3 things you would do if you had to start over

[Saintsqc]

When I started working out, I had NO idea what I was doing. I wish I could start over with the knowledge I have now, I would have made much better progress.

On this forum, I learn to trust more experienced lifters' advices.

I'm about to start olympic weightlifting soon. I found a coach who will teach 1x a week. The rest of the week, I'll be on my own.

If you had to start your olympic weighlitfting career, what would you do so you can make the best progress possible? Any advices to help a noob?

[Belzoni]

I too am a beginner I the lifts but making rapid progress.

I would have drilled mobility mobility mobility for the first few months. I always let my flexibility slack.

I would find a coach, and learn the lifts with a. Broomstick from the very beginning.

I would punch myself in the face repeatedly for believing the sport was so innacessable when all I reall had to do was come on here, or email a director, or enter a meet. I always shied away thinking well, powerlifting was there. Never doubt yourself at first.

[Saintsqc]

I too am a beginner I the lifts but making rapid progress.

I would have drilled mobility mobility mobility for the first few months. I always let my flexibility slack.

I would find a coach, and learn the lifts with a. Broomstick from the very beginning.

I would punch myself in the face repeatedly for believing the sport was so innacessable when all I reall had to do was come on here, or email a director, or enter a meet. I always shied away thinking well, powerlifting was there. Never doubt yourself at first.

Thx man! It's appreciated.

Noted on mobility. I know there is plenty of tutorials and articles about that, but do you have more specific links? Or I all I need is to improve hamstring/hips/shoulders mobility?

I met the coach yesterday and he made me practice with the bar and the heaviest I loaded was 25 kg (bar + 2.5 kg bumper plate so I can work on my starting position). I guess I'm not going to load heavy soon.

[Robination]

Noted on mobility. I know there is plenty of tutorials and articles about that, but do you have more specific links? Or I all I need is to improve hamstring/hips/shoulders mobility?

would like to know some specifics on mobility as well ^

[Belzoni]

would like to know some specifics on mobility as well ^

I don't really have specifics, I'm self taught :-P but I don't think you can go wrong with shoulder dislocates with a broomstick, and Siam squats. Basically you assume a deep squat, and put your hands together and push your knees out with your elbows. If I had a training partner I'd do that stretch where you snatch a weight, and had a friend push down on it for a few moments. I have another friend who is the most mobile guy I've ever met, swears by sots presses. Kelly starret has some good mobility stuff

[zakatak333]

1) start squatting, deadlifting & overhead pressing when i started benching

2) squat deep & often

3) more sets of 5

[KurtisB]

Edit: i realize i gave you 5 things, but there are countless things to learn about this.

Flexibility/mobility is key. Stretch hips, ankles, wrists, etc daily. It will be painful if you start with limited flexibility as i did, but you get over that quickly.

Learn to hook grip the bar from day 1. Hook everything until it becomes automatic. Again, painful at first but you adapt. You'll probably feel like your thumbs as well as thumb nails are going to rip off, but push through the discomfort. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Stary light and build a solid foundation with your form. Work deep in to your front squats and back squats so you can familiarize yourself with the recieving positions for full cleans and full snatches.

Move your feet. Get used to making your foot movement quick and consise. Fast feet are key to finishing. Also, work foot speed with broomstick or pvc pipe. It is easier to work on your form with light weight.

Study. Read as much as you can from good sources and watch film of elite weightlifters. Greg everetts book olympic weightlifting is a great resource. I am currently reading it and learning more as well as garnering a deeper underatanding and appreciation for this sport.

[Saintsqc]

I don't really have specifics, I'm self taught :-P but I don't think you can go wrong with shoulder dislocates with a broomstick, and Siam squats. Basically you assume a deep squat, and put your hands together and push your knees out with your elbows. If I had a training partner I'd do that stretch where you snatch a weight, and had a friend push down on it for a few moments. I have another friend who is the most mobile guy I've ever met, swears by sots presses. Kelly starret has some good mobility stuff

I will check this out! Thx again

1) start squatting, deadlifting & overhead pressing when i started benching

I loled

Fortunately, I did deadlifts before I give bench press a try

Edit: i realize i gave you 5 things, but there are countless things to learn about this.

Flexibility/mobility is key. Stretch hips, ankles, wrists, etc daily. It will be painful if you start with limited flexibility as i did, but you get over that quickly.

Learn to hook grip the bar from day 1. Hook everything until it becomes automatic. Again, painful at first but you adapt. You'll probably feel like your thumbs as well as thumb nails are going to rip off, but push through the discomfort. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Stary light and build a solid foundation with your form. Work deep in to your front squats and back squats so you can familiarize yourself with the recieving positions for full cleans and full snatches.

Move your feet. Get used to making your foot movement quick and consise. Fast feet are key to finishing. Also, work foot speed with broomstick or pvc pipe. It is easier to work on your form with light weight.

Study. Read as much as you can from good sources and watch film of elite weightlifters. Greg everetts book olympic weightlifting is a great resource. I am currently reading it and learning more as well as garnering a deeper underatanding and appreciation for this sport.

What you mean by working on foot speed with a broom stick? Do you mean doing the lifts with just a broom stick and focus on moving the feet as fast as possible?

I can squat an receive the bar deep, but I have a strong buttwink. So, I'll definetely work on hips/ankle mobility.

Thx for the input! Repped

[KurtisB]

For the broomstick/foot speed work, i was referring primarily to your jerk. Fast feet and a good split can often save a jerk that would otherwise be chalked up as a miss.

Another point. When you pull under the bar on a clean, make sure your elbows get around quickly so the bar sits properly and your forearms do not finish perpendicular to the platform. Finishing with vertical forearma can lead to a missed lift, not getting those three wight lights in comp due to elbows touching legs, or worst case, injuring wrist if elbows violently contact legs in your recieving position.

[Robination]

I don't really have specifics, I'm self taught :-P but I don't think you can go wrong with shoulder dislocates with a broomstick, and Siam squats. Basically you assume a deep squat, and put your hands together and push your knees out with your elbows. If I had a training partner I'd do that stretch where you snatch a weight, and had a friend push down on it for a few moments. I have another friend who is the most mobile guy I've ever met, swears by sots presses. Kelly starret has some good mobility stuff

oh I actually do those two several times a day, shoulder flexibility/mobility sucks, and my overhead position isn't so great either atm.

mobilityWOD has a LOT of stuff, and honestly I don't know what to work on lol

[DaTruth1]

If I were to go back, I would've done more doubles/triples/volume in general. For the first several months of weighltifting I jsut worked up to a few heavy singles and moved on to the next exercise. Now that I have a coach and a program based on percentages, I have been making way better gains.

[Belzoni]

I will check this out! Thx again



I loled

Fortunately, I did deadlifts before I give bench press a try



What you mean by working on foot speed with a broom stick? Do you mean doing the lifts with just a broom stick and focus on moving the feet as fast as possible?

I can squat an receive the bar deep, but I have a strong buttwink. So, I'll definetely work on hips/ankle mobility.

Thx for the input! Repped

One thing that helped my foot speed was te burgener warmup, whih has vids everywhere, and doing some light split snatches before your squat snatches, but only if it won't throw you off

[forcefedfreak]

If I could go back, i would start at age 12. Not 26.

[ftwrestler]

If I could go back, i would start at age 12. Not 26.

only thing i would change right here^^^^^

that and drink w/e natural herb supplement Lu does on the regular

[trailless]

I'd probably start at an earlier age.

I'd buy shoes.

I'd focus on form.

[LudiWithKnives]

anyone want to put more insight on the higher reps (3-5) point?

[forcefedfreak]

anyone want to put more insight on the higher reps (3-5) point?

Weightlifting is like golf. The more swings you do the better your swing will be. You don't need to be swinging with a heavy driver to improve your swing.

[Belzoni]

Weightlifting is like golf. The more swings you do the better your swing will be. You don't need to be swinging with a heavy driver to improve your swing.

But would it not make sense to do more volume with singles or doubles? I mean I play gf, but between eac range swing I reset my feet, grip, wipe sweat, grab a ball... Etc... Sort of like multiple sets

Plus, in competition ou only lift it once... Just my reasonin for never doing more than two

[forcefedfreak]

But would it not make sense to do more volume with singles or doubles? I mean I play gf, but between eac range swing I reset my feet, grip, wipe sweat, grab a ball... Etc... Sort of like multiple sets

Plus, in competition ou only lift it once... Just my reasonin for never doing more than two

No. Higher rate of fatigue with triples, eliciting the response of your medulla, making it a natural reaction rather than conscious thought. If you don't do triples, you are ****ing up big time as far as I'm concerned.

[LudiWithKnives]

lol triples are fine, anymore that that is like endurance work

[Belzoni]

No. Higher rate of fatigue with triples, eliciting the response of your medulla, making it a natural reaction rather than conscious thought. If you don't do triples, you are ****ing up big time as far as I'm concerned.

I'm not doubting you, unjust curious if you have any links on that? Very interested in that

[forcefedfreak]

No I don't have any links on it. I didn't learn it from the interwebs. I learned it from my coach who has been to the Olympics and coaches international lifters!

[dbk1]

why cant we all just be friends

[NorwichGrad]

If I could go back, i would start at age 12. Not 26.

Hahaha. I would have started at 8 instead of 38. And I would have started reading Milo instead of muscle and fitness.

[shoelaces]

This is an easy one. Focus more on the classic lifts rather than obsessing about getting stronger at squatting and pulling. Because that will come over time but efficient and solid technique is hard to master.

[DaTruth1]

^ I am somehow the exact opposite... I wish I focused more on strength because now I am severely limited by my front squat and pulling strength (I can clean 95% of my frontsquat max)

[schabowy90]

1 work on shoulder/chest mobility.

2. Worked on shoulder cheat mobility

3. Cheat and shoulder mobility, worked on it.

[lil_vince]

You can keep busy improving for along time with the olifts. Blessing and a curse-make it a blessing.

When you start exploring one thing, embrace your choice of focus, and keep track of your development in that area. I.e, for the first few months, you'd probably do well to have notes on starting position, body cues, or things that have helped your CONCEPTION and EXECUTION of the desired movement.

I mean, you'll learn new things about every area of the lifts(if you want to), but keeping good notes will help you progress and keep you from regressing.

[zakatak333]

1) start squatting, deadlifting & overhead pressing when i started benching

2) squat deep & often

3) more sets of 5

sorry, guise, i did not realize this is the olympic section. disregard this

if i was doing olympic lifting i'd probably snatch singles then clean & jerk singles then back squat 5 reps five to six days per week

[Clownface]

Squat 3 times a week with a lot of volume over 80% 1 RM. Drill the lifts everyday with lightweight. Do each lift heavier twice a week. DB row. Pause squat. You are not a world class bulgarian and need to build a base.