Olympic Lifting for Athletes

Thanks to Crossfit and hype behind functional fitness training, the snatch and the clean and jerk are becoming used in athletic and commercial settings more than ever before, rather than being confined to weightlifting gyms. They are renowned for increasing power, but like anything in the internet age, can be controversial due to their specificity for athletes, steep learning curve and mobility requirements.

What does the Research Say?

Helland et. al (2017) researched the effects of 3 x types of
training on muscular power: Olympic weightlifting, “motorized strength and
power training” (machine-based strength training with high loads and low speed)
and free weight strength and power training. After 8 weeks of 2-3 sessions per
week, the researchers found that Olympic weightlifting provided inferior and
trivial increases in jumping tests (counter-movement, squat jump, etc), squat
1RM and muscle hypertrophy for vastus lateralis and rectus femoris.

Conversely; Hacket, Davies, Soomro & Halaki (2016) found
in a systematic review of six studies that Olympic lifting training provided a
significant increase in vertical jump compared to control groups (7.7%) and
traditional resistance training (5.1%), and were consistent with plyometric
training.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24172724

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14971971

References

Helland, C., Hole, E., Iversen, E., Olsson,
M.C., Seynnes, O., Solberg, P.A., & Paulsen, G. (2017) Training strategies
to improve muscle power: is Olympic-style weightlifting relevant? Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise;
49(4):736-745
Hackett, D., Davies, T., Soomro, N., &
Halaki, M (2016) Olympic weightlifting training improves vertical jump height
in sportspeople: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine; 50(14):865-72