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There are many things that people don't know about weight lifting. One of the most frequently asked question is, "Is stretching worthwhile?". Mark Philippi, C.S.C.S., is director of strength and conditioning at UNLV and a two-time finalist in the World's Strongest Man competition. He says that "stretching is required for top performance." he then went on to say, "I do two types of stretching before I lift: dynamic and static, in that order. Dynamic stretches lightly work your muscles through the same range of motion as the activity you'll be doing. So walking lunges, or even a bench press done slowly with just the bar, will work. I do three or four different stretches, each for one set of 10 repetitions. For static stretching--or traditional flexibility training--I use a Jump Stretch band. Since the band gives, it provides tension without stretching the muscle too far--a common mistake that can cause micro-tears in the muscle. I do two sets of 30-second stretches for my biggest problems areas. Although some research disputes it, I believe static stretching before an exercise helps your range of motion while performing the lift, and that can help you move more weight." Personally I think that he is right. I have found that stretching a very important part of any sport not just weight lifting, but in every thing.
Another extremely controversial topic is whether or not weightlifters take dangerous muscle building drugs to perform at a high level? In the 1970's and 1980's, the use of performance enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids, became very popular with athletes in all sports, including weightlifting. This still happens today, however, weightlifting has been separated from other sports by its efforts to eliminate drug use. Weightlifting has began to test for performance enhancing drugs since the late 1960's and testing for the use of anabolic steroids began in the mid 1970's. Drug testing has evolved to the point where very high tech urine analyses are being conducted at every major international weightlifting event. Also they conduct short notice, out of competition, drug testing around the world and throughout the year so that they can control the use of drugs in training as well as competition. No other international sport does more to control the use of drugs by its athletes. Has the testing eliminated drug usage in weightlifting? Probably not. Because there will always be people who try to get around the rules and if they are sneaky enough they may be able to do so until the drug testing is made stronger. But the use of drugs by athletes in weightlifting has dropped enormously in recent years. Which is always a great sine. If it can keep declining it should be very few in the years to come.
Resources:
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_6_20/ai_n6112636)
(http://www.wlinfo.com/frequent.htm#5.%20Don't%20nearly%20all)