Hey - gonna learn Olympic lifting

[slinky]

Steel: Well then, give The Bear a shot. But try it with a bar first. Form and timing is very important with this exercise. Here's the link that explains The Bear (scroll down a bit for discription and pictures).

http://www.renegadetraining.com/10_02_02/index.html

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks for the link slinky I'll try it once I've figured out the broomstick hang, hee hee.

I had my first session last night - it was great - we just worked with a broomstick at first, got the grip right, then worked on the 2nd pull of the snatch - just that central portion of the upward explosion.

Then did some front squats. Easy, for now. I see him again Friday.

But get this - I swear I must be the most charmed chick in the universe - somehow every time I make a few enquiries about trainers, I manage to turn up some pro .... This guy spent a great deal of time working with none other than ..... Louie Simmons!!! And not only that, but Fred Hatfield too! He was the PL coach for the SA paralympic team in Sydney, and was the coach for the most recent female weightlifting champ, who has now taking up boxing instead. And he says he knows plenty of people who could teach me wrestling Wow, if I wasn't stoked before, now I'm burning!

 

[SteelWeaver]

A little update:

Girls, if you haven't tried OL, I suggest you head on down to the nearest coach or whoever you can find, and LEARN! This is the most fun I've had in ages, and I usually have a LOT of fun training. Wow - what incredibly demanding but fun moves!

So far I'm up to doing hang snatches & jerks with the bar and even a few small weights (! ha ha), and we started the first pull for the snatch on Tuesday. This move gave me the most trouble I've had so far, since I feel I can't keep my back completely flat at the bottom part because of the wide grip - but my last few sets were much better than my first few, so obviously this is just a practice thing.

We also started cleans last week - these were REAL fun. My coach somehow was also really impressed - he told me my form was awesome for a first timer, and was pleased with what I'd achieved by the end of the workout. Sure - he may just be flattering me - but so what - I personally felt I did the moves well, so that's OK.

The only thing that's a bit confusing is that the first pull for both moves starts with the bar over the balls of the feet, but I'm so used to DL'ing with the bar close to my shins to start, I tend to forget.

Oh, and my front and back squats are going up, up

Wha hoo! I'm going to be super strong!

 

[Realgains]

Thats great!

They will teach you how to do deep high bar squats. Some of the very best quads I have ever seen have been on Olympic lifters.

RG

 

[JJFigure]

Aren't hang cleans just a blast? I haven't learned the snatch yet, but that's next on my list. Keep us updated; I'm curious to hear how your OLY training proceeds...

 

[slinky]

Hang cleans are great. Actually I love just about any type of clean or snatch. Right now, really working with the one arm snatch.

 

[pwr_machine]

USA Weightlifting offers certification courses/seminars across the nation. I went through the training and received a Club Coach certification about 3 years ago. That's another way to increase your experience and credentials.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Yes, RG - the first thing coach said when he saw me squat is - you're leaning too far forward and your stance is too wide, and the bar is too low on your back - you're powerlifting - this is weightlifting. So he's fixed that, and you know - it feels good. And better than that, I'm now doing narrower stance squats WAAAAAYY down - all the way down - butt on achilles - I used to cut it a bit when things got heavy, but having a coach means no cheating at all. The truth is - he said it's not really that important to go that low - that I should go as low as I feel comfortable with, but this is comfortable! And even better than all of that is my squat, back and front, has JUMPED!!! - I'm up 10 kilos on the back squat and a bit less on front in less than a month! And this is squatting about 3 times a week!

I did full cleans and jerks tonight for the first time - what a pleasure - to put it all together. It feels so natural. I think I'm in love with the clean and jerk. The snatch is ok, but needs more work.

One thing I WILL say - DAMN my shoulders are sore! You can't see the bruises yet, but they're there, and there's a huge black one on my collar bone. Nothing like a heavy bar dropping onto your shoulders over and over again

What's a one arm snatch slinky?

Pwr machine - I'd like to do that, but I live in South Africa, so not now

 

[slinky]

Steal:

One Arm Snatch is a snatch performed with one arm

My BF is performing them with a full barbell; while I'm using the short barbell and am up to 40-45lb DB's when I use a DB.

Once you really perfect the form of the clean, expect to no longer see the bruises.

 

[bignate73]

USA Weightlifting offers certification courses/seminars across the nation. I went through the training and received a Club Coach certification about 3 years ago. That's another way to increase your experience and credentials.

its pretty cheap to head to colorado and take it out there. airfare and the certification fee, room and board is covered i think.