Olympic Lifts

In this interview with Sevan Matossian, Olympic-lifting coach Mike Burgener comments on the programming of the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games.

“I thought it was right on,” Burgener says of the skills tests. In particular, he liked the one-rep-max snatch following the one-rep-max weighted chest-to-bar pull-up in the Skills 2 event.

“That combination was truly a stroke of genius,” he says. “Truly, the person that does the snatch the wrong way—they pull the… Continue Reading

Coach Mike Burgener analyzes James Hobart and Lindsey Valenzuela in the clean and jerk.

James Hobart has always had a reputation as a good Olympic lifter, and he didn’t disappoint at the CrossFit-USAW Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., combining a great performance on the platform with a solid outing in the triplet to finish fourth overall in the 85-kilogram class.

Lindsey Valenzuela absolutely dominated the platform by posting… Continue Reading

Bill Starr explains how to create a strong, balanced upper body.

There was a time in the not-so-distanct past when everyone who lifted weights possessed wide, powerful shoulders. Bodybuilders were actually strength athletes back in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, and all of them believed wide shoulders added to their physiques. And they were right.

The reason why athletes in a wide variety of sports possessed such imposing shoulders is… Continue Reading

Looking to emphasize O-Lifts in your CrossFit training? Bob Takano explains how to do it and what you can expect.

For the last two years, I’ve been coaching weightlifters and conducting a strength-and-conditioning program within CrossFit boxes. I’ve also been instructing in Coach Mike Burgener’s CrossFit Oly seminars for about the same length of time. Consequently, I’ve run into a number of individuals who are interested in… Continue Reading

“Anytime you are gripping this PVC pipe for a snatch or a clean, you must always have the hook grip!”

Coach Mike Burgener is not flexible on this rule, and breaking it usually results in burpees. But why?

Simply, the hook grip ensures the bar doesn’t slip in your hands, even at maximal weight. Olympic weightlifting is a game of centimeters, and even a little slip can move the bar out of its optimal line of… Continue Reading

Before a lift, you have all the time in the world to put your athlete in the correct stance. Once the athlete squeezes the bar off the ground, you’re out of the picture and the athlete has to find the receiving position on his or her own.

Ideally, the receiving position is the same every time, which will produce consistent mechanics required for successful lifts. In reality, athletes have trouble landing where they… Continue Reading

“The Olympic lifting has been a challenge all the way around,” says John Van Every, owner of CrossFit Longevity in Santa Cruz, Calif. He’s offering CrossFit to a specialized segment of the population: athletes 50 years of age and older.

“I think the biggest challenges faced by this age demographic for especially the Olympic lifting is the set-up, always the set-up position,” Van Every says. He notes that the flexibility… Continue Reading

Bill Starr explains a simple way to plan a week’s worth of lifting for maximum gains.

Knowing how to utilize the heavy, light and medium system in your strength program is perhaps one of the most important things you can do to ensure ongoing success.

What the system basically does is prevent overtraining. In the very beginning, it really isn’t all that important. Whenever I… Continue Reading