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From 70′s Big: Strength+ Magazine
There is a new online magazine dedicated to Olympic Weightlifting. This is good because there aren’t many resources for American weightlifting, and that’s unfortunate. The magazine is called “Strength+” and is written and edited by Rachel Crass and Robert Hall. This first issue has a few athlete articles (notably on Kendrick Farris, the superstar of American weightlifting), an article about the French national team, and results and photos from the Arnold Classic.

Click here for the debut issue.

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One of the coaching points you will hear in Olympic lifting is “meeting the bar”. Anytime you receive the bar in a lift, whether it’s a snatch, clean, etc., you need to 1)move your body around the bar (do not move the, bar around your body), and 2) you need to meet the bar wherever it gets to.

Point #1, we will discuss tomorrow. Today, I want to talk about meeting the bar. When you do a clean, whether it’s a power clean or a full squat clean, you will receive the bar at different heights (depending on the weight and your “finish”, you may receive the bar higher or lower). If, for example, you have a lighter weight and can power clean the bar up to possibly shoulder height (or a little below your shoulders), when you “meet the bar”, you do not go down into a full squat and let the bar crash down on your shoulders. Instead, you receive the bar almost standing up, getting the bar up on your rack and elbows up and around.

The picture below is a textbook example of meeting the bar. The athlete, Kate, cleans the weight up and with a strong finish, the first frame shows the bar at its highest point. Kate does not drop down into a full squat to receive the weight -instead, she meets the weight at to the point where it travels.

Have you ever done heavy cleans and found bruises on your chest the next day? That comes from heavy weight crashing on you and receiving the bar too low. Meet the bar, whether the bar has traveled high enough to power clean it, or if it’s too heavy, and you have to squat below it. Go to where the bar is, get under it with fast elbows and DO NOT let it crash on you.

(Pictures courtesy of Tracy Fober, www.ironmaven.net)

I’m really fortunate to be able to coach at the Olympic lifting certs with Coach Burgener, and what I enjoy most is watching and learning from Coach B, as well as the other coaches who are there. Every cert I have some big “ah-ha” moment where I gain a new coaching cue or new found perspective on Olympic lifting. I’ve learned two things in particular that I wanted to share….

First, Olympic lifts are dynamic and explosive movements that requires patience. You have to be patient and diligent in your warmup, practice lifts and lifts for PR. It does not matter if you use PVC pipe or 400 pounds of weight, you have to be patient with every rep, nail your footwork, hit all of your spots, and finish the pull. In Olympic lifitng, you cannot just “grip and rip”, sacrificing form to get a good time or a PR (which, as CrossFitters we all have done). As you practice today, be patient and diligent with all of your efforts – perfect practice makes perfect.

Second, in all Olympic lifts, whether it’s PVC pipe or a PR, you always, always, always, have to finish the pull. Finishing the pull is essential to every successful Olympic lift. Check out these pictures of the different positions.

Down and up (the first movement of the Burgener Warmup)

Finish

Pulling body down to receive the bar

Getting the body down under the bar
(photos courtesy of Coach Burgener)

Remember, SHOULDERS LEAD, ARMS FOLLOW. When you finish the pull, you are patient and keep your shoulders over the bar as long as possible. The momentum generated will cause the bar to continue to travel up as you bring your body down and under the bar.

Be patient today as you work on cleans and snatches, find one thing at a time to work on. Make every rep count – today’s WOD is about perfecting your skill.