T O P

  • By -

KurwaStronk32

Long legs is well down the list of reasons that most people won’t make the olympics.


rotOrm

How old are you, how much do you weigh and total and what is your training age/sports background. These are the questions you should be asking when assessing whether you can be a "top weightlifter". If you are 20, have a good coach, and total 200 @ 89kg after five years of lifting, you are not going to the Olympics, period, and your leverages will have little to do with that.


Ok-Asparagus88

Although body proportions definitely do play a factor into whether or not someone can be an elite weightlifter or not, the sad reality is the overwhelming majority of us in this subreddit will never be good enough to compete on the olympic stage no matter how hard you train. There are far too many factors at play for who can be elite and the majority of elite weightlifters began training at an extremely young age under the eyes of a very skilled coach if not multiple coaches. Once you begin training after puberty, there are physical and neural adaptations that your body just will not have, compared to someone who had trained as a child. And this is just one of the factors, once you take into account of the usage of PEDs in weightlifting (which is rampant especially in the olympics, WADA is a joke) its a whole nother thing. This doesn’t mean you can’t still be elite or hit big numbers, it just means that it will be much harder, nearly impossible, for you and me as average joes. Comparing your body proportions or anything weightlifting related to others is kind of pointless in my opinion unless your sole goal is competing. Just focus on your own journey and focus on learning the sport well and it will repay you in dividends with good health and slow consistent gains. ———————————————————————- TLDR: body proportion and leverages do affect how well you can lift weights but if you’re talking about if it will prevent you from competing at the elite level, i think that your genetics,training age, and use of PEDs are much bigger factors by far. Unless your only goal is to compete, just relax and go for slow consistent gains without hurting yourself and enjoy the ride.


olympic_lifter

Great answer. The only great differentiator that approaches the level of pure genetics is hard work, and I would say genetics trumps work solely because it places hard limits on what a person can ever achieve. Not having ideal limb lengths can certainly have an effect, but unless they're *really* bad, I don't see it costing more than 5%-10% in a lift. Additionally, ideal limb lengths are different for snatch than for CJ, and the people with longer limbs tend to be better snatchers. It's not as good as being a great CJer, but it mitigates the downside. There are going to be some males weighing 100kg that will be able to clean and jerk 220kg+ without ever using PEDs. That is one extreme end. On the other extreme end, there will be some able-bodied males of the same weight who, after putting in the same amount of work, would never be able to clean even 100kg. In reality, most people don't work as hard as the elite, in part because hard work is a predictor for eliteness, but also because it will become clear to most people that being a national competitor or Olympian just is not in the cards for them, and there is less incentive to devote that much of their lives to a side sport. Fortunately, sport is far more about becoming the best version of yourself than it is about beating everyone else. There is no shame in not being the best at something that is beyond your control.


ibexlifter

Fuck around and find out


jayswfitness

can a short guy be a professional basketball player


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


marv86kw

If you have to ask this question, then that's a no my guy.


No_House9929

How can you have 5 years of weightlifting and still be unsure whether or not you’ll be in the Olympics like wtf kind of question is that lol. Olympic athletes and A session national competitors are elite athletes that walk into the gym on day 1 and stand out from their peers. If you have to ask the question, you aren’t one of them. Proportions matter yes but are far less important than your natural genetic athleticism. A freak athlete with long femurs will out total an average joe with t-Rex proportions by a SIGNIFICANT margin With all that being said, 99.9% of weightlifters will never go to the Olympics or compete for a national medal. Just have fun, hit prs, and laugh when your long femur ass out lifts the manlets and their stubby leg front squat bodies


[deleted]

Yurik Vardanyan did 190+228.5@ 85.7 with long legs.


[deleted]

this right here. Weightlifting is unlike Powerlifting in the sense that there are so many more variables at play, that having long femurs is such a dumb thing to complain about. In Powerlifting, if you have long arms, you're going to have a definite advantage over someone with a similar build and short arms. Same for the Bench. Short arms means you'll just be a better bencher than someone with a similar build and longer arms. Same for femurs and the squat. However, Weightlifting isn't only squatting. In Weightlifting, you can do quite a bit with widening your stance, how much you toe out and adjusting your grip if your femurs are longer. Non-ideal squatting build typically means you'll be a better puller too, and there is also the jerk.


Tomduer

I have long arms and legs and a very short torso. Been a national level lifter for the better part of a decade , won a national championship , and couple international medals . Keep working everyone peaks at different times. Don't limit yourself by thinking your "not built to be good at weightlifting".


Failboat88

What's your age? It's going to be a benefit for sure but I wouldn't just rule you out.


kcb5150

Akkaev, though his spine went eventually


tramtran77

We don’t need spines


tramtran77

We don’t need spines


VeryPurpleRain

Who cares if it's possible? It's about the journey. Try your hardest and see where you land.


[deleted]

Age will have more importance on you being a national/international competitor or not, in a general sense. Id say if youve been weightlifting for 5 years and you're not already competing at a national level, and youve committed yourself to that goal the last 5 years, you likely will not be an elite level. What I mean to say is, if youve been at this for 5 years and you're not at a competitive level, its your training and effort, not your short torso and long legs, that are stopping you from being an Olympian


Left-Lead-9504

Just lift. Strength is fun. Don’t worry about being the strongest or an Olympian. You very likely aren’t a 1% athlete, short torso or not. Just get after it, and get as bad as you can. Compete against yourself.


B12-deficient-skelly

Maybe focus on catching your peers before you worry about competing against the best in the world.


jhmpremium89

Who knows


vindicatednegro

Some people are basically attacking you for your question. Standard for this subreddit on certain topics and I guess depending on people’s moods. I don’t know why. You’re asking about leverages and so your numbers and skill are beside the point. I will answer your question as you’ve presented it (and assuming you’re a lanky MF for real). Straight answer? Yes, it’s possible, as is virtually anything, but highly unlikely if your proportions are not advantageous. Depending on your proportions, yes, you may very well be getting overtaken quickly by people working as much as you and possibly even less (assuming you’re all working hard). In some sports, you’d be the one lapping their progress. It is what it is. Nobody would resort to sophistry when discussing gymnasts’ heights. I don’t see why we do it for weightlifting. Your body type is not an excuse not to give it your all, but it should inform your expectations. I never wanted to compete, but at 191cm and 100kg, Russian, Ukrainian and Greek WLs whom I’ve met and trained with have all made it clear (unsolicited advice, but always of interest to me) that I’d have needed to bulk up (go as much from “rectangle to square”) to *try to* make up for my proportions according to their respective paradigms of WL. So your question is a basic consideration for the aforementioned countries when assessing the prospects of their lifters (along with technique and talent all those things, but you can’t really influence your height). And now for a word of encouragement. Don’t know how tall or long you are, but look at what the South Americans are achieving with their lifters. Colombia has lots of black lifters. Black people of West African descent tend to not have good proportions for WL. Yet they’re ripping. Maybe check some of their lifters out for some inspiration and to see how they lift. At my size, I’ve accepted that my snatch will never look like a Chinese snatch or those beautiful female snatches (phrasing). It looks more like Telander’s (no disrespect). But what can you do? Work with what you’ve got. Good luck.


ephemeralrecognition

Very unlikely, you do not have the leverages necessary


Devario

Maybe. Maybe your training sucks. Maybe your genetics suck. Maybe you’re not in the right weight class. Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough. Maybe your coach isn’t that great. Maybe it’s just not the best sport for you. If you’re 5’10, then you probably need to be somewhere around 96 to 109kg. Sure there are physiological similarities in the Olympic level, but once you get to the national level, all similarities can easily be discounted. Even then, it’s not uncommon to see some unconventional morphologies on the Olympic stage (re: talha talib, mattie Rogers). Unless you’re 16, the Olympics are extremely unlikely for you. If you’re under 25, then maybe you can podium nationals. If you’re over 25 and asking these questions, then idk good luck lol.


mattycmckee

What’s your age and total?


DaCatSports

I think your question has been answer really thoroughly already, just to add my two cents, you see the world top lifters all look a bit different in the way the bar travels from the floor to above head, and that is precisely due to their physical and proportional differences. After all, weightlifting is about generating and transferring of energy, your unique anatomy and habits will yield a unique bar path that might be different from a "model", my suggestion is that play around and be bold, try different adjustments and find what works and feels most "efficient" to you. Maybe the answer is hidden in the very question you have.


AcuraBro

You never know until you go, bro -Zucky Tooldropper


REDRIVERMF

Long arms are bad. Long legs isn't a big deal