NPR came by the gym late last year. Check it out:

We get asked occasionally about the use of bands and chains with the Snatch and Clean and Jerk. While we’ve posted our thoughts on social media and in prior interviews, here’s a summary for blog readers:

Bands and chains may be effective tools for improving force production in power lifts but we discourage their use for the snatch and clean & jerk. The accommodating resistance alters the speed, acceleration, timing, and coordination of the Olympic lifts in a negative way.

In training for weightlifting, we seek to pattern motor qualities in a way that mirrors competition as closely as possible. These qualities include, among others, speed, acceleration, timing, and coordination. We develop these qualities in training by practicing the lifts the same way we’d like to perform them in competition. Use of accommodating resistance alters the way we express these qualities in training and therefore will alter our ability to properly express these qualities in competition.

At a practical level, use of accommodating resistance during the snatch and clean and jerk will alter the speed, timing and mechanics of the transition and change of direction, and will affect the motor patterns associated with receiving the bar.

Because accommodating resistance disrupts important qualities of the lifts, we don’t use or recommend bands and chains for the snatch and clean and jerk. If we need to improve force production, we have other methods that don’t carry the same drawbacks.

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“Two chalk covered hands grasp the barbell. Her hands calloused from hours of repetitions. Her head is in perfect alignment with her shoulders and back, several voices can be heard in the background shouting words of encouragement.

She lifts her head up and then the room goes silent, the bar starts to ascend slowly off the ground until it reaches the middle of her thighs.

In a flash of raw power and speed, she throws bar over her head while descending into full squat then exploding into a full standing position holding the bar overhead completing the Olympic lift known as the snatch.

‘I love snatching in training, but I definitely feel more comfortable clean and jerking in competition,’ said Ali Ludwig.

Ali Ludwig 25, is the first ever National Champion in the 90 kg weight class in sport of Olympic Weightlifting.”

Read the full article here.

Lifters and coaches: When a lifter has multiple problems with their technique, how do you approach fixing them? Which problems do you attack first and why?

If you don’t have one already, we recommend you develop a framework for fixing problems rather than winging it.

For us, diagnosing and fixing technique using a consistent and repeatable framework offers the best chance of developing consistent and repeatable results. It also enables any lifter to work with multiple coaches in our organization without conflicting feedback and confusion. This latter feature is a modern-day necessity if your gym, like ours, has members who work with multiple coaches.

With that in mind, here’s our framework for categorizing, diagnosing, prioritizing, and fixing errors in the snatch and clean & jerk: [Read more…]

Here are most of the major meets we’re looking at for 2018 with location, date, and qualifying deadline. Posting here in case it can help with your planning as well.

2018 National and International Meet Schedule, Qualifying Deadlines