Are Olympic style lifts good for muscle building?

Yes, if you’re well coached by a professional to keep the injury risk as low as possible under the circumstances and you lift progressively (i.e. keep increasing the weight you're lifting over time).

If you've covered both of the above and want to lift that much and in that way, then go right ahead.

But if you train on your own and your goal is to build muscle, I personally recommend using lifts that are easier to learn and monitor your form with, plus you can also perform them slower to limit momentum.

For example, instead of doing a combination movement like the Clean and Jerk, try doing shorter range individual movements such as Squats, Deadlifts, and Overhead Pressing rather than trying to combine various different lifts in one move.

Bodybuilding and weightlifting are two different goals and, although there are certain crossovers, for the best return for your training buck the way you train for each should be different.

Big Olympic style lifts limit the amount you can lift in each part because you're only as strong your weakest link. With the above example, you can’t push overhead as much as you could Deadlift, so you wont be pushing your Deadlift to the max.

Olymplic lifts are great for getting strong, but not so helpful for Bodybuilding.


 

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