National Strength and Conditioning Association Position Statement on Weightlifting for Sports Performance

This NSCA statement addresses using the Olympic lifts (the clean, snatch and jerk) and their variations to improve performance in athletes who are not weightlifters.

Its rationale is that the explosive extension of the hips, knees and ankles in these lifts resembles jumping and sprinting, and that these movements produce some of the highest force, rate of force development and power outputs recorded. Because load can be varied across many lift variations, coaches can target strength-speed or speed-strength as each athlete needs.

It concludes from longitudinal studies and meta-analyses that adding weightlifting exercises improves force production and athletic performance more than general resistance training or plyometrics alone, provided the exercises are programmed in sequence across training blocks and coaches emphasize technique and skill development.

Summarized from the published abstract; the full text was not open to us.