Today our new strength and conditioning interns at TCU got their first taste of the olympic lifts. They learned the progressions to the lifts, coaching cues, and how to perform the lifts themselves. Over the next several weeks they will work on perfecting their technique with each lift and its variations as well as learn how to coach and correct errors in the lifts. This group actually did impressive job. It was probably picked up faster than any other group of interns that we’ve had, and some of them had never cleaned before.
So tonight I thought I would post a link to a YouTube channel. Coach Manuel Buitrago has put together an excellent resource on the olympic lifts and various drills to improve technique in the lifts. Make sure you check out the demo’s as there is a lot of information on correcting each portion of the various lifts. A great resource.
http://www.youtube.com/user/mhbuitrago#p/a/u/0/oaFyOKD58JI
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When you watch the olympic lifts, notice the speed change at the mid thigh level. Too many times athletes pull as hard as they can through the entire lift. Use a controlled tempo until the bar reaches the mid/upper thigh and then explode.
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Notice that he doesn’t jump in his clean technique. The triple extension of the ankle happens somewhat naturally and jumping up and stomping the feet shouldn’t happen. Now, there is a loud stomp, but the coach is dropping under the bar so quickly it causes his heeled shoes to make that noise. He isn’t trying to jump and stomp the ground. This throws off coordination of the lift and causes problems.