Orthopedic Cost: Should Adults Avoid Barbell Power Exercises?!

Regular physical exercise is crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but it is equally important to exercise caution and prioritize safety. Are you actually healthy if you’re constantly in pain? While popular barbell power exercises, such as: Snatches, Jerks & Cleans, can yield significant benefits for certain individuals, this form of exercise may not be suitable for most adults. Let’s explore the reasons why adults should exercise caution (and smarts) when performing barbell power exercises and seek alternative exercises that promote safety and overall well-being.

Higher Risk of Injury

Barbell power exercises, such as the ones mentioned previously, require speed & strength (power), coordination, and stability/mobility.

Coming from a former Collegiate Football All-American, I’ll be the first to tell you how beautiful a perfect clean is. However, as someone with a Masters degree in Kinesiology and has been in the never ending pursuit of perfecting their craft every day of their adult life; I’ll also be the one to tell you that these types of exercises place considerable stress on various joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

Increasing the risk of injury, especially in adults who may lack the necessary flexibility, mobility, or motor skills.

I hate to be the one to tell someone, they shouldn’t do something; however, sometimes the water is already under the bridge. Realistically, if you didn’t have early exposures to exercises like power cleans, you’re going to struggle and probably won’t have the coordination/timing/mobility/stability/dexterity to perform these type of lifts with a barbell safely. Again, the water is already under the bridge. Which should be fine. You shouldn’t have an emotional attachment to an exercise you saw a stranger do on the internet. If you’re going to obsess over something, obsess over the qualities being trained by these exercises, and not the exercises themselves.

Joint-related issues, muscle strains and back injuries aren’t worth the risk simply for the sake of trying to do the an exercise. Instead, pick exercises you can do exceptional well, that still train that given quality of POWER. If you’re still stuck on the barbell, look at their derivatives instead. Namely, the clean grip muscle snatch. The clean grip tends to be more shoulder friendly and the distance that the muscle snatch demands creates and incredible amount of POWER.

Complexity and Technique

Barbell power exercises demand precise execution and adherence to proper form. This requires a considerable level of skill, experience, and coaching (this is always a limiting factor, having a great coach limits the learning curve). If you weren’t exposed early in your fitness/athletic career, these type of complex lifts probably aren’t for you, and that’s ok. Many adults may lack the time or resources needed to dedicate to mastering the intricacies of these movements. Again, the smarter approach to fitness is training the qualities of power by whatever means you can do the best. Neglecting proper technique can further increase the risk of injury as well as limit the effectiveness of the exercise, rendering it less beneficial for strength, endurance, or muscle development.

Individual Limitations and Health Conditions

Adults often possess unique considerations and individual limitations that may make barbell power exercises ill-suited for their needs. You’re an adult now, not a little rubber person like you were in high school. I’m sure now you’ve notice you don’t just snap back from things that way you use to. Existing health conditions, joint problems, or limited mobility can make these exercises unsafe and exacerbate any underlying issues. As adults, our bodies go through natural changes, and it is important to acknowledge and respect these physiological differences to ensure a safe and effective exercise routine. You’re going to have to take a smarter approach to power training and perform exercises you can do exceptional well. All the while still working to improve your stability/mobility/coordination/dexterity etc.

Time Efficiency and Lifestyle Factors

Barbell power exercises necessitate a significant investment of time to learn and perfect technique, increasing the duration and complexity of workout sessions. Without dedicating a significant investment of time to learning perfect technique, one is more prone and likely to experience some type of orthopedic injury. It’s not uncommon to see many gyms dedicate the entire first half to technique work. Again, because of the complexity of these lifts, it requires a significant amount of time and practice to master. Adult fitness enthusiasts often juggle numerous responsibilities and commitments, limiting the time available for exercising. Utilizing other pieces of equipment such as: kettlebells, dumbbells, medballs, and sandbags all have a “lower barrier to entry” and can all serve as “safer” more joint friendly means of developing power. The argument can be and has been made that these tool actually open up and entire array of training modalities such as multi-planar strength & power development that can accomplish more complete training goals in less time!

While it is critical to engage in regular exercise to maintain good health and well-being, we must prioritize safety, especially as adults with unique considerations and limitations. for many adults barbell power exercises such as the Classic Olympic lifts simply aren't the safest means of developing power. As you (hopefully) read previously, the newer you are or less time you have to dedicate to learning these lifts, the more prone you are to injury.

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