- Written by Will Safford C.S.C.S and USAW Sports Coach
The Olympic Lifts, which consist of the Clean & Jerk and Snatch, are advanced exercises that can be difficult to learn and extremely hard to master. They’re a combination of technique, timing, speed and strength, and demand much from the user, both physically and mentally. Although they may be intimidating at first, the O-lifts can be a lot of fun, especially once you start to “get it” and the bar seems to float to its destination. Lets look at some things you can do to improve your lifts and make the best of you time under the bar.
Work Mobility
A good place to start is developing the adequate mobility to adopt the positions of the O-lifts. This does two things for you. First, it helps prevent against injury. With so many moving parts, you can easily tweak yourself when trying to propel a bar from the floor to shoulder height or overhead. The necessary mobility of your wrists, shoulders, thoracic spine and hips will help protect against injury when performing the lifts, especially under heavy load.
Second, adequate mobility will allow you to achieve and hold the necessary positions for the Clean, namely the front rack position, the Jerk, from front rack to full extension overhead, and the Snatch, in the Overhead Squat position. If you can’t even get into these positions without some kind of movement dysfunction, what makes you think you’d be able to do so under speed and load?
If you’re performing the “catch” on either move from a compromised position you wont get the full benefit of the Front and/or Overhead Squat. You’ll be asking smaller, less capable muscles to take up the slack your larger, more powerful muscles should be doing. Thus, your performance will suffer and you’ll get less from the exercises.
Check out the Mobility Wod YouTube channel for mobility ideas.
Work the Variations
Just like learning any intricate task, its smart to break down something complicated into smaller more manageable parts. This is where the O-lift variations come in. A good example is the hang clean. This movement emphasizes powerful triple extension and the extremely important “second pull” in the full Squat Clean.
This is arguably the most important phase of either of the lifts. This is where you create the power and speed to propel the bar up to its receiving point. Practicing from the “hang position” reduces the contribution from your legs and emphasizes the demand from your hips, traps, and calves. By developing this phase of the lift, it will be more powerful when you eventually start the bar from the floor.
Other variations include clean/snatch pulls and high pulls, low/high hang position snatches/cleans, the snatch balance, and working from the blocks. These will all help with power, timing, and strength in the different phases of the O-lifts.
Visit Olympic Lifting Coach Greg Everett’s site for videos of the variations.
Find A Good Coach
Everyone and their mom does the O-lifts these days. Be diligent in vetting who you learn them from. Although the O-lifts are a staple in most Crossfit gyms, their coaches may not be certified in them. Search online for Olympic lifting gyms or find a certified coach through the USAW. It pays to have someone knowledgeable, especially on such technical exercises, critique your technique. They can also suggest appropriate mobility drills, strength exercises, and starting loads to set you on the right path.
Watch Tape
If you’re a visual leaner this one is especially valuable. There is a certain timing, look, and ultimately, feel, to the Olympic lifts that can only be created after hours of practice, insightful coaching, and dedicated study. If you truly want to excel in the O-lifts you must become a student.
Now, before you go scouring the internet for every available resource, understand there is a ton of shit out there, especially with the rise of Crossfit. To get a visual of the best Olympic Lifters in the World, watch old Olympic trials and games. Those are the pros and dedicate their entire lives to mastering these lifts.
Aside from Greg Everett’s site from above, try:
Glen Pendlay at California Strength
Wear Oly Shoes
If you’re going to be doing the Olympic Lifts on a regular basis and want to excel, you have to invest in a good pair of lifting shoes. Olympic Lifting shoes provide a few benefits. First, the most important aspect is the raised heel. Having your heel lifted a few centimeters allows for fuller range of motion of your hips and ankles. This will allow you to get deeper into Front and Overhead Squats while maintaining a good upright position. This is an absolute must for the O-lifts.
Second, O-lifting shoes have a hard sole. This allows for maximum transfer of force into the floor. Regular gym shoes, or worse yet, running shoes, have a padded sole. This padding absorbs some of your force as you apply it into the ground, which is great for box jumps, running, etc. but not ideal for driving a bar overhead.
Finally, O-lift shoes are stable. Typically, the shoes are wider for more stability and have a strap to secure your foot in place. This allows for a nice tight fight and will prevent your foot from sliding around during the lifts. There is a wide choice of Lifting shoes available now, just do your research online. Rogue has a nice selection.
Get Strong In The Front Squat and OH Squat
There’s a saying by old school Strength Coach Dick Notemeyer “If you can Front Squat it for three, you can Clean and Jerk it.” This is a good gage if you’re attempting a PR, but also serves to show the importance of leg and anterior core strength in the C&J. Although the Front Squat is a strength move, while the Clean is a power move, it is still the foundation of the full Clean and Jerk.
Building the necessary movement pattern, neurological and muscular strength, and structural integrity to maintain and perform a full Front Squat will transfer to your Clean and Jerk. Adding to the mobility point earlier, if you’re not comfortable in the bottom of a Front Squat under load, you probably won’t be able to stand it up in the bottom of a Clean.
The same can be said for the Overhead Squat in the Snatch, which demands even more from the user from a mobility standpoint and to maintain total body tension with a bar overhead. Getting comfortable with weight over your head at the bottom of a squat may not contribute to the power element of the Snatch (that’s where the variations come in), but will make you more confident punching and receiving a bar in that position. Plus, it’s a bad ass exercise that exposes a series of possible dysfunctions in your mobility, strength, and movement pattern.
Practice
Finally, this goes without saying, but the only way to get better at something is with practice. Olympians spend decades trying to perfect these lifts. Countless hours are endured to scrutinize, fine-tune, and strengthen the Clean & Jerk and Snatch. Believing you can get to a level of proficiency with a few lifts a month is fallacy. You need to commit to hours under the bar, especially when you’re learning, to progress on these lifts.
And with regard to progression, slow and steady wins the race here. Staying at the same weight for weeks or even months in the O-lifts is not only ok, it’s wise. Only after you’ve gained the requisite technique and strength should you think about going for a personal record. Instead, enjoy the process of learning something new or developing something you’re weak at.