Living with no regrets: A good way to start with olympic lifts

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

A good way to start with olympic lifts

I recognise that many gyms don't allow snatches/cleans becuase they are "dangerous". Then again many patrons in gyms want a nice quiet environment where they can read the newspaper while they act out the part of human hamsters on stationay bikes or treadmills. Such a place is called a library not a gym... ugh. These are the people you will see every day, every week and every year who make no progress in either physical performance or appearance. Which is a REAL SHAME considering how much time they are there...not all of us have the dedication/opportunity/genetics to be a world class athlete. But shouldnt we be speding training time most effectivley? d..d.dd.d.d..d DUHZ!

Anyway here is an exercise that introdices a person to olympic lifts. Its easy to learn, its fairly "non-hardcore" so the whimpy people won't be intimidated, and its effective. Works on explosive power and total body stabiltiy becuase you are holding a heavy object overhead in only 1 hand so the entire body must balance it. Great for atheltes as well. you can even do these with lighter weights for high reps like 15-20 for anerobic conditioning. If not, keep the weight moving fast and the reps low (1-4 per hand) and explosive!

1 Hand Dumbell Power Snatch

From a half squat position, just jump the weight up and try to throw it to the ceiling (of course don't let go). then slowly lower it back to the starting position. This is me doing it with a 35kg dumbell. It can be done with kettlebells or other heavy object like old HiFi sets or TVs:)Please excuse the goofy music...haha.