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With that being said, I too decided to buy a ‘Russian’ belt just like the ones I saw on all those videos of them dominating with big ole clean & jerks as I watched on my 36” state of the art TV that weighed 400lbs.   The nice shiny buckle and red leather belt came in the mail soon after my phone order and I proceeded to try to improve my lifts, just like those Ruskies by cinching on the best belt made for Olympic lifting!

Natalie Woolfolk

In due time, my lifts did start to improve and the clean & jerk became my favorite lift and thus, I thought it was due to my new Russian belt.   As time went on, I decided to move out to the West coast and lift with some weightlifting clubs that didn’t use the belt at all.  Their reasoning was that it affected detrimentally your abdominal core and thus, the only way to make the core strong was to lift without this so called crutch, as they called it.   Off came the belt and while my lifts were decent, I will wonder what might have happened if I decided to experiment with that red belt.

Fast forward now to CWLC the last few years and we once again employ belts if the athlete desires to use one.  You see, I have been on both sides of the fence and have seen some dramatic differences from the athletes with the belt that tells me if the athlete needs to wear one to improve their lifts, they should wear one.  In fact, we have gone one further and have experimented with this belt concept as some of our athletes have used the belt on their snatch lift too.   You see, this is not the thoughts and musings of one heretic coach, as Olympians, World Champions and National/World Record Holders such as Natalie Woolfolk, Cheryl Haworth and Marcin Dolega have employed them during the snatch and with fantastic results.

Marcin Dolega

Many of you have probably never tried a belt for either lift, but before you discount this thought as that is not for me and my program, try one on and see what happens.  If your core is a bit weak, so be it, but if the belt helps you while you strive to improve your core, then “why not?” is what we would say at Columbus Weightlifting.

At the end of the day, you are trying to improve your total and there is no better way in my opinion to experiment with a legal remedy that has worked for decades.  If it is good for the Russians and the rest of the world, maybe you should try it also

Only from Columbus Weightlifting,

Mark

Answers Here

(Columbus, Ohio) – The Arnold Sports Festival, the largest multi-sport event in the nation, will host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting and the 2012 National Weightlifting Championships in Columbus, Ohio from March 2-4.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials and the National Championships will highlight the Arnold Weightlifting Championships, an event that debuted in 2003 and has grown to be one of the Arnold Sports Festival’s most popular competitions. The Arnold Weightlifting Championships are run by the Columbus Weightlifting Club, which  also will manage logistics for the Olympic Trials and National Championships.

Competition will be held in 15 bodyweight categories as top Olympic hopefuls vie for berths on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in London as well as National Championship titles.  More than 200 athletes are expected to compete in this event, held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, with the hopes of representing Team USA at the Games.
“Holding the U.S. Olympic Team Trials during the Arnold Sports Festival will give our athletes the chance to compete in a first-class city in front of tens of thousands of people who come through the venue,” said USA Weightlifting CEO John Duff. “Columbus put together an excellent bid proposal and we are looking forward to collaborating with the Greater Columbus Sports Commission and the staff of the Arnold as we select our team for the 2012 Olympic Games.”

The bid to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting and the 2012 National Championships was a joint venture between the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, the Arnold Sports Festival and the Columbus Weightlifting Club.

“The Arnold Sports Festival is proud that USA Weightlifting has chosen Columbus, Ohio and the Arnold Weightlifting Championships to host these two prestigious national competitions,” said Jim Lorimer, co-founder of the Arnold Sports Festival. “We look forward to hosting our country’s best weightlifters as the U.S. Olympic Team is chosen in Columbus during the Arnold Sports Festival.”

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting will be the most prestigious weightlifting event held in Columbus since the World Weightlifting Championships in 1970 – an event that Lorimer also promoted.

“We’re tremendously proud to bring this competition to Columbus and to the Arnold Sports Festival,” said Mark Cannella, meet director for the Arnold Weightlifting Championships and president of the Columbus Weightlifting Club. “There’s no better venue and no better group of volunteers in the world to put on such an esteemed event than we have right here at the Arnold Weightlifting Championships.”

The Greater Columbus Sports Commission initially bid on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting when the two competitions were packaged together. However, USA Wrestling and USA Weightlifting eventually split the competitions into separate events.

“Columbus is proud to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting as part of the Arnold Sports Festival, one of the city’s signature sports weekends,” said Linda Shetina Logan, executive director of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. “Our partnership with the Arnold Sports Festival and the Columbus Weightlifting Club showcases the support of our sports community which, along with our top-notch facilities and the commitment from our entire city, will produce an unparalleled experience for our future Olympians, coaches and fans.”

USA Weightlifting is a non-profit member organization of the United States Olympic Committee that is based out of Colorado Springs, Colo. The National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of weightlifting in the United States, USAW serves more than 6,000 members with the mission of achieving sustained competitive excellence in Olympic competition and promoting weightlifting throughout the nation. For more information, visit www.usaweightlifting.org.

The Arnold Weightlifting Championships has grown over the past nine years into one of the International Weightlifting Federation’s premier competitions. Olympians and world record holders from Russia, China, Bulgaria, Armenia, Great Britain and the Pacific Islands have competed in Columbus for almost $150,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships over the years. For more information, visitwww.ColumbusWeightlifting.org

The Arnold Sports Festival, held annually in Columbus since 1989, is the nation’s largest multi-sport event. More than 18,000 athletes will compete in 45 sports and events March 1-4, 2012. For more information, visit www.ArnoldSportsFestival.com.

The Greater Columbus Sports Commission (GCSC) was formed in June 2002 to provide leadership, guidance and marketing expertise in attracting regional, national and international sporting events and activities to bolster Greater Columbus economically through visitor spending. It is the only organization 100% focused on attracting sporting events to Columbus.  Since its inception, GCSC has bid on and brought more than 200 new sporting events to Columbus that have generated an estimated $200 million in visitor spending while also working to retain annual bid events that have generated an additional $160 million in visitor spending. For more information, visit www.ColumbusSports.org.

Mikhail Koklyaev – Arnold Weightlifting Championships in Columbus, Ohio

Classic hip & shoulder rising together and moving under the bar smoothly with no foot stomp is classical Russian technique and is the most sound way to move a barbell in my opinion and is employed here at Columbus Weightlifting every day.

See All the Pictures on Our Facebook Page

Tanner Kolb, who prepares his athletes for explosion, ably assisted me throughout the entire weekend.  (Tanner is not a strength and conditioning coach, but prefers different terminology when describing his position at Waynesburg University:)

The pictures are of Jason and John performing the push press.

2011 Ohio Weightlifting Championships