Weightlifting is one of the best ways to improve your athlete's performance in sports. Many fitness trainers use this tool in their program.
Weightlifting is an Olympic sport, where you have to lift the heaviest bar overhead. In the physical preparation program, it is the best tool to improve power in the vertical plane, posture, core, and muscular coordination. But we don't use all the moves every time.
We will use more technical exercises, which we generally find in weightlifting.
Success criteria and difference between Snatch and Clean and Jerk
Before seeing the different exercises, we must talk about the position and success criteria for these two movements.
Even though the snatch and the clean and jerk are different, there are major similarities regarding their instructions:
- Keep your back straight
This is the most important criterion. If your athlete rounds his back, he may injure himself. In this case, stop the exercise and correct it
- Triple extension
Ankles, knees and hips should be extended. If this is not the case, correct it immediately to improve gestures. The posterior chain is key to performing all weightlifting movements.
- Pull the bar close to you
The bar should be close to the body, whether you want to snatch or shoulder it. If the bar is too far away, your athlete cannot complete the movement because the lever arm will be too great. Let's see the difference between the two movements
- Position of the hand on the bar: The position of the hands on the bar in the snatch is wider than in the grip Clean and jerk If you want to do a snatch, the hands should be positioned well beyond shoulder width and close to the weights. If you want to do a Clean and Jerk, the hands should be placed a little more than shoulder-width apart. The thumbs should be fairly close to the shoulders in the clean position.
- The Clean: The clean is the most important difference between the two movements. To support the bar, you must have good mobility in your wrists and shoulders. The bar rests on the shoulders, helped by the hands. If your mobility is not good, we will give you a tip later. Maybe your athlete is new to weightlifting. So, be careful, and gradually increase the load. Now, let's see the exercises that we encounter during Powerlifting and Physical Preparation.
Tips for Improving Mobility in Weightlifting:
Your athlete may have difficulty shouldering the bar. This means he lacks wrist and shoulder mobility. Don't worry, load a heavy barbell and assume a clean position. Help your athlete pull their elbow. Pay attention to your back: there should be no compensation with hyperlordosis. Keep it straight.
Additionally, your athlete may have difficulty lifting the bar overhead and squatting. This means he lacks ankle mobility, hip mobility, and shoulder mobility.
- To improve ankle mobility: Take a half-kneeling position and bring the knee forward without removing the heel
- To improve your shoulder mobility, you can do shoulder flexibility
- To achieve better flexion, you can do this exercise:
o Take a support, like those of the squat-rack
o Place hands just below chest
o Squat, Put your glutes back
o Hold your hands on the support, your arms should cover your ears
o Hold this position for 30 seconds
CONCLUSION
Weightlifting is a valuable tool used by physical trainers to improve the physical qualities of their athletes. To practice weightlifting, your athlete must have good mobility.
If not, make sure to improve mobility before practicing weightlifting. You can use muscle variation, in this sense. This is possible by using light weights, to remove the apprehension of passing under the bar. To use weightlifting, you need to analyze your athlete's activity.
It is not the athlete who serves weightlifting, but weightlifting serving the athlete. If the sport takes place mainly in the vertical plane, then weightlifting will be an essential partner in your progress!
But remember: before this practice, make sure that your athlete's mobility is good!