Has anyone learned Olympic lifts on their own?

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moonshine_betty
moonshine_betty Posts: 169 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've avoided doing these for so long because they seem so difficult but I think I'm brave enough to give them a shot. However, I also realize I could really, REALLY hurt myself if I do them incorrectly. For those of you who do them regularly, did you learn them yourself? Do you think it's even possible to do so or am I better off getting professional help? I'm not new to strength training and taught myself how to squat, deadlift, press, etc...but all those seem like child's play compared to the snatch, clean and jerk, etc.

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  • suncat_at
    suncat_at Posts: 3 Member
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    Hi!
    I've been learning Olympic lifts from a trainer for a short time now. So far, even with a trainer, I'm having a hard time learning proper form. The lifts are very technical. I've only done cleans, but I'm hoping to add jerk and snatch soon.
    I'd recommend finding a trainer. Probably not easy to do as there hasn't been a lot of interest in Oly lifts. Maybe with the advent of Crossfit, we'll start seeing more trainers popping up.
    Good luck!
  • asdelmonte
    asdelmonte Posts: 171 Member
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    I definitely recommend getting a trainer to teach you these. They are very technical with so much room for error/injury. Try your local crossfit box. Many of them have Olympic lifting classes. Good luck!
  • cmay89
    cmay89 Posts: 337 Member
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    I learned Oly lifts from CrossFit. I'm not certain that I would attempt to learn them without a certified trainer who specializes in Oly Lifts because of the difficulty. I always have my coaches hanging around me when I am performing them and they tweak my form over and over and over even though it feels right to me. It's best to have someone who can break them down for you and watch to make sure you perform them correctly since there are so many technical aspects.

    You definitely don't want to hurt yourself.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    Taught myself through a lot of video taking of my form, reading, research, You Tube, etc. I recently attended a Starting Strength seminar and that probably helped more than anything.
  • wswilliams67
    wswilliams67 Posts: 938 Member
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    Oly Lifting is best learned with a certified Oly Trainer. You can seriously injury yourself if you do not learn proper technique from the beginning. It's very hard to unlearn bad habits once they are set in place.

    Oly Lifting is deceiving... it's not about muscling up tons of weight. It's about moving the weight as efficiently as possible to get it 'weightless' then getting under it to support it when it is caught. Strength comes in time. Flexibility is another huge factor... gotta have a good deep squat!

    Definitely check out a local CrossFit Box, most offer Oly classes for a fair rate. Plus it helps to have bumper plates and a true Oly platform.

    Oly is awesome.
  • moonshine_betty
    moonshine_betty Posts: 169 Member
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    You all have confirmed my suspicions that I will need professional help to accomplish this. I've found a few local gyms that offer Olympic lifting training -- one of them even has its own competitive Power lifting and Olympic lifting teams -- so I'll look into signing up for a few sessions. I'm nervous but I'll be super excited when I can pull off those lifts! Thanks for all the responses! :)

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