Here you’ll find videos of all of the exercises and movements we use in our training sessions. Each video features the coaches and athletes at our gym in Austin, TX.
To get access to our training sessions, start here to see the options. If you become an online member, for each session we develop you’ll be able to watch a video featuring a coach giving a detailed explanation of each exercise or movement required for that day’s session.
push your hips back into the squat while putting your weight into the heel of the standing foot
sit back onto the box with your shins perpendicular to the ground
stand up again, finishing with your hips at full extension
injured leg: if you have a severe injury and can’t put any weight on the bad leg, you will perform this exercise standing on your good leg. if you’re able to place some weight on the bad leg, set up in a squat stance and perform the movement with 75% of the load on the good leg and 25% on the injured leg.
common mistakes: rounding through the back, holding kettlebell away from body.
hold the bell in one hand. whatever hand is holding the weight, same side leg will be moving.
lift the leg behind you while the torso hinges forward at the same time. your torso will only hinge as far as the leg lifts.
keep back straight the whole time.
tip back to standing position.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell or barbell
common mistakes: rounding through the spine, hips not staying squared up.
leg injury: perform this on the good leg.
arm injury: hold the bell with two hands or just your good arm. you can also do higher reps with no weight at all.
hold the pvc pipe with a wide grip in an overhead squat position
squat deep, keeping tension in your core and your spine as vertical as possible
hold this position for the prescribed amount of time while trying to sink deeper into the squat
if you're not mobile in your hips, slide a board under your heels
common mistakes: not keeping core tight, rounding the back.
injured arm: do this without your arms overhead holding the pvc.
injured leg: do this up against a rack on one leg without the overhead component. face a rack and hold on to it. walk your hands down the rack as you lower yourself into a one-legged squat. hold your injured leg in front of you. focus on keeping your torso tight and spine vertical.
start with 2.5 or 5 lb plates in your hands, your arms at sides
keeping your arms straight, lift the plates in a lateral raise, then bring them to the front of the body, then lift straight up overhead, back down to the front of the body, back to the sides and down
keep your movements slow and controlled
injured arm/shoulder: do this unloaded. can’t use an arm? do it on the good arm.
back squat w/ controlled descent and hold 1) start controlled descent and hold in bottom for dictated time.
2) when time elapses explode out of the bottom of squat as fast as possible.
3) do not hold in the top longer than it takes to take a stabilizing breath and begin descent.
bounce out of the bottom if needed and while the descent is controlled we want the ascent to be as explosive as possible
back squat w/ hold at top 1)start the athletes at the 0 on the clock and tell them to squat every 5 seconds or as other dictated time.
2) full rom squats with a quick descent and a fast explosion out of the bottom. try to perform each rep as fast as possible.
athlete can breath as needed at the top of the squat.
loop a band over the top of a rack so that it hangs down to your knees or feet or laterally wrap a band around the j-cups of a rack
with a hanging band, you will start with the knee or foot in. with a laterally wrapped band, you’ll step both feet on band
grab the bar with your hands, wrapping your thumbs around it
pull yourself straight up until your chin is over the bar
slowly lower yourself down
common mistakes: setting up the band to where it doesn’t allow the full range of motion on the pullup, so that it’s either too easy or too hard to perform the movement.
injured arm/shoulder: you can try a one arm pullup or substitute a single arm row.
place 4 fingers from each hand on the near side of the barbell in a position slightly wider than shoulder width
scoop the shoulders forward so there is a shelf where the bar can rest and rotate the elbows down and around so they are pointing at the wall in front of you
the bar should be lightly resting against your throat and hands should be relaxed
stand up supporting the load on the shoulders, not the hands or wrist
take 2 steps back to clear the rack
take a breath and drop 2-4 inches down by pushing the knees out
soon as you drop the required distance explosively change directions and violently extend the legs / hips
clear the head / face out of the way as the barbell moves up
as the bar moves up drop the elbows under the bar and acquire a full grip
finish out the lift by pressing up and overhead using the shoulders
common mistakes
poor bar path
- the most efficient way to move a barbell is straight up. the face keeps this from happening unless you retract or lift the chin to clear the way. many times athletes will simply move the bar around the face instead of vice versa. once they hit the sticking point the bar is no longer over the chest but out in front of them. think about skimming the face and driving straight up off the chest. once the bar clears the face then the head comes back into a neutral position and they finish off the lift.
layback
- layback is a term for when the load get heavy or the athlete starts to struggle the athlete will lean back trying to use the chest muscles to finish the lift. this puts the back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. keep the head in a neutral position and eyes to the front.
looking down
- when pressing up the eyes should be focused on the far wall unless lifting the chin to clear the path for the bar, even then once the bar is clear they should pick a spot on the wall and focus on it. often times athletes will finish out the lift by dropping their chin and looking down at the ground
pushing the head too far forward
- this comes from the cue of "pushing your head through the window" which in theory is getting the athlete into a position with the head neutral and arms to both sides of the head. sometimes this gets taken too far and there is a significant push forward and/or the athlete pushes the bar behind them. soon as the bar clears the face simply place the head back in a normal position where the bar is directly over the chest.
hanging out in the bottom
- the change in direction needs to be violent and explosive. if the athlete lingers in the bottom position then they will not have the explosively they need.
dropping the elbow
s - if the elbows drop before the bar leaves the shoulders then the load is transferred to the connective tissue in the arms and shoulders instead of staying on the shelf. this causes that tissue to stretch as the athlete changes direction and reduced the amount the athlete can lift. keep the shoulders up and the hands open until the barbell comes off the shoulders.
we use this exercise to train isometric core strength. we usually program in this exercise for time. you'll often see 20/20/20. each of those numbers dictates an amount of time - 20 seconds left side plank, 20 seconds plank, 20 seconds right side plank.
start by getting into a side plank
make sure feet, knees, spine and head are all in one straight line
roll down into a basic plank on both elbows
roll to the other side for the last plank
common mistakes:
in the side position, failing to fully extend your hips or letting them sag towards the ground when tired.
in the front position, forcing your low spine to support all the weight and making a curvature that looks like an old horse.
clean corrective complex 1) pull w/ 3 seconds from the floor
2) rdl w/ 3 second hold above the knee
3) hang squat clean w/ 3 second hold in the bottom
4) full clean
rotate your torso while dropping down into a quarter squat, tapping the plate on the side of your foot
pull it up and across your body, extending the plate up and out to the opposite side
bring it back down across your body to the ground again
common mistakes: not rotating through the movement, rounding through the spine.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell, kettlebell.
injured leg: do this on 1 leg.
injured arm: hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in the one good hand.
lie on the ground with one knee bent. the arm on the same side as your bent knee will hold a kettlebell. this arm should be fully extended, directly over your shoulder. your opposite arm should be on the ground at a 45 degree angle away from your body.
keeping your eyes on the bell, do a one arm situp, using the elbow on the ground to help you sit up
push onto your hand from your elbow on the ground
bridge your hips up and pull the extended leg back onto the knee behind you
rotate your hips forward, extending the your torso, letting your eyes go to horizontal
stand all the way up and then come back down
opposite knee down, getting the eyes on the bell again
opposite hand posts down on ground
shoot the leg through onto the ground
go down onto the elbow
lie down
common mistakes: not locking out the kb arm, not keeping the eyes on the bell, not bridging the hips enough.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell, make a fist with a shoe on top for a balance challenge.
set up two boxes next to each other, leaving enough space for your body in between
place a dumbbell on top of each box
gripping the dumbbells, pull your feet off of the ground, holding them behind you
slowly lower yourself down until the backs of your arms are parallel to the ground
push yourself back up to full extension while keeping your feet off of the ground
common mistakes: not going down all the way to parallel.
exercise substitutes: you can put two racks facing each other with barbells at same height to make dip bars. or place both hands on a bench or box and elevate your feet on a bench or box and do dips that way.
stand holding a set of dumbbells up by your shoulders
hinge the hips back a little, bend your knees a little and jump up, extending your arms overhead
make sure your arms stack straight over the shoulders, getting your head “through the window"
slowly lower dumbbells back down
common mistakes: squatting instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not stacking arms over shoulders.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells. sandbag held horizontally on chest in both hands.
injured arm: do a 1 arm push press.
sit on a bench with your feet flat on the ground. hold a dumbbell in each hand.
lie back on bench and extend your arms vertically above the chest
bend your arms at the elbows while keeping the dumbbells in the same horizontal plane they were in at the start until you feel the stretch in your chest
push your arms back up to full extension until dumbbells touch
common mistakes: letting your feet come off of the ground, lifting your hips off of the bench, not going deep enough.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, barbell bench.
injured arm: do a 1 arm bench press.
standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width and toes flared out, hold a set of dumbbells in hands
perform 6 reps of the rdl: hinging the hips back, torso will tip forward. keep the back straight, weight in the heels. go down to mid shin and stand back up. that’s 1x rep.
perform 6 reps of the hang squat clean: hinge into a hang position. jump and shrug the dumbbells up. jump down into a full squat to catch the dumbbells. stand back up. that’s 1x rep.
perform 6 reps the thruster: hold the dumbbells by the shoulders. squat deeply and jump the dumbbells overhead until arms are straight above the shoulders. bring bells back down to shoulders. that’s 1x rep.
perform 3 reps of the scotty bob: get into plank position with the dumbbells in hands. row with right arm. do a pushup. row with left arm. do a pushup. that’s 1x rep.
perform 6 reps of the situp with bodyweight.
common mistakes: rounding your back, not jumping enough in the squat clean/thruster, not squatting deep enough in squat clean/thruster, not extending your arms over your shoulders in the thruster, too shallow pushups.
keep your feet on the ground and your hips on the bench
extend your arms over your chest
lower your arms laterally, bending your elbows slightly
bring the dumbbells back up to touching when you feel the stretch in your pecs
common mistakes: keeping arms straight the whole time or bending them too much, not going down deep enough to feel the stretch.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells.
injured arm: do a 1 arm fly.
place a box in front of you. the height of the box depends on how tall you are. you’ll want to have it at a height where you can have your bottom foot on the ground through the exercise.
place the bottom portion of your leg on top of the box at the edge
bend your standing leg until you feel the stretch in your hip that's elevated on the box
hold for the prescribed amount of time and switch
common mistakes: not bending the standing knee deep enough, box too high, box too low.
equipment substitutions: you can use any surface where you can hook the leg up.
pick up a set of dumbbells or kettlebells with a flat back
stand tall and hold the bells by your sides
roll your shoulders up and back to set the lats
walk the prescribed length
common mistakes: not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: anything you can grab onto with the hands and walk with counts.
injured arm: hold the weight in the good hand.
lie down on your back with your knees bent and feet flat
flatten your low back to the ground
with arms by your sides at 90 degrees, get your elbows, wrists, and backs of your hands flat on ground
maintaining contact with the ground, slowly slide your arms straight up as if doing an overhead press
keep your elbows, wrists, and backs of your hands in contact with the ground at all times
slowly pull your elbows back down without breaking that position
common mistakes: allowing the arms to come off the ground, going too fast.
substitution: do this flat up against a wall, in either a sitting or standing position.
roll the length of any of whatever muscle or area is prescribed
start the foam roller at the end of the muscle and very slowly roll the length of the muscle to the other end
when you find a sensitive, painful spot, hold the pressure there for the prescribed amount of time
common mistakes: rolling too fast, not holding the painful spot long enough.
equipment substitutions: you can use a lacrosse ball or tennis ball for soft tissue work.
lower your body down until your chest is on the ground
lift your hands off of the floor for a second
put your hands down and lift back up into a plank position
common mistakes: not getting hands off the ground, body waving up instead of maintaining a stiff plank position through the movement.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm bench press or 1 arm dumbbell floor press.
stand with a clean grip on a barbell at hip height
pushing your hips back, hinge forward into a hang position with the barbell at the top of the knees
jump aggressively and shrug, pulling the barbell up
whip your elbows through into a high rack position, letting go of the bar
jump down into the squat and catch the barbell on the chest
stand up
lower the barbell back down to the hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not letting go of the bar, catching with low elbows, not squatting below parallel.
equipment substitutions: do a double kettlebell squat clean.
injured arm: do a 1 arm kettlebel squat clean.
injured leg: do a hang power (quarter squat) clean with weight on one leg. you will muscle the barbell up instead of jumping it up.
jerk – split stance - have the feet between hip and shoulder width apart with the toes flared out slightly.
grip - use a clean grip which for most males is thumbs distance off the knurling. for females is may be as narrow as the actual knurling. there should be 1-2 inches between your hands and your shoulders.
elbows - keep them up pointing towards the wall in front of you, the barbell should be resting on the shoulders and fingertips.
execution:
set up in the front-squat rack position with upward pressure on the end of the elbows.
head neutral and feet in a stance of flexibility.
dip slow, straight and short.
aggressive change of direction and exaggerated head movement back while maintaining upward elbow pressure.
hips and ankles open completely as chin is lifted to its highest point.
as the bar begins to float, it stays in the fingertips as it is guided back slightly and the hips start to drop straight down and the feet split.
the bar and head will quickly pass each other, at which point the hands will wrap and push the body the rest of the way under for a lockout that will occur immediately after the feet return to the floor.
the bar is now directly over the shoulders and the hips with the head poking through to the point where the ears are just in front of the arms.
the front foot moves back first to the point where the back foot will step up and meet in the middle to complete the lift.
mistakes:
elbows down
trying to press the barbell up using the shoulders instead of the hips,legs.
start standing with a set of kettlebells in your hands
push your butt back and hinge at your hips a little bit
dipping the bells between your legs, jump them straight up and catch them in a rack position on the chest
jump and punch the bells the bells straight overhead into full extension
bring them back down to your shoulders, then down to the hips
common mistakes: swinging the bells away from the body, rounding the back, not getting the bells stacked straight over the shoulders.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell.
injured arm: do a 1 arm clean and press.
step into the harness and wrap the strap around your hips
walk out until the chain is taut
clean the bells up into a high rack position
perform 5 kb front squats
then bring the bells down by your sides
run the tire out to the prescribed distance
stop and place the bells on the plate in the tire
keeping the strap on your body, turn the tire around
now face the tire with the strap secured around the back of the hips
run the tire backward to the start line
that’s one round
common mistakes: not squatting deep enough, not running fast enough on the drag.
equipment substitutions: sandbags, dumbbells and a sled instead of a tire.
lie on your back on the ground with a kettlebell by each shoulder, knees bent
roll your body toward the bell on one side, grip it, and roll it up onto your shoulder. repeat with other side
push one kettlebell toward the ceiling, extending your arm, and rolling your shoulder blade on the same side off of the ground so that you go into a mini crunch
slowly bring the kb back down to rest on the shoulder
repeat with the other side
common mistakes: elevating the arm on the bottom instead of posting the elbow on the ground.
stand in a wide stance, toes flared out with a set of kettlebells in your hands
set your shoulders
keeping a slight bend in your knees, push your hips back as far back as possible while lowering the bells down towards the ground
maintain a straight, neutral spine the whole time
once you’ve felt a good stretch in the hamstrings or you’ve touched the ground, push through your heels to stand back up to full extension
common mistakes: narrow stance, toes not flared out, back rounding, not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell, sandbag, medicine ball, plates.
stand with a wide stance, toes flared out with a set of kettlebells in your hands
set the shoulders
keeping a slight bend in your knees, push the hips back as far possible while you lower the bells down towards the ground
maintain a straight, neutral spine the whole time
once you’ve felt the good stretch in the hamstrings or you’ve touched the ground, push through the heels to stand back up to full extension
common mistakes: narrow stance, toes not flared out, back rounding, not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell, sandbag, medicine ball, plates.
get a clean grip on the barbell. this means slightly wider than shoulder width. the grip will be a full grip with the thumbs wrapped.
take a breath in and get under the bar with the elbows slightly pushed in front. the bar should be resting on the chest.
take a small step back and drive straight up overhead while keeping the barbell in the same vertical plane as much as possible.
you can either lift the chin up and out of the way or retract the chin back as the barbell passes the face.
as soon as the bar passes the forehead the head needs to go back to a neutral position between the arms.
exhale and continue to press the bar directly overhead until in a locked out position.
take each subsequent breath in the top position and lower the bar back to the chest in a controlled manner touching the chest each rep.
common mistakes
poor bar path
- the most efficient way to move a barbell is straight up. the face keeps this from happening unless you retract or lift the chin to clear the way. many times athletes will simply move the bar around the face instead of vice versa. once they hit the sticking point the bar is no longer over the chest but out in front of them. think about skimming the face and driving straight up off the chest. once the bar clears the face then the head comes back into a neutral position and they finish off the lift.
layback
- layback is a term for when the load get heavy or the athlete starts to struggle the athlete will lean back trying to use the chest muscles to finish the lift. this puts the back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. keep the head in a neutral position and eyes to the front.
looking down
- when pressing up the eyes should be focused on the far wall unless lifting the chin to clear the path for the bar, even then once the bar is clear they should pick a spot on the wall and focus on it. often times athletes will finish out the lift by dropping their chin and looking down at the ground.
pushing the head too far forward
- this comes from the cue of "pushing your head through the window" which in theory is getting the athlete into a position with the head neutral and arms to both sides of the head. sometimes this gets taken too far and there is a significant push forward and/or the athlete pushes the bar behind them. soon as the bar clears the face simply place the head back in a normal position where the bar is directly over the chest.
using the legs or hips
- as the loads get heavy athletes have a tendency to start using their legs to get their reps in. if this is the case simply drop weight and execute the exercise correctly.
stand holding a barbell with a clean grip at hip height
hinge and push the barbell into hang position at the top of your knees
jump and shrug, pulling the barbell up to catch on your chest while jumping down in the full squat
from the squat, jump the barbell all the way up into an overhead press position
lower the barbell back to the shoulders, then back to the hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not squatting deep enough, not using the momentum from jumping out of the squat to get the barbell overhead.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
standing or sitting, hold a set of dumbbells up by your shoulders, palms facing your body
keep your chest high and the core braced
lift the bells straight up and rotate as you extend your arms
slowly lower the bells back down to your shoulders
common mistakes: starting the bells with the arms to the sides of the body, not extending all the way at the top.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells.
injured arm: do a 1 arm dumbbell press.
hold a plate in an overhead position with arms completely locked out over your shoulders
lunge forward with the right leg, bringing the back left knee down to the ground
push off the left foot and travel through the middle, lunging forward with the left foot
continue travelling with alternating legs for prescribed reps or distance
common mistakes: bending the arms while holding the plate, not bringing the back knee down to the ground each time, collapsing through the core.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine ball.
purpose: we do pause squats to increase muscular recruitment in the bottom squat position. it helps with building the muscle to explode out of an olympic lift as well. we have also noticed that it helps fix the lower pelvic tilt that occurs when you bottom out in a squat.
execution:
unrack a barbell and get into a back squat position
take a deep breath and push your hips back and down into the squat
keep your chest up and core braced as you break parallel
once you’re in the full squat, hold the squat for the prescribed time
while you’re in this bottom position, try to relax and breathe normally
then drive fast out of the bottom pushing through your heels to standing
common mistakes:
stance too narrow.
toes and knees not tracking outward.
not maintaining a rigid flat back.
not being able to get out of the squat after pausing.
grab the barbell with a clean grip - one that is slightly wider than shoulder width.
make sure that you are using a hook grip - one that the index and middle finger wrap over the thumb
feet should be under the hips with toes only slightly flared. the start position stance is slightly narrower than the front squat stance
pull the barbell into your shins
drop your butt into a position slightly lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the legs at the mid to upper thighs
pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip and punching the elbows down and around the bar
receive the bar in a quarter squat in the front rack position with the weight settling onto the shoulders and elbows pointing forward and stand up
common mistakes
not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
elbows stopping short - if the athlete has a death grip on the barbell and fails to release their grip then the elbows will often get jammed up about half way to the desired position. soon as you start the rotation of the elbows around the bar release the grip and prepare to receive the bar onto the shoulders. it is not required to even have all the fingers under the bar during this. if going overhead after then the athlete will need to adjust but if simply doing a clean they are fine.
muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
catching in extension - because the power clean doesn't require the athlete to fully squat often times the will drop their body by pushing the hips forward. this puts the low back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. the athlete should be on their way down to a full squat but simply change directions early.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm kettlebell or dumbbell hang power clean with the good arm.
address a barbell on the ground with a snatch grip
slowly squeeze the barbell off the ground, pulling it up the shins
once you pass to the top of the knees, aggressively jump and shrug the barbell straight up the body
jump under the bar in a quarter squat, catching it overhead with straight arms
stand all the way up
lower or drop the barbell down to the ground
common mistakes: jerking the bar off the ground, rounding the back, not jumping hard enough, catching the bar with straight legs, catching the bar with bent arms.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm kettlebell or dumbbell snatch on the good arm.
injured leg: do a 1 leg hang power snatch.
there are different ways to do the rope climb. we use this particular technique because most of our athletes wear shorts to train and we want them to keep the rope off their legs to avoid a rope burn:
reach up as high as you can and grab the rope with your hands
bring your feet up to the rope
use your right foot to pull the rope over the top of the left foot
pinch the rope in between the shoes by angling the edge of the right shoe down
this should give you a secure enough anchor to not have to hold on to the rope really hard with the upper body
now you will reach up as high as you can and re-grab the rope with the hands
pull your feet up as high as you can and re-anchor with the same technique
continue like this all the way up to the top
then you will allow a little slack in between your shoes to slide down carefully, gripping hand over hand all the way down
common mistakes: not pinching the rope securely enough with the feet, sliding down too fast, jumping off the rope (very dangerous), not chalking the hands if they’re sweaty.
find your snatch grip by picking up the barbell and taking the hands out wider and wider until the bar sits in the crease of the hips. for most males this is just about thumbs distance from the outside ring and for females right on the outside ring.
once you find your grip grab the barbell with the hook grip and pull it into you.
your stance should be similar to that of a clean with the feet under the hips and toes flared out. because the hands are so much wider you can flare the feet a bit more and push the knees out to get closer to the bar
drop your butt into a position slighty lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the area just above the pubic bone
pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip, flipping the wrists back and locking out your arms
as you pull yourself under the bar the feet need to transition out into a squat stance. the ideal stance is the same one you overhead squat with.
after receiving the bar continue to ride the squat down and utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom to drive up and out of the bottom.
common mistakes
not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
bent arms - dropping under the bar and receiving with bent arms will require the athlete to press the bar overhead with a wide grip to finish the lift. when you drop under the bar during the snatch you need to receive the bar overhead with arms locked out.
muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
snatch corrective complex 1) pull with 3 seconds from the floor
2) rdl with 3 sec hold above the knee
3) hang squat snatch w/ 3 sec hold in the bottom
4) full snatch
grab the barbell with a clean grip - one that is slightly wider than shoulder width.
make sure that you are using a hook grip - one that the index and middle finger wrap over the thumb
feet should be under the hips with toes only slightly flared. the start position stance is slightly narrower than the front squat stance
pull the barbell into your shins
drop your butt into a position slightly lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the legs at the mid to upper thighs
pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip and punching the elbows down and around the bar.
receive the bar in the front rack position with the weight settling onto the shoulders and elbows pointing forward
as you pull yourself under the bar the feet need to transition out into a squat stance. the ideal stance is the same one you front squat with
after receiving the bar continue to ride the squat down and utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom to drive up and out of the squat
common mistakes
not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
elbows stopping short - if the athlete has a death grip on the barbell and fails to release their grip then the elbows will often get jammed up about half way to the desired position. soon as you start the rotation of the elbows around the bar release the grip and prepare to receive the bar onto the shoulders. it is not required to even have all the fingers under the bar during this. if going overhead after then the athlete will need to adjust but if simply doing a clean they are fine.
muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
takano snatch pull this is a 4 part pull designed to help the athlete maintain back angle and bar position throughout the lift.
1x halting deadlift to below knee
1x halting deadlift to power position
1x bump + shrug
1x high pull
