Few athletes think about the fact that their weight and body composition affect success in competitions. And few people wonder how many kilograms an athlete can lift if he had more muscle and less fat. Find out more useful information in this article.
There is nothing more important in weightlifting than the right ratio of body weight + muscle mass + % body fat. The most optimal option for many is considered to be well-developed muscles with a low percentage of fat. This gives you a big advantage over your rivals.
Numerous researches prove that men who have a large muscle mass and a low percentage of body fat are more likely to succeed. Body composition affects the ability to generate powerful force and coordinate synchronous movements. Thus, there are more chances to perform a technically complex element and lift a lot of weight.
In non-professional athletes, the level of fat corresponds to the norms of a healthy male person – 10-15%. It should be noted that there are models of the norm of adipose tissue of weightlifters, which are used to assess functional fitness. The indicators vary depending on the weight category of the athletes.
Weightlifters are faced with the challenge of increasing lean muscle mass and minimizing fat deposition. This will contribute to the development of strength and power. In addition, the less body fat, the easier it is to develop strength, endurance, speed and agility. These physical qualities will be useful to every weightlifter and crossfitter.
Fat mass creates additional weight which provides great resistance to movement and thus forces the athlete to increase the force of muscle contraction during exercise. That is the higher the percentage of fat, the more the muscles have to strain in order to perform a strength exercise. In addition, high fat mass negatively affects coordination and mobility. Fat is a kind of physical barrier that limits the range of motion of a joint, but this is truer for obese people.
How to achieve optimal body composition?
The initial goal is to build or maintain muscle mass and to reduce weight at the expense of fat. This will improve the muscle/fat ratio and reduce the force of muscle contraction to perform those exercises that could not be performed with a higher percentage of fat to body weight.
It is important for weightlifters not to put on a lot of fat between competitions, as this weight will have to be shed, which will have a bad effect on performance and ability to lift the target weight. To reach your weight class, you can use the old-fashioned methods of sweating in the sauna and not drinking water, but this leads to dehydration. And this is not a good idea for an athlete who has to lift a lot of weight. The right decision is to change the diet and focus on proteins and carbohydrates, the latter contribute to the preservation of muscle mass.