MKS

Distance= m
Time= s
Mass= kg
Area= m^2
Velocity= m/s
Density= kg/m^3
Gravity= m/s^2
Force= N
Energy= J
Power= W

Physics of Weightlifting

By: Robert Grazian

The physics of weight lifting revolve around one principle which none of us can escape... gravity. It is the gravitational pull of the earth that makes us use our muscles every day in all our movements. If we did not battle gravity, we would just lie down and even our lungs would cease to function.

By fighting the pull of gravity we can strengthen our bodies as much or as little as we need or desire. The greater the density of an object, the stronger it's gravitational pull. Therefore, the heavier it is and the more difficult for us to lift and maneuver. This is the basis of weight lifting. You are moving an object against gravity.

If you wanted to really understand the physics of weight lifting to help you to devise an exercise and training programme, you would have to take a great many facts into consideration. You would need to have an understanding of "work". Work may mean something that we have to do in an office or factory to most of us, but to someone who is serious about weight lifting and the science behind it, work is "the transfer of energy by mechanical means". This can be worked out by the multiplication of the amount of force by the distance it has moved. That is a simplified definition! It gets a lot more complicated than that. In the same vein, power is "the amount of work performed in a certain amount of time". Working on this principle you can easily calculate that if you do 10 bench presses in one minute you will use more power than if you bench press the same weight 10 times in two minutes.

A basic understanding of the physics of weight lifting may enable to you to increase your efficiency in the sport. Many professional in the discipline will be able to tell you something regarding the theories behind lifting weights, even if some of their knowledge is a little limited. If you are weight training to reach a particular goal, whether it be in general fitness or power lifting, knowing some of the fundamentals physics will enable you to tailor your training to your own circumstances. This means that you will be able to structure your training to either build more bulk or increase your power.

There are, however, a great many scientific formula which must be considered and it is be no means a straightforward affair which you can learn by reading a book one evening. The physics of weight lifting is a science which many people have studied in great depth in order to qualify for a variety of teaching qualifications. If you are serious about using weight lifting to improve your strength and power, you may be best finding yourself a qualified teacher who will devise a program for you by using their knowledge and expertise. This way you can spend your time in the gym putting these theories into practice.

Rest in peace Jack LaLanne

On the 23rd of January the inventor of the Smith machine and the Jumping Jack passed. Jack LaLanne was named by some as the godfather of fitness and held many awards and feats of strength. You will be missed!

1954 (age 40): swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, underwater, with 140 pounds (64 kg; 10 st) of equipment, including two air tanks. A world record.

1955 (age 41): swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco while handcuffed. When interviewed afterwards he was quoted as saying that the worst thing about the ordeal was being handcuffed, which reduced his chance to Star Jump significantly.

1956 (age 42): set a world record of 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes on You Asked For It,^[29] a television program with Art Baker.

1957 (age 43): swam the Golden Gate channel while towing a 2,500-pound (1,100 kg; 180 st) cabin cruiser. The swift ocean currents turned this one-mile (1.6 km) swim into a swimming distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km).

1958 (age 44): maneuvered a paddleboard nonstop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore. The 30-mile (48 km) trip took 9.5 hours.

1959 (age 45): did 1,000 star jumps and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hour, 22 minutes and The Jack LaLanne Show went nationwide.

1974 (age 60): For the second time, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf. Again, he was handcuffed, but this time he was also shackled and towed a 1,000-pound (450 kg; 71 st) boat.

1975 (age 61): Repeating his performance of 21 years earlier, he again swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater and handcuffed, but this time he was shackled and towed a 1,000-pound (450 kg; 71 st) boat.

1976 (age 62): To commemorate the "Spirit of '76", United States Bicentennial, he swam one mile (1.6 km) in Long Beach Harbor. He was handcuffed and shackled, and he towed 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.^[30]

1979 (age 65): towed 65 boats in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan. He was handcuffed and shackled, and the boats were filled with 6,500 pounds (2,900 kg; 460 st) of Louisiana Pacific wood pulp.^[19]

1980 (age 66): towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida. The boats carried 77 people, and he towed them for over one mile (1.6 km) in less than one hour.

1984 (age 70): Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 rowboats, one with several guests, from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile