REVIEW: American Weightlifting DVD

I just got this disc through the post yesterday.  It's the new video by Greg Everett looking at weightlifting in the US today.  If you are into weightlifting, you will know that the US is not a great weightlifting nation, but it does dominate the media in terms of reporting weightlifting.  It is the names of the Americans that most us actually know in the English speaking world.  This DVD is more of a retrospective look at the sport than I expected, it had mostly the older guys in the sport & not so much the newer people, which was fine as it helps give us some idea of where these newer people actually came from & the possibly the reasons why the US is going through something of a revival in weightlifting at the moment.  One of the best things I noticed about the DVD was the use of females of all weight classes.  It seems in society today that it is ok for the strongest guys to be bigger guys, but for some reason woman are supposed to lift big & yet be totally skinny?  Well, I do have news for you, to lift the biggest weight you are going to be big!  You will have a belly, you will not be lean, you need what could be called "functional fat".  To be honest I'm not sure the science is totally understood, but it is a fact that mass moves mass & you will never be the strongest, most powerful person without some fat.  If you are in a lighter weight class, then yes you can do well as a super lean lifting athlete, but as a super-heavy you will carry some fat to be the best whether you are male or female.  So, it was great showing that a female carrying more fat is a true athlete & to be honest my max was almost certainly her warm-up weight.

It's great to see someone other than a super-thin female lifter represented in a movie

This wasn't a movie for you if you have no interest in weightlifting.  It is not a 'how to' guide, it is simply a look at weightlifting in the US today, where it came from & where it is going in the future.  It showed youngsters lifting, a few teams lifting, if you looked it showed that if you wanted to try the sport then you should be prepared to fail as often (or more often) than you succeed, that you will be stuck at a weight for weeks, maybe months at a time & that you will never master the sport.  It is probably one of the least rewarding sports in terms of monetary or results as a lot of the time it will cost you money to do, it will take you years to actually get reasonable & then once you get beyond that every Kg will be a battle.  On the up side, every Kg you add is like a real victory, every contest you meet up with great people & there is something very unique in the lifts that cannot be found by doing curls or dumbbell kickbacks (not that I have problem with either of those exercises, but trust me when I say it is not the same as throwing a weight over your head & catching it).  For those who try it, you will either like it or you won't; for those that do like it, then this DVD is for you, for those who don't then maybe 'pumping iron' or the Ed Coan powerlifting DVD might be a better choice depending on the sort of lifting you enjoy?  I enjoyed it a lot, so hopefully some of you will as well.