Olympic lifts are excellent for developing strength, power, coordination, and other biomotor abilities. Athletes outside of Olympic Weightlifters utilize the Clean, Jerk, Snatch, and their many derivatives to improve in their respective sport. Most of the time, athletes outside of Weightlifting use the Olympic lifts for multi-rep sets. It is important to note that when referring to “multi-rep sets”, this means sets of 2-5 reps, nothing more. When performing multi-rep sets, there are a few reasons you may want to consider lowering the bar under control and with purpose.

A major reason an athlete may lower the bar under control is the enhanced ability to absorb force. The ability to absorb force, such as sprinting and jumping, is important in almost every sport. As you bring the bar down, the weight will want to take you down with it. It is your responsibility to not look like a Raggedy Anne doll while doing so. The torso must stay very rigid while bringing the bar down. You will run the risk of injuring your lower back if your torso is relaxed.

Along with absorbing force, this can also add more eccentric loading to the hamstrings (especially in the jerk lowering). It has been shown that eccentric exercise can provide protection against muscle damage. (1) This can be a great add on if you do very little direct hamstring strengthening as it can aid in reducing the likelihood of injury to the hamstrings and other injury-prone muscles.

The lowering techniques below are also important to keep you and the people around you safe. When you have thin and/or light bumper plates on the bar (usually 10kg or below), you have much less control over the bar when you drop from overhead. The bar can shoot into the platform to the left or right of you. The bar may fly directly into pricey gym equipment, or worse, in the middle of where someone else may be lifting. Not to mention lowering the lighter plates under control increases their lifespan.

Here’s a quick video of how to lower the bar in the Snatch, Clean, and Jerk.

Reference:

1. Proske, Uwe; Allen, Trevor J. (2005) Damage to Skeletal Muscle from Eccentric Exercise. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 33(2): 98-104