Bar Path and the First Pull

Wanted to show using videos what I was talking about a fair bit this Sunday, which was the path the bar travels during the pull from the floor to the point of explosion. The sole purpose of the first pull is to get the bar from the floor into the optimum position for driving it explosively upwards. If the bar is not in the right position, then despite the lifter's best efforts at explosion and then the pull under, the bar will not land in the right place, either resulting in a miss, or a struggle to stand.

The bar must move slightly backwards and into the lifter as it rises during the first pull. To allow this, it must start over the middle of the foot (around the laces on the shoes), not right up on the shin. The lats should be engaged slightly in the start position to stop the bar drifting out. As the bar is lifted, the weight should be on the heels. The knees should be pushed back and flared out to the sides to move the bar upwards, with a focus on keeping the back angle exactly the same. Once the bar reaches the explosion point (mid-thigh on snatch, a bit lower on clean), then the jump/hip thrust is initiated to drive the bar upwards.

Watch the video below and note the path of the bar. It comes in on the first pull, then goes out slightly due to the explosive contact of the hips. Its movement is always upward primarily. The pull of the arms drives the lifter under and brings the bar back and over the centre of gravity.



In the below video, the bar path is forward off the floor. The lifter is too far over the bar, with his weight well on his toes and the pull is rushed. As a result, he jumps forward and has to fight to catch the bar. At a heavier weight, this would undoubtedly result in a missed lift.

Contacting the bar

In class today we spent a lot of time working on a good contact of the bar on the thighs in the clean and at the hip crease in the snatch. This slow-motion video demonstrates extremely well what I am talking about. Notice how, once the bar has passed the knees, the thighs are explosively driven against the bar as the torso moves back. This achieves the most powerful jumping position to propel the bar upwards. As soon as the aggressive contact occurs, the movement is reversed, flexing the hips hard and pulling under  the bar into a squat. This is what we want to achieve.

Hand Care for Weightlifters

Back to business as usual now with this brilliant video from Donny Shankle (US 105) and Glenn Pendlay (coach at CalStrength, home of some strong boys and girls) on hand care for weightlifters.

Training today

Snatch: 40x5, 60x5, 70x3, 80x3x3, 85, 90, 95, 100miss x2

Rack Jerk: 40x3, 60x3, 80x3, 100, 100, 110, 115, 115, 120, 110x2

FS: 60x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x5


Snatches felt solid today. Was very close to the magic 100 but missed it twice like a numpty. Will get that soon and more hopefully. Rack jerks were ok but still need to be more explosive in the drive.

Cycled to and from training as well in a bid to do more conditioning. This time last year I was preparing for the Crossfit Games and was probably at my peak in terms on fitness. This year I have been a bit lazy on that front, getting into Olympic Weightlifting more and neglecting my fitness. This has resulted in good strength gains but as one would expect, my conditioning has taken a knock.

Over the summer I intend to capitalise on this added strength and bring back the metcons more, hopefully building to some PBs by the end of the year. I will still work the olympic lifts a lot as I think these build strength, power and mobility better than anything else. I still intend to shoot for PBs by year's end, hopefully totalling around 250 and do a few BWLA comps along the way.

I've written a post on warming-up the shoulders which I will put up in the next few days. Just need to take a couple of photos for it.

Strong Cooking

I also enjoying cooking, mainly for the result. As we all know, if you want to be big and strong, you have to eat a lot of meat. This badass lamb shoulder cost about a tenner and should be good for about 6-7 meals.



Score and season it well, then chuck some rosemary sprigs and garlic gloves in a dish and put the lamb, fat side down, on top.




Cover with some baking parchment then some foil and stick in the oven at 170 degrees for four hours. Enjoy a some light refreshment while you wait.

Comes out really tender and you have stacks of nice meat to feast on after chucking some iron around.

First post, training focus today...

I want this blog to document my quest for strength and conditioning and also be a useful resource. S&C has been my interest for a while now and I hope that some of the knowledge I have got can be shared with others. I'll include my current training focus and thinking behind it (when there is some) and various online resources that I have made use of.

Training today:
Rack Jerks: up to 100x3 and 110x3 - shoulders were hurting a bit and was faffing with new technique so left it here

Back Squat: up to 170x1, missed 185 - was chasing a gym record but missed it.

The squat failure gives me my first topic, which is sticking points. Mine is just above parallel; I can drive up out of the whole but get stuck here and can't complete the rep. The cure for this is doing lifts from a dead stop position, starting at your sticking point. Get the bar in a power rack or on blocks, get under it, and stand up. I have never tried this, but the theory seems sound, so I will give it a go and see if it's good for some PBs. Strongmen are fans of deadstop front squats for building strength for atlas stones, so it must have some merit.

Just while I'm posting, I'll chuck up my stats:
BW 87kg
Snatch 95
C+J 125
Clean 135
Power Snatch 87.5
Back squat 180
Front Squat 160
Bench 120
Push press 97.5
Weighted chin +50kg
Max ring muscleups: 8
Max handstand pressups: 13