How to become a qualified Olympic Lifting Coach

You’re looking at becoming an Olympic living coach? You’re not alone, driven by the rise of CrossFit and functional training - Olympic lifting, and our olympic weightlifting course, has never been more popular.

Every personal trainer understands that the path to success and growth is through continuous learning. By investing in Continual Professional Development (CPDs) personal trainers can increase their skill set and knowledge, and ultimately offer far more to current and potential clients.

Why – Olympic lifting is an incredibly challenging and hugely rewarding style of weightlifting. Snatches and clean and jerks are total body movements that are ideal for weightlifters, sportsmen and individuals looking to up their game. The benefits of Olympic lifts are wide ranging including; improvements to speed and power, flexibility, jumping height and distance, general fitness and body composition. For all their benefits, Olympic Lifts are very challenging movements that require lots of coaching to execute properly. Without correct form they can lead to injury.

Becoming a certified weightlifting coach is a great step for personal trainers. The Olympic lifts, when programmed properly can lead to huge improvements in general strength and conditioning plus, the sensation of completing a lift successfully is great for clients. Throwing these movements into a personal training session will challenge your clients as well keep them interested.

How – A TRAINFITNESS certificate in Olympic weightlifting will arm PTs with the knowledge and skills to effectively teach clients the Olympic Lifts giving them something new to learn and improving their overall fitness and wellbeing. The Olympic Lifting course is delivered part time. Students work though online course material and once completed will book onto and attend a combined training and assessment day.

On the day a tutor will break down each exercise into separate movement patterns showing how to perform each movement cleanly, safely and with perfect form. Students will practice the movements, perfecting their lifting technique whilst also working on their coaching skills and programme design.

The certificate in Olympic Lifting is recognised by REPs and is worth 16 CPD points

Take away – Olympic lifts are challenging and technical. Any trainer needs a solid understanding of the movement patterns before introducing them to a personal training session. Once a PT has that understanding and knowledge however, Olympic Lifts can have a positive impact on client’s sessions; new movements, more excitement and new challenges.

Further Reading

5 reasons to consider a qualification in exercise referral

Becoming a personal trainer

Ike Fallon has his say on TRAINFITNESS