I get a good amount of questions regarding trouble shoot issues so I thought I’d go over a few commonly seen errors:
Bar Bouncing Off Thighs
Most commonly this could be from a funky set up which leaves the bar in front during the second pull which than could be having your hips meet the bar instead of the bar coming into the hips.
To remedy this, I would work on your first pull, making sure to get the shins out of the way. You may also want to slow down the first pull, it’s common for beginners to think “Rip the Barrrr!” but this most likely will through the pull sequence out of whack.
Slow Elbows
You can ask all my Weightlifters, I’m a tyrant for fast elbows…so this topic is meaningful to me 🙂
The common cue is “Faster Elbows!” for this but in most cases it has nothing to do with how quick the Weightlifters elbows are, it’s more about bar positioning. As stated above, if the bar is pulled too fast (in general), the bar can swing out during the 2nd pull, and as sequences go, if the bar is out in front during the second pull, the catch will most likely be funky…starting to get why I’m so fixated on the first pull?
In short, keep a close eye on the bar path, most likely the bar is swinging out causing a slow turnover, not that the Weightlifters elbows are slow.
Bar Banging the Knees
With beginners, you’ll see some bruised up knees…clearly because the bar is smashing against it. But why? To put simply, the knees are NOT getting out of the way soon enough.
And just like the first 2, what is a the root cause? The first pull! Control the first pull enough so that your knees get out of the way to set your 2nd pull, which set ups the the 3rd and so on and so on…
First Pull
The reason I chose to discuss these 3 topics is to show how important the first pull is. It’s a position I feel is too often overlooked because it’s not flashy or fancy, it’s actually one of the more boring movements to practice. BUT if you want to excel in the great sport of Olympic Style Weightlifting, you need to set a strong foundation…and where does this foundation start from?
…..Of course the first pull! That’s it for today.
Stay strong!
Team Fusion