Olympic Lifts

Bill Starr explains how to sensibly integrate limit lifts into a strength program.

There are definitely two schools of thought in terms of doing singles in a strength routine. Some coaches believe athletes shouldn’t do them at all because they pose a much higher risk of injury than higher reps.

I’m very much in favor of utilizing singles in any strength program, and this includes programs for females and young athletes. Older… Continue Reading

Hall-of-fame Oly coach Bob Takano addresses Oly form errors common to the CrossFit community.

For the last two years, I’ve been an instructor/coach in the Crossfit Olympic Lifting Seminar program under the management of Coach Mike Burgener. Those experiences plus the several USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach certifications I’ve conducted at several different CrossFit boxes have provided me with the chance to observe CrossFitters and their approach to the Olympic… Continue Reading

How do you fine-tune an elite athlete to reach even more potential? Olympic-lifting coach Mike Burgener trains Danny Nichols of TJ’s Gym in San Rafael on the finer points of snatch footwork.

Nichols competed at the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games with his team after he put on a lifting show in the thruster event at the NorCal Regional. In this video, he works on his snatch in order to improve a wide landing position.

“Throwing those… Continue Reading

Not every athlete has ideal proportions for Oly lifting. Bob Takano goes over starting-position variations for the snatch pull, clean pull and jerk.

Most coaches and athletes who are first introduced to the Olympic lifts through the Crossfit Oly Seminar or the USAW Level 1 are taught technique that works for most people most of the time. It’s the vanilla, one-size-fits-all version of technique that will cover most situations.

If you are a… Continue Reading

At the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering in Big Sky, Mont., Olympic-lifting expert Mike Burgener shares his coaching insight into the set-up and take-off positions.

Proper set-up is crucial.

“The problem is most people with the high hips are pulled forward off the ground,” he says.

The proper set-up is hips above knees, shoulders ahead of the bar, weight distributed on the balls of the feet with feet flat on the ground and knees… Continue Reading

Two-time Olympian and coach Chad Vaughn and fellow Olympian and American record holder Kendrick Farris recently held an invitational training session. Vaughn explains that he handpicked the athletes from ones he had worked with in the past.

“We want them to be inside of a high-level training environment, weightlifting training environment, that otherwise they may not be exposed to,” he says.

The purpose is not only to teach the athletes… Continue Reading

CrossFit Games 2008 champ Jason Khalipa says lifting heavy takes a special environment.

Several months ago, I competed in a powerlifting competition in Northern California. As a CrossFitter, I knew going in that my numbers would be nowhere near the numbers the powerlifters would put up, especially those wearing gear. But I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone and put myself in an… Continue Reading

Karyn Marshall placed sixth in the Masters 55-60 category at the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games. However, competition is nothing new for this veteran weightlifter. Marshall was the first woman to exceed 300 lb. in the clean and jerk.

Marshall set a Guinness Book of World Records standard for her achievement because at that time there were no women’s weightlifting competitions at the national or world level.

Marshall says she enjoys CrossFitting more than she… Continue Reading