The sport of lifting weights is rather old,
Remember as one famous ancient Greek
Picked up his rival in a deadly hold
And thrust him down, broken and weak!

A round bar like someone’s neck I’m squeezing;
What will the crowd do - applaud or hiss?
I lift Antaeus off the ground, wheezing,
Like Hercules had done in ancient Greece.

I am not as graceful as a mustang,
I’m uncouth, my feet are never fleet;
And a heavy, cumbrous bar’s my master,
And my partner whom I have to beat!

To lift this mass without elevators -
You wouldn’t wish your enemy to get!
Approaching this heavy apparatus
My heart is heavy - I can just fall flat!

We both look as though made of metal,
But only it is real stainless steel;
I trod so long to win my gold medal
That I am now down at the heel.

I am not as graceful as a mustang,
I’m uncouth, my feet are never fleet;
And a heavy, cumbrous bar’s my master
And my partner whom I have to beat!

“The weight is taken!” - sounds in the air,
You love this call, it’s really a treat!
It is a treat - but it’s, of course, unfair:
The weight’s above and you are under it!

Thus, victory may turn into frustration -
To win this fight you shouldn’t go far:
You lift the weight without contemplation
And throw down this backbreaking bar!

I am not as graceful as a mustang,
I’m uncouth, my feet are never fleet;
And a heavy, cumbrous bar’s my master
And my partner whom I have to beat!

The bar crawls up - its tonnage doesn’t matter!
It rips my muscles just before the bell...
And someone cried (they always know better!):
“Don’t be a fool, just drop this bar to hell!”

Another second - and the bar’s defeated!
My iron god’s put down with dispatch...
The move that I’ve successfully completed
Has got a brief and bristly name - a snatch!