Looking to include Olympic Lifts into my resistance training, because at the moment I only do them in my garden with my friends to see who can lift the most (too much testostorone flying round...) After reading about the benefits on the Central Nervous System I couldn't see why I hadn't included them in before. But i'm having difficulty knowing when to include them, should they be done on the same day as other leg/core muscle excercises such as deadlift? Also on technique: I regard the classic snatch to be much simpler, but it doesn't look to work the legs as much as the power snatch. Problem is, when I try the power snatch I can't get the weight over my head enough so when I drop down it falls infront of me. I've been working on technique with just the bar, but my arms wont go back when I drop down under. I think this may be down to shoulder flexibility tho. Lastly, is it best to work the clean and jerk aswell as the snatch? To mix it up a bit?
The classic snatch=a power snatch+dropping under the bar into an OH squat. Power snatch=well, just pulling the bar from the floor and snatching it OH. As you can see, the classic (or full) snatch has a lot more leg recruitment. You might be thinking of hang snatches. Yes, you have classic signs of shoulder inflexibility. I suspect to much benching has caused your anterior delts to be overstrengthened and over hypertrophed compared to your posterior delts. Shoulder stability and flexibility take time if you're not used to needing it but keep working at it. Cleans are just as good as snatches. Jerks are good too but I find they take a bit of working with because so many trainees do a push press and then try to catch the bar in a semi-squatted position...which of course is not what the jerk is. The full variations aren't absolutely necessary as we're martial artists and not Olympic lifters. Also, Oly lifters catch very low...on their way down rather than what most people do is catch high. In my case, as a thrower, the high catch (think high pull with a clean catch or snatch ending) is more important. What we're looking for is explosive carry over and not competition technique/numbers...so as a martial artist it's not absolutely necessary for you to be pumping out the full variations (unless you just want to). I'd also say for a martial artist that perhaps the hang variations might be of more value than say the full or power variations...so in my rambling, I'd say worry more about the power and hang variations and you'll get the carry-over and bang for your buck. This basically comes from spending quite a bit of time with them in the last year and having a coach and looking at it from an athletic training prespective and listening to other anaerobic athletes/competitors...I'll never be an Oly lifting competitor, so I have to figure out what it is I want from the lifts. Lastly, your oly lifts should come first in your workout.
Noobs should definitely start with cleans IMO, snatches are technically more difficult as if cleans weren't hard enough to get right!
In the past month i've almost dropped the bench press and primarily been working on the overhead press but I guess I need to keep it going for far longer: is this the best way to improve the balance between my posterior delts and anterior delts? Once i've accomplished all the noob technique difficulties I'm definatley going to have to try all the lifts. The challenge to lift a chunk of weight over my head is a challenge I can't ignore!
It is as follows: (day 1 and 2 are evenly spased within the week. If I feel tired, then I leave it for a day) Day 1 Squat 5 x 5 Chins 5 x 5 (if I can manage this many) O/H press 5 x 5 Good Mornings 5 x 5 Day 2 Olympic Lifts (Cleans) 3 x 3 Deadlift 5 x 4 Dips 5 x 5 Chins It feels like I'm missing something out that I've forgotten to write I do abdominals (russian twists and abdominal wheel) on the days that I am not working the other muscles. Just to save time. It's getting walmer now so I've quit the gym and got out my barbell in the back garden. rooaar ...
Some things that have helped a couple trainees I've worked with getting some shoulder flexibility Face pulls (lots of reps):2Xweekly; something like 2X15, 2X10, 2X8 snatch drops w/bar starting behind the neck:1X20 two times weekly snatch drops at home w/just broom stick:1X20 4-6 times a week OH pressing (use bench as an accessory movement) Stretching of the chest and shoulders daily for 10-20 minutes and lastly, 1 arm db full snatches
Thanks alot, this will help me out big time! I havn't got access to a chin bar at home so i've always used a peice of rope over a heavy bag fixing. Looks great. Think I'll take out the bench on day 1 in exchange for dips. So it's been shaped into something like this: Day 1: Face pulls 2X15 snatch drops w/bar starting behind the neck1X20 1 arm db full snatches Snatch 5 x 5 Squat 5 x 5 Dips 5 x 5 Rows 5 x 5 Day 2: Clean/clean and jerk 3 x 3 (undecided on sets x reps) Deads 5 x 5 OHP 5 x 5 Chins 5 x 5 (or as many as possible) Also :snatch drops at home w/just broom stick:1X20 4-6 times a week Stretching of the chest and shoulders daily for 10-20 minutes