Technique Talk

Wednesday May 1. 2013

Mobility/Prehab:

Shoulder Circles w/ Theraband (3 x 10 reps, small, medium, large)
Leg Circles (10 each direction each leg)
Side Plank Leg Raises (10 each side)

Classic Strength:

Spend 15 minutes and work up to a heavy, but technically perfect:

Power Clean + Push Jerk

Advanced Strength:

Power Clean + Push jerk, 3×1 @70%, 3×1 @75%, 2×1 @80%- rest 60 seconds

Classic Conditioning:

4 rounds for total time of:

12 DB Push Press (Heaviest possible)
Run 400meters

Rest 1:1

-20 minute cap!

Advanced Conditioning:

4 rounds for total time of:

12 HSPU
Run 400 meters

Rest 1:1
-20 minute cap!

Cool Down:

Reverse Snow Angels (20 slow reps)
Pike Stretch, 2 minutes

The Iron never lies to you.

At this point in the life of our gym, we have an astounding number of members who are highly technically proficient in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. This becomes most noticeable when we have a drop-in visit our gym that seems athletic and capable. Without fail, our most unassuming member will put the visitor to shame if the day consists of Olympic lifting. We pride ourselves on this but our search for continual improvement never ceases. This brings me to the point of this post. After working with and watching Derrick and other high level lifters there is something noticeable that they do that the average lifter often has trouble implementing. This is the “Third Pull” – the point when the lifter has reached full extension and must reverse their direction downward while continuing to pull the bar upward and back either over the head or to the shoulders. I put that in bold because that is the most important part of the third pull and the part that people must be consciously cued to do. We have taught are members to make contact with the bar and use their hips very powerfully but now we want you to put that together with the third pull to make sure that the bar stays close to the body and allows the lifter to catch it and maintain a good position in the heels while they squat. One of the best ways to get a sense of what this continual pulling motion feels like, and why we do these versions of the lifts, is to try to power snatch or power clean a high percentage of your max squat snatch/clean. In the balanced lifter this should be a difficult task but it will force the lifter to extend violently and KEEP pulling on the bar, as the power version takes away the luxury of dropping under the bar and “catching” it rather than controlling it upward. This is the next step for many lifters, myself included, and can be the difference between hitting that next PR. So…KEEP PULLING!