Olympic lifting is a great way to train for strength and power. You should be able to teach the OL’s in 20 minutes. Teach the Snatch before the Clean and Jerk. Never go above 6 reps for Olympic lifts. Events lasting less than 10 seconds – 50% of training volume should include Olympic lifts. Other events there should be a 3:1 ratio for OL’s
Snatch
The snatch is basically a vertical jump, all team sports require a vertical jump.
· Grip – bend over and tuck bar into hip – comfortable grip with the elbows locked. At nipple height the elbows should be at 90 degrees.
· Elbows point in the same directions as the sleeves of the bar (you shouldn’t be able to do a reverse curl.
· Start with 5kg or 10kg bar for technique.
· Shrug 3 x 6 (begin to make it explosive).
· Shrug with upright row. Bar should get to nipple height. The bar should be close to the body throughout, if not = tight ER’s
· Stretch ER’s – javelin throwers stretch – 3 x 8 seconds at 60%, 1 x 15 seconds contraction in direction of stretch, 1 x 2 second contraction to reset the muscle.
· Shrug and upright row fast, 3 x 6.
· Flip and catch – shrug, upright row and then ER the bar above the head. Make it one smooth movement, then make it fast.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug and calf raise 6 reps.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug, upright row and calf raise 6 reps.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug and jump 5 x 6 reps. The aim is to jump straight up in the air. Start with feet shoulder width apart.
· Bent over to just above knee cap – shrug and jump x 6 reps.
· Bent over to 2cm below knee – shrug and jump x 6 reps.
· Keep working 2cm lower each time until pulling from the floor.
· Now repeat from mid thigh the full movement with flip and catch.
· There are 6 positions 1) high hang, 2) mid thigh, 3) above knee, 4) below knee, 5)mid shin, 6) floor. Progressive ROM snatch = 6 reps one from each position, start from high hang and end on the floor.
Dead lift slowly from the floor – the second pull begins from the knees.
If balanced your snatch (power snatch) should be 78% of clean (power clean). Using a tendo unit on the bar determines bar velocity. Snatch from blocks should be 0.8 seconds, or you could look at where they peak with Watt output and use that load to train with. Weak snatch = weak hamstring, therefore use the reverse hyper, incline hyper, back extension, good morning, seated good morning, Russian good morning, snatch dead lift, Romanian deadlifts, leg curls to fix it.
Clean
This is a heavier version of the snatch with a narrow grip
· Grip – the index fingers are just outside the VL
· Elbows point in the same directions as the sleeves of the bar (you shouldn’t be able to do a reverse curl.
· Start with 5kg or 10kg bar for technique.
· Shrug 3 x 6 (begin to make it explosive).
· Shrug with upright row. Bar should get to 3 fingers above the belly button height. The bar should be close to the body throughout, if not = tight ER’s
· Stretch ER’s – javelin throwers stretch – 3 x 8 seconds at 60%, 1 x 15 seconds contraction in direction of stretch, 1 x 2 second contraction to reset the muscle.
· Shrug and upright row fast, 3 x 6.
· Flip and catch – shrug, upright row and then ER the bar to shoulders, catch in front squat position. Make it one smooth movement, then make it fast.
· Hand drill – hand on thighs in short stop position, jump, shrug and drag hands up thighs x 3
· Clean shrug (work on getting on toes)
· Clean pull x 6 (should get 3 fingers width above the belly button)
· High pull x 6 (bar gets to nipple height)
· Clean from high hang x 3
· Progressive ROM power clean (6 positions)
If ripping off the floor get them to do 3 seconds DL to knees then pull
Dead lift slowly from the floor – the second pull begins from the knees.
If athlete is cutting the pull
1. tie their shoe laces together so they can’t split their feet
2. Pull from the high hang position
3. Work on the last 15 degrees of back extension / DL’s
Don’t coach – give an exercise that fixes the problem.
A quick way to hypertrophy is to use OL’s for sets of 6
Jerk
Precursor is the Military press. Overhead press is the most neglected lift.
Need to do overhead pressing cycle before doing jerks, 6-8 weeks.
· 3 weeks of DB press
· 3 weeks of standing BB press
· Push press. Fingers just outside the delts, chest up, elbows at 45 degrees.
· Push jerk (Ram it through the roof)
· Jerk heave (push bar to hairline) 110% of push jerk, good to increase vertical jump.
· Split jerk – never more than 3 reps. Usually lead with strongest leg, however alternate legs. To recover take 2 small steps back with lead leg, then 1 large step forward with trail leg.
· Sots press (Military press but from bottom of front squat)
Pierre Roy squat is a great hamstring builder, it’s good for weak hamstrings : ratio. If you do this, this is your squat workout, could pair that with 45 degrees back extn. Functional hypertrophy – no more than 6 reps.
Snatch – average man 80kg should clean and jerk 125-130kg, snatch should be 78% of that. Power clean / snatch should be 90% of full lift. Power snatch of 90kg for 80kg man would be good.
If you need to be taught the Olympic lifts or pick up an injury you’ll need to see a physio to sort you out.
Snatch
The snatch is basically a vertical jump, all team sports require a vertical jump.
· Grip – bend over and tuck bar into hip – comfortable grip with the elbows locked. At nipple height the elbows should be at 90 degrees.
· Elbows point in the same directions as the sleeves of the bar (you shouldn’t be able to do a reverse curl.
· Start with 5kg or 10kg bar for technique.
· Shrug 3 x 6 (begin to make it explosive).
· Shrug with upright row. Bar should get to nipple height. The bar should be close to the body throughout, if not = tight ER’s
· Stretch ER’s – javelin throwers stretch – 3 x 8 seconds at 60%, 1 x 15 seconds contraction in direction of stretch, 1 x 2 second contraction to reset the muscle.
· Shrug and upright row fast, 3 x 6.
· Flip and catch – shrug, upright row and then ER the bar above the head. Make it one smooth movement, then make it fast.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug and calf raise 6 reps.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug, upright row and calf raise 6 reps.
· Bent over to mid thigh – shrug and jump 5 x 6 reps. The aim is to jump straight up in the air. Start with feet shoulder width apart.
· Bent over to just above knee cap – shrug and jump x 6 reps.
· Bent over to 2cm below knee – shrug and jump x 6 reps.
· Keep working 2cm lower each time until pulling from the floor.
· Now repeat from mid thigh the full movement with flip and catch.
· There are 6 positions 1) high hang, 2) mid thigh, 3) above knee, 4) below knee, 5)mid shin, 6) floor. Progressive ROM snatch = 6 reps one from each position, start from high hang and end on the floor.
Dead lift slowly from the floor – the second pull begins from the knees.
If balanced your snatch (power snatch) should be 78% of clean (power clean). Using a tendo unit on the bar determines bar velocity. Snatch from blocks should be 0.8 seconds, or you could look at where they peak with Watt output and use that load to train with. Weak snatch = weak hamstring, therefore use the reverse hyper, incline hyper, back extension, good morning, seated good morning, Russian good morning, snatch dead lift, Romanian deadlifts, leg curls to fix it.
Clean
This is a heavier version of the snatch with a narrow grip
· Grip – the index fingers are just outside the VL
· Elbows point in the same directions as the sleeves of the bar (you shouldn’t be able to do a reverse curl.
· Start with 5kg or 10kg bar for technique.
· Shrug 3 x 6 (begin to make it explosive).
· Shrug with upright row. Bar should get to 3 fingers above the belly button height. The bar should be close to the body throughout, if not = tight ER’s
· Stretch ER’s – javelin throwers stretch – 3 x 8 seconds at 60%, 1 x 15 seconds contraction in direction of stretch, 1 x 2 second contraction to reset the muscle.
· Shrug and upright row fast, 3 x 6.
· Flip and catch – shrug, upright row and then ER the bar to shoulders, catch in front squat position. Make it one smooth movement, then make it fast.
· Hand drill – hand on thighs in short stop position, jump, shrug and drag hands up thighs x 3
· Clean shrug (work on getting on toes)
· Clean pull x 6 (should get 3 fingers width above the belly button)
· High pull x 6 (bar gets to nipple height)
· Clean from high hang x 3
· Progressive ROM power clean (6 positions)
If ripping off the floor get them to do 3 seconds DL to knees then pull
Dead lift slowly from the floor – the second pull begins from the knees.
If athlete is cutting the pull
1. tie their shoe laces together so they can’t split their feet
2. Pull from the high hang position
3. Work on the last 15 degrees of back extension / DL’s
Don’t coach – give an exercise that fixes the problem.
A quick way to hypertrophy is to use OL’s for sets of 6
Jerk
Precursor is the Military press. Overhead press is the most neglected lift.
Need to do overhead pressing cycle before doing jerks, 6-8 weeks.
· 3 weeks of DB press
· 3 weeks of standing BB press
· Push press. Fingers just outside the delts, chest up, elbows at 45 degrees.
· Push jerk (Ram it through the roof)
· Jerk heave (push bar to hairline) 110% of push jerk, good to increase vertical jump.
· Split jerk – never more than 3 reps. Usually lead with strongest leg, however alternate legs. To recover take 2 small steps back with lead leg, then 1 large step forward with trail leg.
· Sots press (Military press but from bottom of front squat)
Pierre Roy squat is a great hamstring builder, it’s good for weak hamstrings : ratio. If you do this, this is your squat workout, could pair that with 45 degrees back extn. Functional hypertrophy – no more than 6 reps.
Snatch – average man 80kg should clean and jerk 125-130kg, snatch should be 78% of that. Power clean / snatch should be 90% of full lift. Power snatch of 90kg for 80kg man would be good.
If you need to be taught the Olympic lifts or pick up an injury you’ll need to see a physio to sort you out.