

Paperback, 588 pages.

Since shortly after its original release in 2008, Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches has been the most popular book on the sport of weightlifting in the world and has become the standard text for learning and teaching the snatch and clean & jerk.

It's used by lifters and coaches from beginning to advanced levels, and is a textbook in college courses both in the US and internationally.

This all new third edition has been expanded over 150 pages with revised and improved chapters, new chapters, improved organisation, more tables and diagrams, over 600 photographs, improved readability, and improved reference functionality with an index, glossary and expanded table of contents. 

The book presents a complete progression for athletes and coaches starting with foundational elements such as breath control and trunk stabilisation, squatting, balance and weight distribution, warming-up, individual variation; working to complete learning and teaching progressions for the snatch, clean and jerk; covering training program design extensively, including assessment for recruiting and new lifters, and 16 sample training programs; technical error correction, supplemental exercises, nutrition, bodyweight manipulation, and mobility; and a thorough section on competition to prepare both lifters and coaches.

Changes in This Edition

First, the entire existing second edition has been revised - that is, the basic content has remained, but much of it has been rewritten for clarity and improved organisation, etc.

Additional information has been added to existing sections - for example, a ton of info on assessment has been added - and additional chapters have been added - for example, one on individual variation in terms of anatomy and response to training.

More tables and illustrations.

More and different sample programs, and a series of 5 programs that coincide with a new skill-level chart.

Greatly improved and expanded program design section.

With a handful of exceptions, all new photographs and more than in the last edition to give examples of a wider range of athletes.

Improved readability with the layout (print edition) with a two-column layout and more headings to organise better.

Improved reference functionality with an expanded table of contents that helps find sections more easily, and an index.

“Without a doubt the best book on the market today about Olympic-style weightlifting.” -Mike Burgener, USA Weightlifting senior international coach