Monday, June 9, 2014

The Barbell Club lives again!

If you are new to this blog (and lets face it, most of you are, in fact I haven't posted here for so long, I am new to this blog) I use it to try to convey some useful tips and tricks for weightlifting.  (From here on out weightlifting refers to the sport of the snatch and clean and jerk.  Nothing else).  I am not a good writer.  I barely have a grasp on the English language so any grammatical errors I am not too interested in hearing about.  That being said I hope I have something useful to share with you.

We are in week 1.5 of the lifting camp at NoCoast.  So far we have maxed out, and gone over some of the beginning cues of the snatch.  Next will be the clean and jerk.  The progression for the clean will be very similar to the snatch because they are very similar lifts. The jerk we will have a little more specialized work for you.  Before we move on though, lets talk about the snatch last Thursday.


I reviewed the videos that Dan took of most of the lifters and there was 1 mistake that every single person made during the hang snatch.  There was never an active 3rd pull.

But Jason, I don't know what the 3rd pull is? or even the 1st or 2nd pull for that matter.

Well lets lay down some definitions for you.

First pull: From the floor to about the mid thighs.  Shins will finish the 1st pull vertical.  Shoulders are still over the bar.
2nd pull: Starts when the hips start to come back to the bar.  You will also hear this referred to as the scoop.  You finish the 2nd pull by driving the bar upward through the heels and extending everything (knees, hips, ankles).
3rd pull: is an active pull under the bar.

For the 3rd pull, I like this quote from Greg Everett: "The snatch, clean and jerk should be active movements from start to finish. There should never be a moment when things are simply happening; you have to make them happen at all times."

The bar shouldn't ever be floating up and you hoping to be in the right position to catch it.  You should be driving yourself down under the bar and as soon as the arms are locked out, the 3rd pull is over.  Lets take a look at Lu Xiaoxun, the world's best 77kg lifter.  





* The First pull finishes at the 1st picture of the 2nd line.  

* The 2nd pull finishes and the end of the 2nd line.
* The 3rd pull is and active finish through its entirety.  Core is always engaged, shoulders are always active, and in the bottom he is driving up with all of it.

Also just as a bonus, you might here me say "power position" and I am talking about the very middle picture of the 2nd line.  Bar is in the hips, weight is still in the heels, chest is over the bar, and the back is vertical.  That is why he can snatch 370# while weighing in at a stout 169#.  It is all about positioning..... and speed...... and strength helps a lot too, but mainly positioning.  


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And finally an easily correctable mistake that most people are making is to look above the horizon in both the pulls and the catch.  You don't want to look at your feet when you squat, so why would you want to when you snatch?  


Alright know that I have dropped some major knowledge on you, looking forward to some good training sessions tomorrow and Thursday.  Here is a video Lu being f***king smooth with a world record, clean and jerk.





Carpe Ferrum my friends