My latest obsession. The Snatch. I am finally starting to get the feel for the Snatch, after 3+ months of the coach correcting every aspect of my form as I re-learn how to do the Snatch in the real Olympic weight-lifting technique versus the crossfit one. I hit my newest Snatch PR this Wednesday, at 31Kg (68#)! Another small milestone, coach says it is time for me to get weight-lifting shoes! Yes!
Here's a great video of women olympic weightlifters snatching. They are in the 69+Kg (152#) bodyweight category.
It's pretty amazing. Olympic weight-lifting is definitely physical, but also very much a mental game. I spend a bit of time just staring at the bar (especially if it is heavy) trying to get myself to focus before doing the lift. I go over aspects of the form and then try to back off over-thinking it cause my brain thinks slower than the entire movement.
Knuckles down. Hook grip. Lats engaged in pulling bar close. Core tight. Initial lift off ground, butt up, legs straighten as bar goes up to knees. As bar reaches knees, bend knees as gluts and hamstring generate power to drive the bar up. As bar travels upward, posterior chain finishes it with a "shrug" or a "pull" as the weight travels up, lifter drops down below the bar, usually in a squat, and "catches" it at the top of the bar movement. For the catch, think of not just holding the bar, but pushing the bar upwards.
This video below shows the Snatch that I learned in Crossfit. The "Jump and Shrug" technique. WRONG. Pause at the 8 and 9 second mark, and you'll see that the bar travels out/away from the lifter at chest level. Notice how the lifter also has to arch his back to "shrug" the barbell up.
This below is the Olympic weight-lifting Snatch technique that uses a "pull". Pause at 14 through 18 second mark, and you'll see that the bar actually gets pulled towards the body until the body is upright, and then the bar travels directly upward. Notice how as the lifter "pulls" his back remains in an upright fashion.
What I"ve learned is that using the "Jump and Shrug" technique, it loses some of the momentum because the lifter will have to bring the bar back above him/her because it has traveled horizontally away. Also, the lifter uses more of a hip thrust to generate the power to throw the bar out and up, and tends to arch the back more.. which means putting back into a hyper-extension, while the shoulders end up having to pull the bar back into alignment. The Oly method keeps the bar horizontal movement as minimal as possible and uses the pull from the entire posterior chain - hammies, gluts, back/lats to generate movement of the bar upward and close. Ideally, the arm/shoulder muscles are used to guide the bar versus doing the actually pulling of the bar.
Comparison of Bad Versus Good Snatch
Seriously. Weightlifting is so much more fun that I thought!
Update: I noticed the comments on the comparison video. The Snatch technique is taught mainstream by two camps, Crossfit and Olympic Weight-lifting. I have learned both now, and Oly lifting is the sure way to go if you don't want to hurt yourself. Guy on the right is the Oly way. Guy on the left is the Crossfit way.
Friday, August 8, 2014
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I had actually seen the guy on the left before - there's a much longer video of him on YouTube where he critiques a super slow-mo vide of himself. That might have been where this clip was pulled from.
ReplyDeleteI watched the "Good vs. Bad" video multiple times and if there is a difference, it's not discernible to my eye. They both look like they have pretty good form to me. That's not saying much as I don't do any oly lifting myself. However, judging by the small handful of YouTube comments posted, most seem to think the guy on the LEFT is the "good" form. At the very least, it is quite unclear which one is better and why.
Dissecting the video, the bar motion between the two lifters is actually pretty similar. It would be easier to see from a direct side shot, but if you watch the bar rather than the lifter, you'll see it is actually the LEFT lifter who keeps the bar in a more vertical plane. The RIGHT lifter actually pulls the bar in slightly towards himself and then when the hip extends, the bar is pushed outward - it's your typical "S" path. The bar of the LEFT lifter gets pulled up vertically, then gets bounced out a bit when the hip extends. However, it seems like some outward bounce is likely to occur since it's the hip extension that provides the power and that explosive hip extension tends to hit the bar and drive it outward a bit.
I also tend to side with the YouTube commenter who said that the right lifter ends his pull (which I take to mean hip extension) a bit early and relies on this shoulders more to finish the movement.
I dunno, but I'm siding with the left guy as having the better technique. His pull is more efficient because the bar travels vertically in a straight line (as opposed to the bar going inward first). While there is a slight outward bump of the bar, this is also present in the right lifter and it seems some of this is almost unavoidable due to the explosiveness of the hip extension.
But hey, what do I know? I can't even squat 1-1/2X my bodyweight.