Triangulated Power!

Today I want to go over something that will help ensure you are performing your clean's and snatch's to a better degree. If you're not into Olympic lifting, guess what!?! You can you this too as an athlete in order to better perform a major lift in the gym to accomplish true power and strength! Read through all this and apply it to your Power Cleans! 

 Look around you. Triangles are everywhere!  Any structure requiring a strong and rigid construction depends on triangles to achieve that goal.  Even though they might not be obvious or even seen for that matter, triangles are at work wherever strength and rigidity are important. This holds true even in weightlifting. Ask any coach what the "power triangle" is and he will gladly show you a person who has a developed set of shoulder blades, abdominal, and the glutes. However, today we are not talking about how to create a power triangle. We are here to discuss how to properly close the weightlifting triangle that has created the power and stability for your lift. 

Once you get past your knees in the initial pull, you should certainly have a triangle between your knees, shoulders and the hips. Can't imagine what I am talking about? Go ahead and grab a stick, bar, or just act as if you are holding the a bar. Go slowly thru the 1st pull and stop when the "bar" is just past your knees. Pause there and think. You have created a triangle. This position is important to form: The hips are away from the bar, the arms are directed back towards the thighs, and the chest over the bar forming 3 sides of a “power triangle.” In this position you are strong, stable and prepared to transfer the weight thru the 2nd pull.

This is where people make a big mistake. They either close the triangle to slow, to fast, or do not actually keep the bar in contact leaving a gap in the triangle. You may hear it at the gym as: completed a short pull, leaving the hips out, or not finishing with extension. Regardless how you are completing the pull, you are not closing the triangle in one way or another.  

The triangle stores a ton of potential power, the hips/glutes/lats are primed and ready to explode with force. You basically have to try in order to not create the triangle when the bar is above the knees. However, people often form the triangle correctly... but do not properly shut it.

Focus on driving your hips to the bar as soon as the bar passes your knees. Keep the bar close by utilizing your lats. Pull your knees under the bar with a dipping type movement, and then forcefully thrust your hips forward into the bar while simultaneously pulling the bar into your hips with the lats. DO NOT BEND YOUR ARMS!  Shut the triangle with control and conviction to get the most power into your clean or snatch. I however want to caveat this with one thing that will inevitably happen as you practice. Body position is always critical throughout any Olympic lifts. So... ensure proper body positioning at all times!. As you transition thru the 2nd pull your back/hips should move in conjunction with your knees. Neither should extend earlier than the other. If you extend your knees to early, you have no more room to explode upward. Same goes for your hips... if you open to early you will be leaning to far back and taken out of the proper power position as well as your bar path will be impacted. Either way, you are unable to create triple extension as intended or desired.

Practice closing the triangle at a slow pace with light weight. Gradually increase your speed as you get more familiar and are able to demonstrate proper positioning throughout the lift. Once you are moving in a fluid motion and able to maintain positioning, then move up in weight.

 As always, if you found this helpful, please leave a comment or email me. I am always looking to write what interests the readers, so have an idea of an interesting or debated topic , want to know something specific, liked a previous post and want it expanded upon? email or comment below. All feedback is greatly appreciated! 

Until next week... Lift it over head, slam it to the ground and repeat! Practice makes progression and progression to Gold!

Do you even hook grip?!?

Now its been a few weeks since I introduced the blog, gave insight into the lifts, and laid out how to go about finding programs to adhere to. Over the next few weeks, I am going to cover more detail on the lifts and how to actually execute specific aspects of each. Today I am going to expand on a very important aspect incorporated in both lifts and that is the hook grip! Almost any athlete that goes to the gym can utilize the info I am going to cover in this article! So let's read on!

The hook grip is when an athlete secures the barbell with a hook like configuration using the thumb and fingers. To utilize the hook grip, you need to grip the barbell and place either one, two or three fingers around your thumb. Most people will prefer two fingers placed over the thumb, with the thumb protruding slightly between the middle finger and ring finger. This grip is great for many lifts (cleans, dead-lift, snatch, rows, etc) as the weight placed on the bar is what secures the grip into place... not the muscles of the wrist and forearms. When you first begin, I promise IT IS GOING TO HURT! The pressure is all on your thumbs... the more weight you are pulling/lifting, the more the pressure and pain rises. So you will want to start lighter than usual and progress from week to week, gradually increasing to maximal weight as you are able to bear the pain. Get into the practice of using it now, and it will just be an extra advantage you will learn here.

 

So why do we really need this? You are already dead-lifting 500lbs right?! Well you are most likely using a mixed grip (one hand over the bar with palm facing toward you, one hand under the bar with palm facing away). That is not a feasible grip when Olympic lifting. The hook grip is important because it helps keep the bar from sliding into the fingertips during the second pull (explosion phase). The thumb helps keep the bar locked in place, thus keeping the bar close to your body during the acceleration that is generated during this phase. It is also important because as you transition from the first pull at shin height to your shoulders or overhead after the third pull/turn over, you arms are not tangled or twisting due to unequal force that could throw off the entire lift. You need a double overhand grip to complete the turn over and get under the bar! So the hook grip solves two problems in one easy set up!

Now when to use and when to go full grip.

The hook grip is typically utilized for lifts below the shoulders. During the clean, the hook grip is most commonly transitioned to a full hand (sometimes just the fingers if flexibility is an issue) when receiving the bar in the front rack. I would never suggest implementing the jerk with a hook grip because, 1. It restricts the movement of the barbell while traveling overhead  2. You are losing power throughout your arms when forcing the bar overhead due to the placement of the hand/fingers. During the snatch, you have the ability keep the hook grip throughout the lift, or you can release the hook grip when completing the turnover just as you are lifting the bar over head. The athlete has to choose which feels more comfortable for themselves. However, don't believe the hype that either way is right or wrong.

Many people attempt to hook grip the barbell but stop shortly after due to feeling as if the hook grip is slipping out. There is a solution to this problem. Tape your thumb like so:

The tape will ensure additional grip for your fingers to hold onto. This is especially helpful if you have smaller hands. Make sure to use tape that is flexible and be sure to only use a minimal amount. You can use athletic tape as I do, or you can go with a more advance and specific tape such as GOAT tape. Also, do not wrap the tape extremely tight as this will cut off circulation and could cause permanent issues to nerves as well as causes excess pain. (not cool bro!)

To get a better idea on how to Hook grip. check out this great Youtube tutorial using a small hand demo. This will help get the idea of the hook grip as well as service anyone who is struggling with the hook grip due to hand size. And if you are someone who struggles with the feeling of slipping barbell or just want to use tape, Check out the video on taping your thumbs for lifts. The only caveat to all the tape is check with the association you potentially could compete with to see rules/regulations on taping. Some federations want to see the thumb tip or knuckle.

Comment below if this helps you in any way! Do you use this for powerlifting, bodybuilding or crossfit? Having an issue I didn't discuss with the Hook grip? Leave me a message and I will reply with any advice I can!

Until next week...
Lift it overhead, slam it to the ground and repeat! Practice leads to progression... progression to Gold!

Equipment recommended?!?

Today I am going over whether or not to go to a commercial gym or build a home gym. I will give a few examples of what the pro's and con's are of both.Hopefully by the end of this, you will have a better idea as to which route fits your needs AND know what type of equipment you will need to perform the lifts!

Ensure to weigh your options before committing either way!

Commercial Gym route:

If you live in a large city or the suburbs, you most likely have access to many commercial gyms. However, most commercial gyms will have only the machine weights and some barbells with iron plates. You absolutely cannot drop iron plates! 

If you do have a gym or two locally that have bumper plates, you can always give the gym a trial and see how you like it. Some gyms are more accommodating (platforms, high temp bumpers, chalk or able to drop weights) with the Olympic lifts than others, so asks as many questions as possible before signing up for a membership. You possibly coudl be lucky enough to have an actual weightlifting gym in the area. If at all possible, try these out as they will have the equipment as well as the instructors to lead you to success at a much faster rate! Some  downsides are that you may have to wait for the platform to open, the weight to perform at your percentages may not be available or that the barbells are trashed/bent from people doing ridiculous things with them. Another glaring downside to commercial gyms are the fee's. You pay to have a monthly membership, the quarterly or semi annual dues and then any instruction fees. This can begin to get costly really fast!

Home Gym:

With a home gym you create the rules, play your music as loud as you want and have no restrictions to equipment. However you have to have the space and the finances to support such an endeavor. 

The following list is what I would consider essential garage gym equipment for Olympic lifting.

PVC Pipe 7ft in length

You should *absolutely* invest in a PVC pipe -- ESPECIALLY if you are new! This will help dial in your technique, build your muscle memory and not kill your shoulders and wrists with the weights you're not ready to handle.  

 

Barbell

You can’t just use any old barbell for Olympic weightlifting. A special Olympic lifting style barbell is what you need to have. This type of bar is important because:

• Whip (the ability to store elastic energy and create a bend without breaking). As you progress you will begin to use this to your advantage!.
• Smooth rotating sleeves. This allows the weight to rotate as the lifter rotates the bar in the pull.
• Olympic bars are purposely built to able to take repeated drops from overhead.

Here is what I recommend on the high end as well as the cheaper but still high quality. There are hundreds of bars out there if you do your research, but its ultimately the number one thing in your arsenal... make it count!

Bumper plates

As I eluded to earlier, you can’t use any plates laying around for Olympic weightlifting. Bumper plates are essential because:

• They were made to be dropped, beaten and battered! They are specifically designed to withstand the ‘abuse’ of regular drops from overhead heights! Any other types of plate (iron or polyurethane) will cause damage not only to the plates, but also your barbell and/or your floor!
• Most Bumper plates are all the same diameter. The diameter of a traditional bumper plate is based off the 25kg bumper height. Iron plates tend to all be different sizes. If you are just starting out you should not be starting with the 25kg plates, so bumper plates let you set up at the same height even when utilizing lighter plates.
• Bumper plates are also traditionally color coded for easy identification/math. RED usually is 25kg/55lbs, BLUE is 20kg or 45 lbs, YELLOW is 15kg/35lbs, GREEN are 10kg/25 lbs and black are kind of the step children of the bunch rounding out 2.5kg/5lbs, 5kg/10lbs and sometimes even 7kg/15lbs.

Here again are high end and cheaper sets.

Flooring

This is very important aspect to consider for your home gym. First, you have to decide what sort of ‘platform’ you want. You don’t need to have an actual platform. But I personally love having a designated area for those lifts! Consistency is key as you will find out with lifting in the months to come! I do however, have my lifting area/garage gym covered in horse stall mats. Underneath my platform, I have continued the horse stall matting as well to prevent further damage to the concrete. It also lessens the abuse on the bar and weights as well as keeps things a bit more quiet when dropping those weights. Using horse matting is certainly the cheapest and in my opinion the best way to go!! You can find it at a local hardware store or a farm equipment/tractor supply type store.

Squat rack

Squatting is the building blocks of Olympic weightlifting. You will be squatting regularly in almost every program you will ever follow! For beginners, I recommend a set up like this instead of the full rack. This will help with grip width, but still give you stability and arms to catch missed/too heavy of squats to recovery when you attempt your one rep max.

There are other items you will use to perform the lifts (accessories), but as a garage set up these are the essentials!

Did I miss anything? Please comment and let me know! I will add in any great suggestions.

What is Olympic weightlifting?

Olympic Weightlifting:  the sport in which you attempt to lift a weighted barbell over head three times, in one of two ways, to combined the two best attempts into a total score. 

First is the snatch: The athlete approaches the bar with an athletic stance, grips the bar utilizing a wide grip while in a squatting position to begin. The initial pull is to the knees and resembles a deadlift. 

The second pull is from the top of the knee to the hip with a great emphasis on Triple extension (hip, knee and ankles) and pulling the bar up with the elbows high and wide.

The third pull is where the athlete forcefully lowers themselves below the bar and "punches" up to lock the bar overhead while in a overhead squat position.

After the three pulls have been completed, the athlete will then stand up tall with the bar overhead and elbows locked out for a completed lift.

Check out this quick video to see the Snatch performed by Oleksiy Torokhtiy
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBc5N_-xdqo

The second  lift is called the Clean and Jerk: The athlete takes an athletic stance and grips the bar just outside the thighs and is in a position where the shoulders are higher than the hips and the hips are higher than the knees. The initial pull also resembles a deadlift and is to the knees. 

The second pull is from the top of the knee to the upper thigh. The athlete will forcefully shrug the bar up utilizing the shoulders through the use of triple extension (ankles, knees and hips). During this moment the athlete will simultaneously lower themselves under the bar to receive (catch) the bar in a front squat position. 

The athlete will stabilize themselves before standing up tall with the bar across the front delts with elbows high.   

Then the final drive will begin with the hips and knees slightly hinging. The athlete will forcefully change directions pushing through the bar in an upward direction while driving the feet apart and into a split position (feet approximately shoulder width apart and resembling a lunge). The lift is completed when the athlete has the bar completely overhead with elbows locked out.

Check out this quick video to see the Clean and Jerk  performed by Oleksiy Torokhtiy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HyWjAk7fhY

Traditionally the competitions are calculated and recorded in kilograms. The athlete attempts each lift three times and takes the best of each lift to combined them into a total score.

Leave me a comment below letting me know if you liked my explanation or if I could elaborate more. 

Comment on what topics concerning Olympic weightlifting you may want to read about.  

Or just let me know if you dropped by my Instagram @eliteNRG. ꜜ

Check out some of my lifts on Instagram for more references:

https://www.instagram.com/elitenrg/