Olympic weightlifting is a demanding sport to say the least. If you didn't just stumble on to this blog then you probably already know that mastery of the sport might take decades if not more. But as with other hard things in life, the ride gets smoother when certain basic principles are followed. In this article we focus on the aspects that usually go un noticed amidst the chaos of bar drops, chalk and the banter in between sets.
I would like to introduce you to what our team refers to as the "A,B,C of Olympic lifting". These three principles form the very foundation of the teaching methods that I use. whenever a lifter is having a hard time learning or mastering a specific portion of the lift, be it receiving the bar in a clean, locking out a heavy snatch or dipping before the jerk, it is usually because one or more of these principles are being violated. The violation could either be intentional (lifter wasn't focussed fully) or unintentional (weight was too heavy and it "got in the lifters head"). But that is always not the problem. Sometimes it is worse. And it is that a lot of lifters are unaware of these and end up not being able to progress or going around in circles once past a certain weight. Without further ado let's start with A,B,C of olympic lifting:
(A)ctive :
Olmpic lifting is a sport where nothing just happens. You *actively* make things happen. What does that mean really? Well it means that when you are up against the mighty gravity and the bully barbell, you cannot afford to "relax" for a single moment. Let's take the clean for the example. Let's say you've initiated the second pull and are ready to receive the weight on to your shoulders. The incorrect (passive) way of going about it would be by loosely holding on to the bar (or worse, releasing the grip) and chasing the weight in an attempt to "catch" it. This is absolutely wrong and an easy way to (1) injure your clavicle and (2) lower your chances of making the lift. The correct way, in this case is referred to by most coaches as the "pull under and turnover". It's a vigorous (active) "pull towards" the barbell, then creating a "shelve" by raising the shoulders and finally finishing by wrapping your elbows fast around the bar. When executed properly, it is a thing of beauty.
(B)racing and (B)alance:
The importance of bracing in olympic lifting cannot be stressed enough. If you've been bracing incorrectly like most people, you know by now that it is no easy task to do it properly. The problem I see is two fold, first is most people brace incorrectly by only doing a superficial bracing (i.e. without deep core muscles). Second, that being an ineffecient way to brace, it is really hard to stay braced as one goes from one position to the next. If you are are not convinced watch this video of Lu Xiaojun cleaning 200kg . Notice how his "core" doesn't move an inch during the entire lift. And stays in place. It's impossible to only use superficial muscles (rectus abdominis, obliques etc) and maintain a 360 degree brace like so. However if you have proper control of deep core muscles, it is possible to maintain the integrity of the core as a whole. The other key aspect you'd want to memorize for the letter B would be balance. It is really important to maintain your balance over your foot. Once you take care of balance, stability follows suit. Remember being mobile is just one half of the solution, what you're really after is being mobile *and* maintaining stability. And the key for that is in maintaining an even balance over your entire boot. Next time you hear someone yell "heels, heels, heels", ignore them!
(C)ontrol and (C)onnection:
Although alphabetically this comes in third, this is perhaps the most important and allows one to master the above two. Staying connected and controlling the weight from the start to finish and as you move from one position to the next, will determine not just make or miss but the overall quality of the lift. To really "own" a weight, you have to stay connected and control the weight well. Sounds simple right? Well not really. And this is because *how* much control is needed, is the key. Too much of "control" can result in "muscling" of the weight (and can cause arm bends, slow turnover, less powerful second pull, bleeding blisters etc). Going too soft can cause lockout problems, ineffective or weak turnover and even result in a weak arch.
So next time you touch the barbell to begin warming up for a session, repeat these to yourself and allow your mind to really absorb these. So that when it comes to weights that matter, you execute instead of trying to talk yourself out of the lift.