Humpday Health: Competitive weightlifting for a full body workout

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) –Plenty of people head to the gym to pump some iron and gain muscle.

“I’d say if you wanted to learn the sport of weightlifting, come see us at the Wilmington Weightlifting Club,” said Walt Neubauer, a USA Weightlifting coach who says there is a growing community of competitive weightlifters in Wilmington.

But if you want to get involved in the sport, you’ll need the proper guidance.

“You do want to find yourself somebody that actually is a weightlifting coach and has studied and knows the specific movements,” said Neubauer.

The hard work and training culminates in competitive weightlifting events, where the athletes get to show off how much they’ve progressed.

“This is the Olympic sport of weightlifting, so we compete in the snatch and clean and jerk. Those are the two events. So you take the highest lift, they have three attempts at each lift, the highest snatch plus the highest clean and jerk equals their total,” said Neubauer.

Weightlifting doesn’t just scratch the competitive itch. It also works out almost every muscle.

“People do this recreationally and get great benefits. The snatch alone uses 97 percent of the muscles in your body, so it is a full body workout, a full body exercise,” said Neubauer.

So any former athletes looking to get back in the game, or a current athlete looking for an advantage, should try out competitive weightlifting.