Set-Up and Positioning in the Olympic Lifts Part 2: Coaching

The back angle stays the same from when the bar leaves the ground until the lifter gets to the take-off position, Coach Mike Burgener says during this CrossFit Olympic Weightlifting Trainer Course.

To prevent the hips or chest from rising too soon, a great cue Burgener uses is “stand with your legs.”

“The minute that I stand with my legs, the bar comes up, too. They gotta come up together,” he says.

As you stand and the knees move out and back, you have to direct the bar into the proper line of action.

“As you’re standing, focus on sweeping,” Burgener says, referring to the action of pulling the bar back into your body as you stand. “Gently—it’s not abrupt.”

Coach B. also reminds the class that when the bar comes off the floor, the lifter’s weight shifts back to the heels. Burgener drives home his point by having the class repeatedly get into the take-off position.

“It’s the hardest thing that you’re ever going to have to do,” he says of teaching this ideal positioning to others.

12min 24sec

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Additional reading: Oly Optimization by Chad Vaughn, published Nov. 18, 2011.