SW Portland Martial Arts Blog

If you are cleaning or snatching, you should jump and land slightly backwards from your starting position. This jump back will be a bit bigger with the snatch.
The jump back will automatically happen if you open your hips powerfully and then keep the bar close as it continues to go upward. If your feet land in the same place as you started, that’s maybe okay but if your feet land forward from where you started, that almost always means the bar got sent forward and you had to chase it.
Keep the bar close. Jump back.

People work harder when someone is watching them. People work harder when someone holds them accountable. People work harder when someone cares about what they are doing.
We’re social creatures. Part of learning how to move better is watching others move, receiving feedback from others and giving feedback to others. Ok. I should reprhase all that. I think that if you want to learn to move better, introducing other humans into your learning process is super helpful. They will see things you do not. They will offer encouragement when you are getting dragged under. They will become as invested in your progress as you are.

There are lots of weird versions of the Olympic lifts. Ok. They aren’t weird. They are variations, that when properly used, can help accellerate those breakthrough moments you occasionally get in training.
For me, at this current moment in my training, the snatch balance is the “variation” lift that seems to be helping me the most. When I do snatch balances before I snatch, everything falls into place easier.
Today in class, we did the “tall” variations of the three lifts. I’m not certain I really like any of them. But, I’ve only really tried them a few times, so it hardly seems fair to make a judgement. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ll get back to you in a couple years and let you know if they have helped. Why a couple years? Because that’s about how long it took me to start liking the snatch balance.

When you lift, should you always add more weight? The answer depends on what you are going for. If you are going for better technique, then only add weight if your lift was solid. If your lift had some obvious flaws, keep the same weight. If your lift was terrible, bring the weight down.
There are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, the weight is so light, it causes lousy technique. Ideally, a lifter would have te same for lifting a pvc as they do with their 1rm. For some beginners, a little bit of weight actually helps.
Most of the time, for most of us, adding more weight to the bar when we are lifting with bad technique is a bad idea. It won’t necessarily injure us but it will necessisarily instill bad habits.