Olympic lifts

[Kerpal]

Does anyone here do the Olympic lifts?

I am referring to the snatch and the clean & jerk, if you don't know what those are.

 

[MrS]

I do some cleans.
I enjoy jerks, but I don't do them often enough to do them with good form.
I do push presses, I'm good for about 70kg at that.

Snatch I can't do, have never really worked on it.

 

[Drum&Bass]

I snatch and clean on cardio/recovery days.

 

[020204]

Olympic lifts are a great way to structure your training. When most people are introduced to a weights program these lifts are very seldom empasised. I think Olympic lifts are great as they don't necessarily emphasise bulking up. Most Olympic lifters are around the 5% body fat mark. Kettlebell training is also similar aswell. Realistically there is only so much muscle your body needs before it becomes a dead weight to carry around very much like consuming too much protein which is excreted out. Olympic lifting and kettlebell training is a great way to emphasise strength and power to weight ratio. It is about having functional strength. Many of the machines in gyms these days are useless they are teaching your body to be lazy.

 

[teagan]

For the Olympic lifts I highly recommend you learn proper technique before using even slightly heavy weights.

One of the first things you should do is stretch your wrists so you can properly catch the clean. Then you should work on moving your elbows properly and "squatting" underneath the bar. Doing front squats and above knee hang cleans also help.

For Jerks, make sure you learn to properly split your legs (hence split jerk) and catch the bar with a bend in your legs.

As for the snatch, start with a snatch movement but with a slight push out and slowly move into doing a full snatch. Overhead squats greatly help with with snatches too.

All in all, the Olympic lifts are probably the best lifts you can do to build strength, speed, and explosiveness.

Oh, and consult youtube for technique help. Watch the world class guys...especially David Rigert (if they have his videos, he's a little old).

 

[kickureface]

anyone do double knee bend on cleans? i'm having trouble getting it down now that i moved up in weight

 

[Kerpal]

I've been doing power cleans for a while so I've got that down but now I'm trying to switch to full squat cleans. It's weird though, I've been power cleaning for so long that I'm having a hard time making myself drop into a full front squat position.

Also, my jerk is weak. I can power clean 225 lbs easily but I can't jerk more than 195 lbs at the moment. I just started doing jerks though so I probably just need to learn the movement.

As for the snatch, I'm doing a power snatch right now because I'm too scared to drop into an overhead squat position with a weight overhead.

 

[Kerpal]

anyone do double knee bend on cleans? i'm having trouble getting it down now that i moved up in weight

From what I've read, if you do the first pull slowly, like a slow deadlift, and then jump when the bar touches the right spot on your thighs, you will do the double knee bend automatically.

 

[Being_the_Don]

Here's a website with videos demonstrating Olympic lifts.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/PowerExercises.html

 

[teagan]

Kerpal, for getting used to full cleans start by power cleaning the weight then doing a front squat. Eventually you will be able to get the motion more fluid and actually do the full clean.

As for the snatch, I understand your problem. I would suggest overhead squats so you get used to it.

 

[Kerpal]

Good ideas teagan, I will try both of those, thanks!

 

[mrRuckus]

From what I've read, if you do the first pull slowly, like a slow deadlift, and then jump when the bar touches the right spot on your thighs, you will do the double knee bend automatically.

If you're doing the first pull slowly, why even start it on the ground?

very much like consuming too much protein which is excreted out.:

That notion is absurd. Does excess fat pass through? Do excess carbs pass through?

Why would protein pass through?

 

[Kerpal]

If you're doing the first pull slowly, why even start it on the ground?

You can probably move a lot more weight off the floor than from the hang position.

 

[Kerpal]

Hey teagan, where is the right place to start the 2nd pull on the snatch? I know on the clean you start about halfway up the thighs, but that seems too low.

 

[teagan]

Kerpal. For the snatch I would say start the 2nd pull anywhere from above the knee to the middle of your thigh. Personally, I use the middle of my thigh and that is where a lot lifters go from. This position is called the power position. It may seem low but that is where you generate the most power.