Happy Birthday Ashley W!

Greg Everett, owner of Catalyst Athletics in Sunnyvale, CA and lead author/editor for the the Performance Menu, recently posted a free article on his website entitled “Six Truths of Weightlifting Technique”. He has sifted through the differing opinions on weightlifting technique and focuses on the six areas that any coach worth their salt can agree on.  As we approach the 2013 Intrepid Invitational Weightlifting competition on Dec 7th, here is some food for thought:

1. The Lifter and the Barbell System Must Remain Balanced over the Feet.-If the combined center of gravity gets too far forward or too far back, balance is disturbed, and the lift will suffer.
2. The Lifter and the Barbell Must Remain in Close Proximity to Each Other-Keeping the bar close may feel more challenging at first, but it maximizes your power and keeps the bar in a better position to receive.
3. There Must Be No Time Wasted at the Top of the Pull-There’s never a dull moment on the bar, so don’t hang out at the top of your pull waiting for your friend to take a picture for your next profile pic.  Get yourself down and around the bar (see #4).
4. The Relocation Under the Bar is an Active Movement-As your feet leave contact from the ground, the pulling motion on the bar helps you actively relocate under the bar.  This active pull under should bring your shoulders down to the bar as in a clean or underneath the bar enough to achieve lockout overhead as in a snatch and jerk, after which you transition into a full receiving position (see #5).
5. The Receiving Position Must Be Stable and Strong- All too often a weak or unstable receiving position nullifies all the hard work done to get the bar to that point.  An example of this I commonly see looks like the chest and upper back slumping forward causing the clean to slide off the shoulders or the bar to drift and ultimately dump forward in the snatch.  If your clean, snatch, or jerk receiving positions are in jeopardy address the weak link as training around issues is only going to get you so far.
6. Consistency is More Important than the Actual Technique Style-Greg’s caveat here is that as long as they overarching technique is within the acceptable range, every lifter is likely to have slight variations in their style.  As a coach and as a lifter it is important to recognize this fact instead of making every lifter a mirror image of one another.

The above are simply my thoughts as they relate to Greg’s points, but get his take by reading his full article found here.  Each month Greg publishes articles relevant to improving your athletic performance in the Performance Menu.  If you haven’t already subscribed please consider it as it’ll be the best value $30 has gotten you in a long time.

With Weightlifting classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday be sure to take advantage of your free class by emailing Sean or Ruth with the day/time you’d like to attend.

WOD 10.14.13

Bench Press 3×5/Wendler 5-3-1

3 Rounds For Time:
15 Toes to Bar
15 Shoulder to Overhead (115/85)
15 Bar Facing Burpees
*Workout Courtesy of CrossFit Central*