Push the barbell from the chest as a lead-in exercise. Force! Here's the recipe for your mass! How to increase strength in the snatch

You've already heard about the latest sensation in sports medicine. It turns out that the growth of muscle mass is preceded by an increase in the number of motor bodies in the muscle. What it is? Have you heard about transformers? This is the same thing, but only in the nerves. Not understood? Then let's start from the beginning. What does a muscle consist of, do you know? From muscle fibers. How does a muscle grow? Does it have more muscle fibers? No, not at all like that. Their number is given by nature. Then why does the same weightlifter become stronger? An increasingly powerful nerve signal enters the muscle, that's how! Well, the relationship between muscle strength and signal power is direct. Just like in electrical engineering, the higher the current, the more powerful the electric motor. The problem with a nerve signal is the same as with a current. Both fade away with distance. The electricians found a way out. Transformers are placed along the current path. They receive the weakened signal, increase it to the required level and send it further to the next transformer. Thanks to transformers, power plants supply energy to cities thousands of kilometers away. With nerves, the order of distances is different, but the task is the same: to deliver a signal from the brain to the muscle with a minimum of losses. For this case, nature came up with motor bodies. Just like transformers, they maintain the strength of the nerve signal throughout its long and winding path into the muscle.

So, the training effect in weightlifting comes down to the body increasing the number of motor bodies in the muscles! The more there are, the higher the nerve signal, the more nerve fibers it activates. Well, the more muscle fibers working in a muscle, the stronger it is. That's how it all works! A strongman bombs a muscle, and in order to “lighten” the load and adapt, it multiplies its motor bodies! It is curious that our body responds with such a reaction at any age, even at 90 years old! That is why the decrease muscle strength minimal with age. Contrary to the opinion of amateurs strength training- this is not at all the prerogative of youth. Start training at 40 years old and in a couple of years you will also be setting records. Let's get back to bodybuilding. A well-known rule: the heavier the weight, the more fibers the muscle turns on to overcome it. But in bodybuilding the weights are just small. It turns out that the bodybuilder is vitally interested in increasing the number of motor bodies in the muscle. After all, the more there are, the more fibers will be connected to muscle effort. There is a direct analogy here with the same thing in electrical engineering: if current is supplied to the lamp, it shines. If not, then no matter how much you flip the switch, there will be no miracle!

And now about the main thing. Our bodybuilding training with a number of repetitions exceeding 8-10 does not in any way stimulate the growth of the number of motor bodies. Now do you understand? You start swinging, increase your strength, and then hit a blank wall. Capacity growth resources muscle contraction exhausted: motor bodies are not arriving!

How to be? Sports doctors gave the answer. A bodybuilder must practice brutal strength training in order to increase the number of motor bodies. After 3-6 weeks of such hellish work, he returns to his usual training regimen, and the muscles literally explode with new growth!

For those who do not understand well, I will explain. Our training thickens muscle fibers, that’s all. Due to this thickening, the muscle becomes larger. But our relatively light weights force only part of the muscle fibers to work. They grow in diameter. Newly born motor bodies “connect” new muscle fibers to work, thereby opening up additional growth resources for you. The more fibers thicken, the greater its total growth! It's clear?

What are the conclusions? Periods of traditional “pumping” should be interspersed with brute strength work. You can, of course, make it up for yourself strength program, from bench presses, deadlifts, etc., however, in this article we recommend that you train like a weightlifter with straight puts. Yes, the same cleans, jerks, jerks, and some other specifics.

The highlight of this training is that everything here is done in an “explosive” style. Well, any sudden movement, of course, depends on the power of the nerve signal. This is where the growth of purely motor bodies comes from.

A well-known rule in sports is: you get what you train. Slow pace exercises and separate muscle training often turn a bodybuilder into a clumsy hulk. Those who have mastered jerks well and barbell jerks, automatically make excellent jumpers and sprinters. This means that you, having mastered weightlifting exercises, will be able to awaken the real athlete within you. And this quality, you see, is as valuable as impressive muscle mass.

How to tune in to strength

One of the most simple ways- this is to break your “Olympic” program into three parts so that each of your workouts is based on the same type of movements - presses, deadlifts or squats. This way, you will maintain a split pattern for your training, loading different muscle groups on different days.

For example, on a “pull” day (Monday), start your workout with barbell cleans and/or snatches. Both of these exercises are essentially rowing exercises that work the back muscles, shoulders, biceps and legs. Then move on to your standard pulling movements, including deadlifts and bicep curls.

On a "press" day (Wednesday), start the program with clean and jerks, which are the same muscle groups as the presses - deltoids, chest and triceps. Continue the training with regular presses - lying, sitting, etc. It is clear that after pushing a record in the bench press there is nothing to expect, however, upon returning to the classic “pumping”, believe me, you will improve greatly in this exercise. Finally, on leg day (Friday), start with barbell jumping jacks and then move on to regular squats and leg presses. The hamstrings can be “finished off” either on a “push” or on a “leg” day (Wednesday or Friday, respectively).

The snatch and clean and jerk are classic exercises performed in weightlifting competitions. They not only require physical strength, but also high level coordination. When working with heavy weights, a clear understanding of the physics of movements and practicing the correct technique becomes the main component of success.

Both the barbell snatch and the clean and jerk are complex multi-component exercises. Each phase of the barbell movement during their execution has its own name. This is done for convenience and a better understanding of the physics of movement. Let's look at these phases further.

Snatch and Jerk Phases

• Half squat is a small squat.
• Ejection is a sharp upward push of the projectile.
• Squatting - going under the barbell.
• Squat raise – final raise with the barbell at outstretched arms.
• Fixation is the end of the movement.

Jerk

This is the first exercise performed in a weightlifting or powerlifting competition. Next, the jerk technique will be considered, including the features of performing each of its phases.

Start

In the starting position, the athlete stands in front of the apparatus so that his shoulders are strictly above the bar, and his toes are under it. The feet are shoulder-width apart, the pelvis is laid back, there is a natural arch in the lower back, and the gaze is directed forward. Slight differences are allowed starting position depending on the height and proportions of the athlete’s body.

The barbell is grasped with a lock grip. The legs, body, arms and apparatus must form a single rigid frame.

Traction

The bar lifts off the floor due to the powerful force of the legs and back and rises above the level of the knees. The bar moves along the legs not vertically, but slightly towards itself. The arms and back are absolutely straight in this phase of the movement. Lifting the bar from the platform occurs calmly, then the speed of the projectile increases sharply.

Detonation

This is the moment of accelerating the projectile due to the full extension of the legs and straightening of the body, reaching out onto the toes. The effort must be sharp and powerful. Arms are still straight. During the lift, the athlete tilts his torso back and raises his shoulders.

Podsed (care)

Thanks to the acceleration applied at the detonation stage, the bar, as they say, flies up. In this phase, the athlete must quickly get under it. When the bar has lost acceleration and is already moving downwards, it is much more difficult to accept it.

During this phase of the movement, the back remains arched and the pelvis is laid back. Hands actively interact with the projectile. The athlete takes the barbell with outstretched arms (when performing a snatch) or on the chest (if a push is planned next).

The athlete’s legs can be in different positions:

• Low squat (legged), hips pressed to the stomach.
• Scissors, one leg in front, one leg behind, as in a deep lunge.

Correct and quick squatting creates an optimal “base” for subsequent lifting.

Squat rise

Immediately from the squat, due to the powerful force of the leg muscles, the athlete rises to a vertical position. The pelvis moves along a trajectory from bottom to top and slightly back, the back remains arched.

Fixation

The athlete takes the final position, clearly fixing the apparatus on outstretched arms (in the case of a jerk) or on the chest (if a push is then performed).

Push

This exercise is performed second in a weightlifting competition. To perform a push, the athlete rises after squatting and fixes the position. In this case, the body should be strictly vertical, maintaining a deflection in the lower back, the feet should be spaced wider than the shoulders, the position should be as stable as possible. The elbows are brought forward, and the pelvis is moved back slightly. The bar of the bar lies on the chest, the head is slightly abducted, the gaze is directed slightly above the horizontal.

Half-squat

The athlete squats shallowly, moving the pelvis back, but maintaining a vertical body position. The movement should not be performed too quickly, as in this case the bar will come off the chest and a powerful push will not work. It is necessary to use the elastic properties of the projectile. A deep squat in this phase of the exercise will also significantly complicate the subsequent push-out, so there is no need to bend your knees too much.

Pushing

Immediately from a half-squat position, the athlete, with a sharp and powerful movement, pushes the projectile vertically upward. The phase ends with almost full extension of the legs, stepping onto the toes and raising the shoulders. The bar is given a sharp acceleration, as in the case of the “undermining” discussed earlier.

Podsed

As the bar moves upward, the athlete quickly moves underneath it, extending his arms and accepting the barbell to complete the movement. Just as in the case of the snatch, the position of the legs in the squat can be either “spread” or “scissors”.

Squat rise

Exit to vertical position. The barbell is held behind the head with outstretched arms, the body is straight, there is a deflection in the lower back, the pelvis is slightly laid back. The gaze is directed horizontally.

Fixation

The athlete completes the exercise.

Working muscles

In conclusion, we can say that weightlifting is called such for a reason. The point is that both the snatch and the clean and jerk require excellent physical training, developed muscles and good coordination skills. When performing these compound exercises, the whole body works, and the muscles of the back, legs, arms and shoulders receive the greatest load.

Beginner athletes should refrain from performing these competitive exercises. First of all, you should start mastering deadlifts, bench presses and squats.

Variations of various strength exercises used in crossfit. In particular, an exercise such as a hanging snatch, etc. The weight used in this case, of course, is less than in weightlifting.

Barbell Chest Push

Stabilizing muscles

• The erector spinae and quadratus lumborum muscles are important dynamic stabilizers that keep the spine straight. Additional stabilizing muscles include:

• Shoulder blades: Lower and middle parts of trapezius muscles; muscles that lift the scapulae; rhomboid muscles, serratus anterior muscles.

• Hands: Rotator carpi muscles, deltoids and arm muscles.

• Torso: Abdominal group.

• Hips: Medium and small gluteal muscles; deep muscles, externally rotating the hips; a group of adductor muscles.

• Upper legs: Rectus femoris muscle group back surface hips.

• Lower legs: Stabilizing muscles ankle joints, tibialis anterior muscles, gastrocnemius muscles.

Level of training: intermediate, advanced.

One of the most important exercises In many power types sports It is actively used in kettlebell lifting and weightlifting. IN olympic competitions weightlifting includes two exercises that require “explosive” efforts: the “barbell push” and the “barbell snatch.” “Push the barbell from the chest” is the second phase of the exercise, performed after the “undermining and lifting the barbell to the chest.”

PUSH THE BAR CORRECTLY

The bar needs to be pushed out, not squeezed. When pushing the projectile up, try to give it more acceleration. The essence of the movement is the coordinated, speedy and precise work of all participating muscles.

Do not hold the barbell in the upper position. To protect against injuries, you can use wristbands and an athletic belt.

Step 1. Lift the barbell from the floor or remove it from the racks. Starting position: feet slightly wider than shoulders, the barbell is in bent arms on the chest. The grip width should be such that your forearms are as parallel to each other as possible. Elbows point down and slightly forward. The abdominal and back muscles are tense, ensuring correct posture.

Step 2. Before starting the movement, bend your knees and sit under the barbell.

Step 3. Inhaling and simultaneously straightening your legs, push the barbell up with a powerful force until your arms are fully extended. Then exhale at the top point of the amplitude.

Step 4. Lower the barbell while inhaling to the starting position. At the end point, sit down as last phase the first repetition will be the starting position and the first phase of the next one.

You can replace the barbell with dumbbells, but this will significantly complicate the movement. Holding 2 dumbbells, say 20 kg each, is much heavier than holding a 40 kg barbell.

Tips on proper exercise technique:

• Get proper instruction and ask for a visual demonstration of the technique of performing the exercise.

• Master correct technique perform movements before increasing the weight of the weight.

• Keep your chest and shoulders back.

• Maintain a stable and balanced posture.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WEIGHT

It is very important to choose a weight that is right for you. Properly calculated weight and correctly selected equipment minimize the risk of serious injury.

Hi all! Do you do basic bodybuilding exercises? Well, yes, a stupid question, especially if you are a serious bodybuilder. Without the bench press, squats, deadlifts and standing chest presses, it is difficult to imagine true bodybuilding in its classic form.

The base is like the main dish, everything else is just seasoning. But still, you shouldn’t be fanatical about it. Many outstanding athletes completely exclude some basic exercises.

They will be very useful to you, especially if you cannot squat with a barbell for any reason. But let's once again pay attention to the most basic exercises in bodybuilding and, perhaps, in this article you will learn something new for yourself regarding these exercises.

The barbell push from the chest is a super exercise for mass!

This exercise is considered basic and perfectly builds all muscles. shoulder girdle, as well as the back and legs. Moreover, this exercise alone can significantly increase the volume of lean muscle mass. To be specific:

By setting a goal and working according to a clear training plan, you can add 10-15 kg in a year. lean muscle mass with just this one exercise!

It is unlikely that everyone involved in bodybuilding will succeed in this, but those who have put this exercise at a serious level in their training and who train selflessly show exactly these numbers.

This is exactly the result that beginner weightlifters often show. This exercise is divided into 2 stages. First, you throw the barbell over your chest, thereby working your legs and back. Then, with a sharp push, you lift the barbell up onto your straight arms, working all the muscles of the shoulder girdle.

Let's get technical correct execution exercises:

1st phase: To begin, squat down and grab the barbell as if you were going to perform deadlift. Just take the barbell not with an uneven grip, but with your palms facing you.

The lower back should be arched, and the back should not be rounded under any circumstances. You begin to lift the barbell purely by straightening your legs. When the bar rises above the knees, you will need to lift the bar.

2nd phase: At this stage, you need to strongly straighten your body and move your shoulders to give momentum to the upward movement of the barbell.

3rd phase: You need to rotate your hands and sit under the barbell, which will already be pulled down after the jerking movement of your shoulders. Take the barbell to your chest and stand completely straight.

4th phase: Without any pause, you need to bend your knees and push the barbell up, while simultaneously applying effort with your legs and arms. Raise the barbell above your head with straight arms and also without pausing, throw the barbell onto the floor (just not on concrete, like in my basement).

Leg training

Legs are quite a difficult thing to pump up. The muscle fibers of the leg muscles may be poorly developed in many beginning athletes. There could be a lot of reasons for this. This is a feature of the muscle fibers themselves, which react to heavy weights and explosive training, and insufficient knowledge in this area and laziness, etc. But that’s not about that now.

The specific tips given below should help everyone who puts them into practice to increase muscle mass legs This is a universal protocol for successful training legs:

• It is advisable to train your legs on the very first day of your training week(Monday or Tuesday) separately from all muscle groups.
• Quadriceps need to be trained in pumping mode, and this means a minimum of 12-15 repetitions per set. On the contrary, the buttocks and biceps of the thighs need to be “bombed” with a small number of repetitions; they respond well to this. Namely 4-6 repetitions with heavy weight.
• At the end of the week Special attention pay attention to the biceps of the thighs and work them out in the next workout.
• Do specific workouts once a week, if possible. During such leg training, you will need to jump on high supports, run on short distances at a powerful pace, jump forward and upward from a standing position. This is a fundamentally different workout for your legs and it affects them in a special way.

Bench press

Bodybuilding experts who have studied muscle function during the bench press have noticed that during this basic exercise, the muscles of the upper back are subject to static tension. This is necessary in order to ensure stabilization of the arms. Exactly the same role is played by the triceps, which tense statically at the very beginning of the exercise. This tension helps keep your elbows bent at right angles. But since the force of static tension in the back and triceps muscles is too small, this prevents you from pressing 100%.

To solve this problem, you just need to force the triceps muscles and back muscles to contract much more intensely. An ordinary rubber shock absorber closed in a ring, which you need to put on your wrist and twist it in a figure eight, will help you achieve this goal. Only after you have stretched the shock absorber can you grab the barbell. This very stretching activates the stabilizer muscles, as a result they contract stronger and this will definitely make you press harder.

If you work in this style for at least a couple of weeks or a month, then at the end you will gain 100% in bench strength, and therefore in muscle mass!

How to do a deadlift correctly

This mega-exercise is considered incredibly important for those who have decided to seriously gain weight. As they say, “you can’t get more basic.” But here everything is not so simple, naturally. This exercise is recognized as one of the most traumatic for bodybuilders.

There is a particular danger for those who are very for a long time worked for sedentary work and thereby significantly weakened the lower back muscles. For such people, the deadlift should be almost a forbidden exercise. No, of course you can and should do deadlifts, but with a special approach. Follow these tips and you'll deadlift injury-free while adding weight to the barbell:

You must set yourself the goal of developing simply impeccable technique for this exercise, bringing it to automatism. In this exercise, this is especially important, because later you will be able to lift “brutal” weights and any mistake in technique can cost you serious injury, very serious. Therefore, I considered it necessary to once again pay attention to the technique, giving you a clear scheme for performing the exercise in 3 stages. Please note again:

Start: lift the weight off the support or floor very slowly.

Middle: immediately after lifting the barbell from the support, begin to accelerate the rate of lifting, but without sudden movements. Everything is very smooth.

Finish: after the bar passes the line of your knees, the lifting speed should become maximum. But don't lean too far back due to inertia. This can cause injury to the lower back due to hyperextension. When the body is strictly vertical, stop and fix this position.

IMPORTANT: for deadlifts, use special “pulls” that will help you hold the weight with your hands. They look like this:

Kettlebells to help the “base”

Kettlebells will help you activate and significantly speed up progress in all basic exercises. In the near future you can experience for yourself the truth of this statement and its effectiveness. After some effective exercises with kettlebells - you should feel the following:

• clear fat burning effect
• increase in functional strength
• more pronounced muscle relief and definition

This effect is achieved by jerks, pushes and swings, which are characteristic of all exercises with weights. I advise you to try at least 3 exercises on yourself, which are described below. These exercises are little known in bodybuilding and are rarely used. If you suddenly become interested, you can try them for yourself, and then write down in the comments what it gave you. It will be very cool and interesting, so don't be shy!

1) "Gladiator" - to perform this exercise, you need to lean sideways on your straight arm. The free leg must be raised and held in weight. With your free hand, press the weight upward. After the number of repetitions acceptable to you, turn over to the other side and repeat the exercise.

2) Kettlebell squat press - to begin with, you need to take a squat position, but at the same time you need to keep your arm straight with the kettlebell above your head. The second hand holds the second weight, which lies on the floor. Stand up from a squat position and at the same time lift the second kettlebell with your other hand to your shoulder. Press the kettlebell overhead.

3) Lunges with kettlebells - you need to squeeze 2 weights above your head and hold them with straight arms. In this position, do walking lunges. Walk 10 meters, turn around and go back.

Try, experiment, dare. Perhaps these exercises will especially “spur” your progress in basic bodybuilding exercises. Be that as it may, always remember the ability of our muscles to respond favorably to new loads and exercises. So surprise them and they will thank you generously!

At the end of the article, I advise you to watch a useful video. Well done guys, they made a really good and useful video. You will learn some more “tricks” regarding basic exercises in bodybuilding, which I did not describe in this article:

Or maybe the “base” is not needed at all?

Nowadays, I increasingly come across opinions on the Internet of people who are against performing squats with a barbell, deadlifts, and any jerking of barbells, lifting them overhead, etc. I have yet to meet opponents of the bench press, either in reality or virtually. There are quite adequate reasons for this that can be explained.

1. Firstly, due to improper execution of basic exercises, people get injured because they work with heavy weights. . But should this be taken as inevitable? No, 100% no. Injuries occur due to incorrect execution technique, this is understandable. And anyone who is against the base for this reason simply has not mastered the impeccable technique and has lost caution.
2. Secondly, many do not see the effect of the base. Again, it’s all about how the weight is built up and the technique is followed. If you do everything correctly, it is impossible not to get results!
3. Thirdly, many bodybuilders say that the squat-dead-press base is the base for powerlifters. But for bodybuilders such a base is not the main one. There is a deal of truth in it. Indeed, powerlifters focus on these 3 exercises. And indeed bodybuilding and powerlifting are two different things. But, nevertheless, all successful bodybuilders make this very base and you will not convince them that you can do without it.

This can be debated forever, and there will always be debate about it. Some do, some don't. And everyone thinks that he is right. I believe that the wisest thing in this situation would be to remain unconvinced and not convince anyone.

Because the most important thing in this matter is not naked rightness, but a concrete result. If you say that the base is nonsense, show in practice that it is so. Create for yourself beautiful body without a base, and everyone will be silent.

And if you say that you can’t go anywhere without a base, you should look the part. In short, no matter what you say, theory will not work here - prove it in practice.

Personally, I did the base, squatted with a barbell, and did the deadlift. Then I gave it up for a while and continued training without these exercises. Then he resumed again.

The base helped me make the main one muscular frame, although I hated squats and deadlifts. Let us know in the comments what and how you feel about this. Have your say.

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Do classic weightlifting exercises cause you a lot of problems and reduce your performance in WODs? Use these 5 tips, courtesy of renowned weightlifting coach Glenn Pendlay, to make instant improvements in your snatch, clean and jerk.

Like golf or the high vault, weightlifting is one of those sports where technique is of utmost importance and requires careful study. This is why weightlifting seminars often devolve into studying basic principles physics. For geeks in the field of biomechanics, this is certainly cool.

But for most others, this can be quite difficult, and they may come to the conclusion that it is better to completely eliminate the snatch, clean and jerk from their program. We categorically do not recommend doing this. Weightlifting is one of the most useful species training that allows you to develop strength and power of the whole body, as well as core stability, which will subsequently have the most positive impact on performance in other areas of CrossFit.

Fortunately, “Progidy is not as scary as they dance it.” And below you will find tips on the technique of the classic snatch and clean and jerk from one of best trainers North America weightlifting coach Glenn Pendlay of MuscleDriver USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina. These simple tips will help you instantly improve your performance in the snatch, clean and jerk. Technology, of course, but this is not the launch of an orbital station, but just the physics that you studied at school.

Correct execution of the snatch or clean and jerk begins with the removal of the bar when you lift it off the platform, and this is where the problem lies for most beginner weightlifters, especially those who have already done deadlifts before. In the deadlift, lifting the bar off the ground with maximum speed- one of key points when performing an exercise, especially when on a barbell heavy weight. So it is normal for a person to think that the quick release of the barbell from the platform during the snatch or clean will also be a decisive factor. In fact, this is not at all necessary.

“There is some progression when teaching CrossFitters how to snatch and clean a barbell. And the first stage is to get rid of this desire to quickly remove the barbell from the platform. says Pendlay. — In weightlifting, the speed with which you lift the barbell to hip height is less important than your position at the moment the barbell reaches that height.

And all because it is this position that determines whether you can lift the barbell above your head. For beginners this looks somewhat unusual. They believe that the speed at which the bar lifts off determines whether the approach will work or not. Of course, it's good if you are strong and can lift it quickly, but only if you maintain the correct position and angles. But if the bar moves too quickly, then you may miss the moment of detonation and you simply will not be able to lift the bar. If the bar moves slowly, but when you reach hip height you are in a great position, then you have a much better chance of success.”

The position Pendlay is talking about takes only a moment in the exercise. The bar of the bar should be directly above your heels, with your knees in front of the bar and your shoulders behind - this is the best position to apply maximum power to lift the bar. “It's common for athletes to hang too much over the bar or put too much weight on their toes,” Glenn says.

Coaching Tips

Start with your shoulders directly above the bar while the bar is still on the floor. “I don't teach people where their pelvis should be because it all depends on the structure of the body,” says Pendlay. “If you stand over the bar and it is against your shins, and then you squat until your shoulders are positioned above the bar, then your pelvis is automatically in the right position. Your knees should be in front of the bar and your shins should be at an angle. Your arms hang straight down to the sides of your knees, and your pelvis is where it should be, which for most people will feel lower than a natural position.”

From this point on, the lift line becomes critical. The bar should seem to be moving towards you, because this is the only opportunity to get into the ideal position for the lift when the bar is over your heels.

“You can't let the bar move forward,” says Pendlay. “Because if she goes forward, how can we achieve a stable and powerful position in the hips?”

“What a lot of people do is instinctively try to get into a position where they think they can lift more weight while positioning their pelvis a little higher than necessary. And they will, of course, be able to lift a large weight off the floor to mid-thigh, but by doing so, they will change the position of the bar, so that they will not be able to apply maximum effort on the next stage of the lift. If you have a barbell weighing 50 kilograms, then you can do anything with it. But with a weight of 150 kilograms, with this approach you will no longer be able to cope. Once the bar gets really heavy, you have to rely on the laws of physics instead of trying to beat them with brute force.”

Get under the bar as quickly as possible

The fast is the scary part of any weightlifting exercise, so common sense tells you to get the bar as high as possible before you squat down and catch it. But the reality is that the longer you wait before going under the bar, the harder it will be for you to face it later.

“When I visited CrossFit gyms and watched people doing the snatch, I noticed that the most common mistake was to take too long in the snatch phase,” says Pendley. “In other words, after the bar reaches their hips, they continue to pull it up until the bar is already somewhere at chest or shoulder level, and only then they try to sit under it. But that's too high.

As soon as the bar leaves your thighs, you should immediately fall under it rather than continue to try to lift it higher. People pay too much attention to lifting the barbell, but not enough attention to diving under it - this happens in both the snatch and the clean. You just need to lift the barbell up to the level of your belly button so you can then clean it on your chest. The thighs are very strong. If you continue to pull the barbell up with your arms, then yes, you will lift it higher, but at the same time you will slow down, because your arms cannot produce as much force as your hips.”

Ilya Ilyin, a two-time Olympic champion and the holder of world records in the clean and jerk and the sum of two exercises (w/c up to 94 kg): “It’s simple. He blew it up and fell like a stone.”

If this concept seems meaningless to you, then think about physics. When you snatch or clean, the barbell moves up from the ground, reaches its maximum height, and then drops back down until you meet it in the squat. If you wait too long before diving under it, then by the time you get under it, it will have already started its way down, in other words, it will have started falling. An object picks up speed as gravity pulls it down, so the longer the barbell falls, the faster it will move, and the harder it will be for you to meet it.

“Ideally, you should aim to meet the bar at the top of the pull while it has no momentum,” says Pendlay. “If the bar only goes down two or three inches, it is much easier to meet and hold it. And if by this moment it has already flown 18 inches, then it will be extremely difficult to meet and hold it. That’s why you have to start going under the bar while the bar is still moving up.”

Coaching Tips

Glenn has a simple tip for getting under the bar on time: when the bar reaches your hips, start swinging your legs. “I'm not using this tip because I think you should necessarily throw your legs out when doing a snatch,” he says. - "Not at all. But this is a great opportunity to teach beginners not to drag the barbell up for too long.

Because once your feet leave the ground, you can't keep lifting the barbell up. This is the most elementary physics. So maybe you should really make a rule that as soon as the bar reaches your hips, you lift your legs off. To do this, you should lift your feet off the floor at least a little. I don't tell my athletes to lift their legs too high because then they'll get carried away and lift them almost 12 inches, doing what they call a 'donkey kick' that shouldn't be happening."

Create sound with your heels

This tip is related to the previous one due to the spread of the legs, but to implement it you don’t need a trainer, just a keen ear. After you have taken off the platform and hovered in the air for a split second, stamp your foot on the platform or floor until you hear an audible pop. According to Pendlay, it's a simple solution to improve your technique in three ways.

“First,” he says, “stomping your heels keeps you from lifting the bar too long. Second, it focuses your attention on the fast movement of your legs, which is important for the snatch, clean and jerk. If you stomped your feet, it means you picked them up and put them down, and did it quickly, otherwise you simply wouldn’t be able to make a sound. And third, it puts you back on full foot. Many people try to land on their toes first and then on their heels to soften the landing. This will definitely throw you off balance and make the reception and fixation phase of the bar unstable.”

If possible, use a wooden platform instead of a rubber floor when performing the snatch, clean, or clean and jerk. Your feet will make a louder slam against the tree when you land, giving you more control. If you don’t hear such pops on a wooden surface, then you will understand that you are not moving your legs fast enough or that you are leaning too far on your toes. It’s possible to do both together.”

Bring your heels, pelvis and arms together in time

Coordination is very important in weightlifting. It increases your chances of snatching heavier weights. To do this, you need to try to perform three actions in one instant: (1) your heels stomp on the platform, (2) your elbows “turn on,” (3) your pelvis reaches the lowest point of the squat.

“You'll never do it perfectly, but that's the way it has to be,” Pendlay says. – There are a lot of world-famous weightlifters who also cannot perform all these three actions in an instant. But it is very important to try to do this. You've probably already seen beginners who will have a big time difference between landing their feet and fixing their elbows. So even if you can combine landing and locking your elbows, just those two things, that's a great improvement over most of them."

Coaching Tips

The key to synchronizing these three things lies in Pendlay's "Note #2": don't pull the bar up for too long. “It all comes together with the desire to dive under the bar while it's still moving up,” Pendlay says. - If your feet touch the floor, and your elbows turn on noticeably later, it means that you find yourself under the bar when it is already moving down. The greater the time difference between these movements - the engagement of the elbows and the landing of the heels, the... you just have to know that for every tenth of a second the bar moves several inches.”

Help from high-grip squats and press presses

Practicing technique in the snatch, clean, and clean and jerk is essential to improving your performance in weightlifting exercises. But accessory exercises are also important, for one simple reason: if you're not strong, you won't be able to snatch or clean a lot of weight.

According to Pendlay, an experienced lifter can snatch with a weight equal to 60–70% of his maximum (beginners typically snatch with half that weight). That is, if you want to snatch with a weight of 300 pounds (136 kg), then you should learn to squat with a much larger weight.

“You may never be strong enough. says Pendley. — There is a huge misconception that American weightlifters only care about technique, but not about strength. This accusation claims that we are all about perfecting our technique and that we don't understand the need to be strong in the squat. This is complete nonsense. In weightlifting exercises, this is the king of all exercises. To be a good weightlifter, you need to be able to squat well.”

The barbell squat is the most important assistance exercise for the lower body. For the upper body, Pendlay suggests the push press to learn how to lock and hold a heavy barbell overhead in the clean and jerk.

“Just as a good squat is important, so is upper body strength to perform a snatch or clean and jerk,” says Pendlay. - If you can't hold the barbell above your head, you can't perform the exercise. The Sung Press is our go-to exercise for strengthening the shoulders, arms, and upper back. We do not military press, because it is important for us to practice small squats and springs. But also, in weightlifting, you should not develop the habit of pressing the barbell from your shoulders.

When performing a clean and jerk, your legs push the barbell up and your arms push your body down. If you try to use your arms to push a barbell up, you will fail because, fortunately, the weight you are pushing is much more than the weight you can bench. The Swung Press allows you to lift more weight because you are using the momentum coming from your legs, so in the initial stage of lifting the bar you are using the lower bar rather than top part bodies."

The high bar squat is a version of the squat that Pendlay practices with his students. Unlike lifter squats, the bar is located on top of the trapezius muscles(not lower), the back remains straight during the exercise, and the pelvis goes down as far as possible with each repetition, breaking the parallel between the hips and the floor.

“We squat with a high bar simply because it allows us to keep our back straight while in lowest point squat, says Pendley. - If you are strong enough in the low bar squat (powerlifting squat) but not so strong in the high bar squat, then your body will automatically revert to the most comfortable way of squatting for you once the weight gets large and intimidating. But this doesn’t work at all when performing cleans. You simply can’t do the exercise leaning forward.”

When performing a push press, use both types of grip – push and snatch. Start with the barbell resting on your shoulders and perform the exercise with more weight, trying to get closer to your working weights in the snatch and clean and jerk. Using light weight, the push press can be performed solely by using the momentum coming from the legs. When you lift heavy weights, your legs can only push the bar to the level of your nose, where your shoulders and arms come into play. This upper body workout is exactly what you need when you're trying to improve your performance in classical exercises using a press press.

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