Catching the Snatch and the Clean

Last time we discussed the pulls for the snatch and the clean from my rookie perspective. This time we will discuss the all important catch positions, without which, you really cannot put your best weight overhead.   

Snatch

There are a couple of ways to catch a snatch or clean.  One of them is the split position, which looks like an exaggerated lunge.  A bunch of old school lifters did it decades ago, but no top shelf lifters of today do it below about the age of thirty.  The most effective way to catch as much weight as possible is in a very deep squat. For the snatch, you should shoot for having the armpits facing forward (arms fully externally rotated), which will create the most stable shoulder position. Additionally your torso should be as upright as possible, which is usually improved by better mobility in the hips.  Since most people struggle with a valgus knee position while squatting (knees caving inward) a cue to shove the knees out so that the thighs are in alignment with feet is very helpful.  If all of this lines up well, then the bar should be lastly positioned behind the head where the weight is really supported by the upper back and not stressful on the shoulders. 

Clean

The clean has a lot of the same properties as the catch of the snatch.  The squat should be as deep as possible unless you are a splitter, in which case you aren’t going the medal in the Olympics. The squat should be almost identical with the torso upright and the thighs tracking over the feet.  The bar should be sitting on the meaty part of the shoulders and shoved all the way back into the throat with high elbows.  The hands do not support the weight at all, but are only there to keep the bar pushed back a bit and ready to transition the overhead jerk position. 

So there you have it.  We discussed the pull last time, and this time we worked on how to catch the bar after you pulled as hard as you possibly can.  So go out there find a coach, video yourself, watch the greatest lifters in the world online, take seminar, and by all means snatch clean and jerk and squat.  

Here is what they look like put together to perfection!

An Amateur's Look at the Weightlifting Pull

Weightlifting, like any sport with a need for technical proficiency, has certain positions that seem to be critical.  To clarify, I am not a guru of the sport, but rather a late arriver to the game that has studied it quite a bit in my short time.  If you a want more geeky analysis, seek out actual experts.  I am going to give the novice a few things to look for, from a positional standpoint, to really keep an eye out for.  Use a video camera, in lieu of a good coach, and try to make certain you hit these positions.   In this first installment I will break down the pull from my perspective. 

Pull

Start Position – the start position can vary.  I have seen and tried with my shoulders starting behind the bar from the floor, over the bar, and ahead of the bar.  For the most part, everyone eventually gets to where their shoulders are just ahead of the bar as the weights comes off of the floor.

Below the knee - As the bar is just below the knee, as is true for any pull, the back must be straight.  Additionally the shoulders should be in front of the bar with your weight clearly off of your toes.

Hip - When the bar gets to the hip (or high thigh for clean), this is called the power position.  You should still be off the toes and the shoulders should have moved to where they are now behind the bar slightly.  At this point, the bar should clearly be in contact with the body.  The knees will be bent after having straightened prior.  This is referred to as the double knee bend.

Finish - The final portion of the pull up is called the finish position.  At this point there should be maximum extension of the hips and knees. Some lifters end up on their toes while some don’t.  Additionally the shoulders should be well behind the bar.

Pull under - The last of the pulling is actually where a change of direction takes place.  As the bar reaches its maximum height at full extension, the lifter will now quickly pull himself under the bar to try and beat it back down.  To clarify, this is a pull of the lifter down as opposed to a continued pull of the bar up.  Make sure that the bar is still over your base of support (feet) and not out front of it.

Next time we will find out how to catch the bar after the beautiful pull.  Again, this is just an amateur’s look at the pull in weightlifting.  Just as a quick reminder, the American Weightlifting Federation's kick off meet will be live steamed from Las Vegas on January 16 - 18 with a whole batch of big name competing.  Don't miss it.

Things To Read / Watch

Competition is a wonderful thing.  It is one of the many reasons that capitalism is the greatest system of economics/society that exists.  For many years, USA Weightlifting has been the only weightlifting federation in the U.S.  A Quasi-excommunicated top level lifter, Jon North has now brought this to an end.  He and a few others have founded The American Weightlifting Federation.  If you have been to a USAW competition, you have to be a real fan not to have fallen asleep occasionally.  The AWF is bringing a DJ, your choice of music to lift to, and more of a "party" atmosphere.  Hopefully this will push USAW to improve the environment of its venues.

The American Open was this past weekend and there were some great lifts, even if a few lifters missed the Washington DC meet.  Jared Fleming made a great comeback in the 94kg class by winning gold in the snatch, c & J, total and won best male lifter at the competition.

Appropriate Post Revisited

I have been out of commission for a few weeks due to the birth of my second son, so I have not had a bunch of time to write a blogpost.  So with that being I am going to link to a blog I wrote quite some time ago called Just Pull the Trigger.  It is one that a lot of people (including myself) need to read now and again.  It deals with the extremely paralyzing "indecision".  In the future I am going to go into detail about some programs that I have been tinkering with, to improve my lifting.  But since I am here I might as well post a weightlifting video.  This is Ilya Ilyin in the 2014 World Championships just a couple of weeks ago.  This man recently moved up weight classes, and set a world record in the clean and jerk to win yet another world championship.

242kg (532 lbs)

The Four Ps of Weightlifting

Over the past year or so, I worked on my snatch technique like a mad man.  I took a page out of the Dan John book (look him up).  His philosophy is, if you want to get better at something, work on it every day.  While it is not necessary to take this literally, the idea is to practice the skill as often as possible.  That is what I did.  Every workout began with snatch technical work.  Over the course of several months (without a coach) my snatch went from 75kg (165lbs) to 96 kg (212lbs).  With limited time like everyone else with a job, wife, kids, and a bad back, this took time away from the other lift: the clean and jerk.  Over the same course of time, it has increased from 110kg (242 lbs) to 115kg (253lbs).  The neglect brought with it poor progress.  So with that being said, I have now started devoting more practice to the clean and jerk and specifically the clean portion.  My goal is to stay connected to the bar and actively pull under on the clean faster.  Finish my pull, and therefore have a higher contact point on the hips and have a faster dip on the jerk.  

115kg from about a year ago

New and Improved Technique from a yesterday

This leads me to my rookie thoughts on what it takes, from my perspective, to improve in weightlifting. These things could easily have carryover to other physical skills... but weightlifting is cooler.  These are the Four Ps of Weightlifting according to TP.

Position (technique)

 You must, for any skill, get to the right position in order to perform the skill with any level of proficiency.  The quick, down and dirty things I came up with for weightlifting are the following.

-Keep the bar over the center of base (foot) as best as possible.  The degree to which it moves away, creates inefficiency.  

-Get to the power position... shoulders slightly behind the bar, after the double knee bend with the torso upright.  To be honest, I am not sure it matters how you get to this position, as long as you do.

-Coach Mike Burgener always says to finish!  This means that once you get to the power position, "jump", "extend", "catapult" as hard as you can.  While the snatch and clean finish are slightly different, your shoulders should be well behind the bar before you start your pull under it. 

-overhead/rack position

-Overhead positon and rack position are a must for the snatch and clean respectively.  The overhead position for the snatch must have as much of an upright torso angle as you can muster.  The rack for the clean requires the the bar on the shoulders with high elbow. 

Positional Strength

You must have the strength to get to the above positions, so therefore, work accessory movements, as needed to improve weaknesses.  For the snatch and clean both, you must do some sort of pulls to strengthen the back off of the floor.  Also, for the clean and the jerk both.... squat.  Back squat and front squat... lots.

Progression

-Have a plan that involves a slow, methodical progression and then show up every day.  Add 2kg to your squat every week over the course of a year and you will get stronger.  This concept applies to both  lifts and accessory lifts.  Slowly get a little stronger every week.

Purpose

-Find something very tangible to train for.  A meet is ideal, because it has the added benefit of potential embarrassment.  If you have something that you believe in, you will be passionate and you will chase it.

Stuff You Should Read / Watch

The 80-90% Gap Program is an article written by the quite witty Matt Foreman.  He is a regular over at Catalyst Athletics.  The gist of the article is that sometimes it pays to just lift sub maximally for a while to allow you to work on other things in your program or life.  Good common sense article.

Competition makes everything better, so it is about time someone stepped up.  Jon North over at The Attitude Nation has just created the brand new American Weightlifting Federation.  This is a great way to make USA Weightlifting step their game a bit or just step aside.  The kickoff for the AWF will be January 2015 in Las Vegas.  Some of the high points of the event is a live DJ, great vendors, bar slamming, and the fact that you get to pick six songs to come out to, for all six attempts.  Time to move the sport forward!

Big lift by Jared Fleming

Pick Up a Broom and Sweep

When I was a teenager, and brighter than everyone, I worked for my father.  Like any young man without any responsibilities my work ethic left a lot to be desired.  My father “employed” me at that age for a few reasons, as best as I can tell.  First of all, for some reason, he wanted to spend time with me.  Additionally he enjoyed the cheap labor, as shoddy as it was.  Thirdly, he wanted to use these experiences as teachable periods.  The work was not the glamorous type you might expect in a old service station, but consisted of tearing down old drywall, putting up paneling, painting, cleaning, and putting down carpet.  One day while working a specific project, we discovered we were missing a necessary tool for the job.  Like any teenage boy, I decided to sit down and take a bit of a break to quietly complain about my tough life, under my breath.  After a couple of minutes, my father walked over and said something to me that has stuck with me for over 25 years.  He initiated the exchange by asking me what I was doing.  I explained that the tool we needed wouldn’t be to the worksite for about an hour, so I was waiting.  He told me, “son, there is always something to do, pick up that broom and sweep”.  I looked at the floor, and much to my chagrin he was right.  In fact it turns out, the floor was a mess, there were paintbrushes that needed a good rinsing, and a load of trash that needed to be taken out.  So I did what he said, and started sweeping.

That was a long way of saying to you all, that there is always some sort of constructive direction that you can take your life.  If you are in the middle of a heavy training cycle in your workouts, maybe extra time that you have needs to be spent on recovery of some sort: foam rolling, stretching, contrast baths.  If you watch five hours of television every night, just about anything you do instead of that will improve your life in some fashion.  Read a non fiction book, study how to invest for retirement, prepare meals for the week, learn to play a musical instrument, play with your children, talk to your spouse, work on your “honey do” list, work overtime, get a part time job, and the list could go on forever.  I am not hating on good old fashion leisure activities to escape for a bit, but keep them in check.  While playing your Xbox or whatever they have out these days is surely fun, it won’t make you a deeper person and certainly won’t bring you long-term happiness. So turn off the television, drop your gaming controller and do something that will make you happier in the long run.  In other words, “pick up a broom and sweep”!