Olympic lifts are excellent for developing strength, power, coordination, and other biomotor abilities. Athletes outside of Olympic Weightlifters utilize the Clean, Jerk, Snatch, and their many derivatives to improve in their respective sport. Most of the time, athletes outside of Weightlifting use the Olympic lifts for multi-rep sets. It is important to note that when referring to "multi-rep sets", this means sets of 2-5 reps, nothing more. When performing multi-rep sets, there are a few reasons you may want to consider lowering the bar under control and with purpose. A major reason an athlete may lower the bar under control is the enhanced ability to absorb force. The ability to absorb force, such as sprinting and jumping, is important in almost every sport. As you bring the bar down, the weight will want to take you down with it. It is your responsibility to not look like a Raggedy Anne doll while doing so. The torso must stay very rigid while bringing the bar down. You will run the risk of injuring your lower back if your torso is relaxed. Along with absorbing force, this can also add more eccentric loading to the hamstrings (especially in the jerk lowering). It has been shown that eccentric exercise can provide protection against muscle damage. (1) This can be a great add on if you do very little direct hamstring strengthening as it can aid in reducing the likelihood of injury to the hamstrings and other injury-prone muscles. The lowering techniques below are also important to keep you and the people around you safe. When you have thin and/or light bumper plates on the bar (usually 10kg or below), you have much less control over the bar when [...]

Progressive overload is one of the guiding principles of weight training and sport performance. The idea of progressive overload is gradually overloading your body with a stimulus (i.e. heavy resistance training) to elicit a positive adaptation (i.e. getting stronger). This overloading can be done through various methods. In our Performance Fitness classes, intensity is one of the easiest variables to manipulate and to use to your advantage. You can manipulate intensity by feel or by percentage based increments. When working with percentages, intensity will refer to as a percentage of 1-rep max (1RM). A 1RM is a weight you can only accomplish one time and then you fail. Percentages are easy to figure out when it comes to grocery coupons, buying clothes, and when dealing with money in general, but it can get a little fuzzy when working in the weight room. Lets look at a quick example. If your 1RM back squat is 100kg, and you squat 80kg in the workout, you just squatted 80% of your 1RM. Simple, right? When your 1RM is 127kg, maybe it gets a little tougher, but the principle equation stays the same. If you wanted to lift 80% of your 1RM (127kg) you would multiply 127 by .8 (or 80%). The product is ~102kg. How do I use percentages in the context of a workout If the workout calls for "back squat 6x4", you should have an idea that your 4RM is 90% of your 1RM (according to the percentage charts in the weight room). You can use this information to figure out where you want to end up for your last few squat sets. We can't expect you to max out every day. You would break. A [...]

The Snatch can be one of the most frustrating lifts. If you haven't spent a ton of time hammering technique you may have found that you might not miss a single lift one day and miss everything the next. Consistency is key when it comes to the Olympic lifts. Here are a few exercises that can improve technique and consistency in the Snatch. Overhead Squat Helps if: you lack overhead strength, you're uncomfortable under heavy weight. Unrack the weight as you would a back squat and move the hands to the same width as you would use for the Snatch. Push press the weight up and make sure the elbows are locked and pointing to the sides. The wrists should be extended position (think about a waiter holding a tray). As you squat continue to "press up" on the bar to remain in a stable position. Return to a standing position. Snatch Balance: Helps if: you're slow under the bar, have balance issues in the catch position, you're uncomfortable under heavy weight. Unrack the weight as you would a back squat and move the hands to the same width as you would use for the Snatch. Perform a dip and drive (as you would in a Jerk) while simultaneously pushing yourself under the weight as fast as possible. When pushing under the bar be sure to lock the elbows out and continue to press up against the bar. If the weight is light, ride the weight down into a full squat position. Return to a standing position. Snatch High Pull Helps if: you "loop" the bar around the body instead of keeping it close. Set up in a Snatch position with the bar on the [...]