Lifting Basics

Hello,

I hope you all enjoyed the last post and video so that you get a good idea of what I am trying to accomplish here. There are several benefits to lifting , not only physical but mental and neurological as well.


This week I would like to go over some of the basic lifts. These are used in the cross-fit community , and are the basic lifts for Olympic Lifting. The three basic lifts are the clean, snatch and dead lift , however there variations of each of these lifts. I fell in love with the snatch lift, its very technical lift and the hardest for me to pull the most weight. This makes it even more challenging for me and pushes me to practice hours on end to get it right or hit a new weight that I have not yet hit. So lets go over these lifts , I have attached videos as well so you are able to see what they entail.

The clean is a very technical lift as well, when you do it right you can feel the amount of power that you can pull , it can be very complex to learn. It's very important that you keep form and pay attention to what your body is telling you. If you pull the movement wrong you can do a lot of damage.  One important thing to remember is being able to keep your elbows up as much as you can so that when you receive the weight you are not falling forward , and the second is being able to get good extension , shown on movement 2 below. The clean starts from the floor then is moved to what is called a rack position that is positioned across the  deltoids, that ends up resting partially on the clavicles. In the middle of this lift you are also completing a full squat. There is also the power clean ,which is not a full squat, the clean and jerk , clean and split jerk , and hang power clean. Each depends where the lift starts, on the floor, just above the knee, or how its being received. The image below breaks down the 4 basic movements of the clean and what it looks like. 

Next movement is the snatch , my absolute FAVORITE. This movement also has different variations , such as power snatch, and hang power snatch. You utilize several muscles in this movement that includes, traps, shoulders, hamstrings, quads , glutes, abs and total body. This movement too is also complex and requires a multi joint movement that allows you to build speed , strength and explosive power while being able to help you coordinate with heavy weight above your head while building core strength. I try to have some variation of this lift in every one of my workouts. I have issues with mobility getting the weight above my head when it gets too heavy. The power snatch differs from the snatch in that the lifter meets the barbell in a quarter to half squat position (anything above parallel squat), minimizing downward motion into the squat while receiving the barbell. This is a lift I need to perform often with just the bar since there is so many movements all at once. Although it may look like 4 simple movements , there are several things to do and think about during each and every step. 

The last lift we are going to learn about is the deadlift, and yes there are variations of this lift as well. The deadlift is going to be the heavies of loads, the 3 major parts to this is the setup , the drive , then the lockout. There are several muscles used in this movement as well , the legs ,  back , traps abs  and arms. It is a very good exercise for your back, form is very important in this movement so that you help and not hurt your back. It's very important to focus on your form and what your back is doing , making sure you don't have a rounded back during this lift. 

As always with any lift you want to make sure that you have proper form. Also very important to have a coach that knows movements well so that you are trained properly and are not going to injure yourself. There are also different grips (hand position) depending on what movement you are doing , and this is very important as well.