British School Culture of Weightlifting

[thestoatyone]

Just a bit of a head count really;

For those of you raised in the UK, did you have access to weightlifting as a sport in secondary school, or college?

I never did, and spent so long wandering in the disco-workouts-with-very-little-useful-instruction-('til I found this place really)-Hell before getting somewhere.

Folk from other countries can comment as well I guess.

Just wondering

[ralst]

I'm not in the UK, but you said we could play too, so...

I first had access to a weightroom in college. It was a pretty good gym, with a couple power racks and a lifting platform, and lots of good form instruction from the teacher. Like this advice on the ins and outs of deadlift technique: you pick up the bar.

Luckily I found this site at around the same time, so knew the basics of effective training: squats and the acquisition of a power belly. But most everyone else either did something on the cable crossover or the leg press, or spent the hour long class period doing some combination of flat, incline, and decline bench pressing.

[thestoatyone]

Can I just clarify: For the UK college is 16-18 (after that is university)

I think some USAians refer to an undergraduate programme of study from 18-21 ish.

With that in mind, your qym classes sound far better than what I got (No access to any serious weights; tuition was in team sports or fuck off)

[Thomas Campbell]

There was no weight room at my secondary school or sixth form college. I've ever heard of one secondary school which had one.

[purple_mog]

Once you were 15-16years old part of our PE was the option to use the weights and cardio facilities at the gym (right across the road from our tiny local school) but it was mostly machines?

Now all the new sports facilities round here seem to be opening up in conjunction with the local schools so they have loads of access to the training areas including weights etc.

[Mellos]

Some lucky guys here...
All you do in school sports in Germany
is total bull-crap.

Anyone could be a sports teacher here
since it´s just about "making the fat kids
move" which actually doesn´t work that
way.

Had sports as a main subject for some
time and all we did was running and
running and running and swimming
sometimes and now that they do
the shotput you see that those who
use to workout are twice as good
as the teachers

[xJimx]

As a former secondary school teacher I have to say that I've never seen or heard of any school here in the UK with a proper weights room. Not to say they don't exist, but there can't be many - Britain's only weightlifter at last year's Olympics is a PE teacher so maybe that school is one?

From a teacher's point of view free weights would be a complete health & safety nightmare so I can't see this ever changing. I don't mean that free weights are dangerous, but one adult trying to supervise up to 30 clueless gung ho teenagers in a weights room probably is.

[Gelert]

We had a a multigym on-site, and as the metalwork teacher was into lifting and ran his own gym in a converted shop in town, he would take guys and girls over the age of 15 down there as an option.

[ninearms]

Ivybridge, where Michaela Breeze teaches, is a specialist sports college, and has better facilities than most UK universities. In fact, most UK universities are put to shame by some American high schools.

Rancho Buena Vista High School, California. Head Strength Coach Mike Burgener.


At my school there were a few free weights and a bench in a cupboard which we were allowed to use a few times once we were about 15, but other than that nothing.

[Thomas Campbell]

Ivybridge, where Michaela Breeze teaches, is a specialist sports college, and has better facilities than most UK universities. In fact, most UK universities are put to shame by some American high schools.

Do you know anything about the historical reasons for the distinct approaches to weightlifting in the education systems in the UK and the US?

[ninearms]

Ivybridge, where Michaela Breeze teaches, is a specialist sports college, and has better facilities than most UK universities. In fact, most UK universities are put to shame by some American high schools.

Do you know anything about the historical reasons for the distinct approaches to weightlifting in the education systems in the UK and the US?

I suspect it has something to do with the way athletes are recruited by pro teams. In the US the pro teams recruit from college teams, who in turn recruit from high schools, and athletes are paid accordingly in the form of scholarships. Here there isn't really anything like that, so young athletes are either self-funded (i.e. unfunded) or are taken on as apprentices by pro teams at a very early age. As a result schools and universities here have poor strength programs (read non-existent) and poor facilities.

[bronco]

Do you know anything about the historical reasons for the distinct approaches to weightlifting in the education systems in the UK and the US?

Not knowing too much about the UK, but it is my understanding that in the US allmost all sports for youngster is organized at the school level, while in for instance in sweden kids who do sports usually do it in a club outside of school. If UK is anything like sweden, then it makes sense that the schools in the US have a lot better sports facilities.

[Hayden]

My highschool (in Australia) had a simple weights gym including the standard cable and weight stack machines. We weren't allowed to use it until we were 15 or 16 years old. No help with programs, no technique help...nothing
finding olympic weightlifting equipment in Victorian gyms is very rare.

[The Duke]

And next week, the guys bottom left get to work out with an empty bar like everyone else.

[JP]

And next week, the guys bottom left get to work out with an empty bar like everyone else.

its crossfit mate, it will take them longer than a week to jump to such big weights!