Leg Drive
Check out this comparison of Andrew’s snatches? What do you see? What do you think will allow him to hit bigger weights? Why?
Check out the two pictures on the far left taken at roughly the same times in each of the lifts. The top you can see Andrew’s feet are flat on the ground, knees are bent and he is leaning back. He is using his back to thrust his hips and bar forward and out. The bottom picture he extended more onto his toes, knees are less bent (closer to extension) and hips are extended more vertically. Due to driving through his legs more just before this picture. He is much closer to triple extension here than the top picture.
The middle two pictures it’s a little hard to see, but the top picture has the bar kicked out further than the bottom. It’s still pretty light for Andrew, so he can comensate punching his head through and/or pulling the bar back behind his head. It didn’t cause him to miss, but now imagine when he has a maximum load on there. A few degrees will make a much bigger difference in terms of make or miss. Since his feet never left the ground during extension, they either didn’t move at all or it was probably more of a scoot or shuffle. Again with lighter weights he can make up for it, but any stickiness or friction will cause him to trip or just pain miss from being too slow. The bottom picture they are or about to land back on the floor, as he pulls himself under the bar. Also, look at the angle of his neck and back as he pulls himself under the bar, see what that means next.
Lastly check out his receiving position. Because he launched the bar out he ends up forcing his head really far through his shoulders to receive the bar. Which isn’t always that comfortable, especially if you have mobility issues in the shoulders. The bottom picture is more stable and able to revive a heavier weight.
What did he work on to work on this? First we took the weight waaaay down to an empty barbell. Since he has a habit of kicking it out when we add a jump we worked on just popping the feet out, and dropping while keeping the bar close. And then we did it again, and again, and again, and again, and agin, until he had more reps that were correct than oopsies. Then we added a little weight and repeated, and repeated. That day , and for that drill 35kg was the heaviest he got. We want to reinforce good movement over and over, until it becomes his default movement. Was it hard. Yes, but not in a heavy weight kind of training day. A lot of reps even at light weight is very taxing, not to mention the focus needed to do it properly. It’s not always an easy or pretty proces to relearn technique, Andrew did really well! Don’t be too surprised when you see his PR video someday soon!
Want more weightlifting? Be sure to join us Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at 6:15am and 5:15pm for the Barbell WOD. Then again on Saturday’s at 9am with me (coach Meriah), for weightlifting practice. All at our Broomfield location. Also check out our MBS Strength Page for more information on what’s happening strength wise at MBS!
