Olympic Weightlifting

petitchatnoir41
petitchatnoir41 Posts: 56 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone have advice on beginning to do snatches, and clean and jerks? So far I am just watching tutorials online.

Replies

  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    If you've never learned the Olympic lifts from a weightlifting coach that is 100% what I would suggest at least for a few sessions in the beginning. As a weightlifting coach myself let me tell you it is much harder to fix incorrect movement patterns that have already been ingrained than it is to teach the snatch and CJ correctly to a beginner. You can search for coaches or a weightlifting club on USAW's website (https://www.teamusa.org/usa-weightlifting/clubs-lwc/find-a-club)


    Once you have the basics there are a ton of great online resources. There is a reddit weightlifting forum where you can post videos for form checks, Instagram accounts like "Squat University" and "Camargo_oly" that have great tips and websites that have blogs where you can learn some of the in's and out's of competition, accessory work and error correction such as https://www.catalystathletics.com/ http://www.takanoweightlifting.com/new-blogs and https://www.garagestrength.com/blogs/newswhere
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,893 Member
    Another vote for learning the basics with a coach.
  • Jra2127
    Jra2127 Posts: 4 Member
    Many CrossFit gyms in my area have a separate Oly class with certified oly coaches. Typically you do not have to be a CrossFit member, it just cost less if you are.
  • XxFunctionalStrengthxX
    XxFunctionalStrengthxX Posts: 2,466 Member
    Best option is hire an Olympic Lifting coach, form is absolutely critical on these lifts.

    You can do some prepatory work such as stretching, and starting to learn the motions with a broom handle (the coaches I used had me start with one) before moving up to a light bar and then up.


    Good luck, and enjoy!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    petitchatnoir41 wrote: »
    Does anyone have advice on beginning to do snatches, and clean and jerks? So far I am just watching tutorials online.

    I got into Oly lifting about 5 years ago. I worked with a trainer who was certified in Olympic lifting. They are highly technical movements and I highly recommend working with a qualified coach. He had me start off with a lot of deadlifts and front squats...I had to work quite a bit on my wrist mobility as well. We spent a few weeks also working with just some PVC pipe and practicing overhead squats and shoulder mobility before we ever picked up a barbell to start working.

    Olympic lifting is super fun though and definitely worth learning.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,329 Member
    Well I don’t know who is disagreeing with all the posts but they’ve obviously never done oly lifts! Defo get a coach; I’ve been doing it for a year and still can’t do a full snatch properly. It’s humbling when you can deadlift a reasonable amount but you’re exhausted from trying to execute a smooth snatch with a 15kg bar!
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    OP: Why do you want 2 learn how to do snatches and clean/jerks?

    FWIW, while these lifts can enhance your performance in some sports (1 reason why Mark Rippetoe includes cleans in his Starting Strength program), these are very difficult lifts 2 master which can cause serious injury if performed poorly, which are unnessary to perform to achieve extraordinary muscle growth and strength for most people (given the availabilty of other less risky lifts), unless you are planning to engage in Olympic lifting competition that requires the performance of such lifts or just want 2 learn how 2 performs these lifts 4 your own gratification.

    Judt my 2 cents on the matter.

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