In Coaching, HD Videos, Olympic Lifts
September 23, 2012

At the recent CrossFit Tour stop in Big Sky, Mont., Olympic-weightlifting coach Mike Burgener hosted a clinic and of course handed out some burpees.
In this clip, he helps Olivia Swant of CrossFit Billings with her overhead squat. To start, she does an overhead squat with a PVC pipe.
“Oh, God,” Burgener says.
First, he checks her stance, grip and position. Then he finds the limits of her range of motion. After that, Burgener has Swant stand with a PVC pipe overhead and begin to squat.
“Stop. Bring me the hips,” he repeats multiple times as she goes down further, inches at a time.
“One year from now, if I don’t have you doing that perfectly, I’m fired,” Burgener adds.
He then recommends Swant temporarily use the split snatch, as well as overhead lunges in place of overhead squats.
Burgener explains: “That is the overhead squat for the split until we get strong enough.”
8min 40sec
HD file size: 183 MB
SD wmv file size: 104 MB
SD mov file size: 52 MB
Please note: These files are larger than normal Journal videos. For smoother viewing, please download the entire file to your hard drive before watching it (right-click and choose Save Link As...).
Additional reading: Additional reading: Burg’s Eye View No. 4 by Mike Burgener, published March 7, 2011.

9 Comments on “Snatching With Limited Flexibility ”
1
wrote …
Who is that big guy in the background ;).
I watched a lot of what coach Burgener was doing and he is great! Not the least of which is the man is tireless. He was out there for hour after hour helping people. Really good guy.
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2
wrote …
The perfect answer to a question that was posted on the forum recently. Thank-you very much.
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3
wrote …
Why does the gum chewing bother me so much?
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4
wrote …
I'm so confused. Do we or do we not push up on the bar? ie. active shoulders
I hear trainers use that all the time but it looks like when you push your shoulders into your ears they internally rotate and it looks like an awful position. Thoughts???
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5
replied to comment from Kyle Hougendobler…
Kyle, I thought the same thing when I heard that cue. If you hunt around for more videos from The Coach, you'll hear him saying not to actively press-up on the bar. I believe he was just using a cue to prevent a lazy posture (soft position). I wouldn't take it too literally.
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6
wrote …
Gotta say thanks for this video. Just what I need as I work toward a respectable OH-squat.
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7
replied to comment from Kyle Hougendobler…
Push up, as in have solid support for the bar, but eternally rotate the shoulders, "show your armpits".
The bar isn't braced upwards by your upper traps, it's supported by your mid and lower traps, your rhomboids and braced by your serratus. So basically all of the muscles that stabilise your shoulder blades act together to build a platform across your back for your arms to sit on and push from. Your upper traps are part of that, but they aren't the prime movers and if you focus on shrugging them up, you'll internally rotate. Do that enough and eventually it will catch up with you.
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8
replied to comment from Chris Mason…
Craig, Yurii Hanson who competed at the games in this video. He is in the red shirt. He is the owner of CrossFit Billings. Also Beau Burgener, Mike's son is there at well.
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9
wrote …
What is the difference between the split snatch balance exercise and a behind the neck split jerk? Is it just the depth of the split?
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