Learning the Olympic Lifts: The Stance

All of the Olympic lifts (the snatch, the clean, and the jerk) are nothing more than a jump and a land. The jump is a vicious extension of the ankles, knees, and hips that creates momentum and elevation on the barbell. In the brief moment that the barbell becomes weightless from that jump, the lifter aggressively pulls (or pushes, in the jerk) himself under the bar and lands with it in the receiving position.

As simple as this may seem, there are many components to successfully jumping and landing with weight and many common obstacles that make it hard to move and receive heavy weights. This article is the first of a series in which I’ll talk about single aspects of the lifts in detail, along with common faults and effective remedies.