Olympic Lifts

At a recent certification, Nadia Shatila and Dave Lipson had an opportunity to work one-on-one with Olympic-lifting coach Mike Burgener.

As an HQ trainer, Shatila regularly teaches new CrossFitters the snatch but doesn’t always get the opportunity to work on her own lift. Lipson (215 lb., 6’0”) can move large loads like no other (think deadlift well over 650 lb. and a 335-lb. overhead squat), but his best snatch is 220 lb.

In… Continue Reading

From Oct. 1-3, CrossFitters will compete with Olympic lifters in the first CrossFit-USAW Open. What will be the hardest adjustment for CrossFitters at this judged weightlifting meet? The standards.

While CrossFitters are comfortable with the Olympic lifts, judged standards are different from those common in most boxes. To prepare Team CrossFit for the event, USA Weightlifting Team members and national record holders Natalie and Casey… Continue Reading

On Episode 136 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Scott Zagarino of Sportsgrants Foundation and Mike Burgener, CrossFit’s subject-matter expert for Olympic weightlifting. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010.

3:45 Scott Zagarino is the founder of the Fight Gone Bad fundraiser events. He came on the show to talk about the Fight Gone Bad 5 event that’s scheduled for Sept. 25… Continue Reading

At a recent certification, Nadia Shatila and Dave Lipson had an opportunity to work one-on-one with Olympic-lifting coach Mike Burgener.

As an HQ trainer, Shatila regularly teaches new CrossFitters the snatch but doesn’t always get the opportunity to work on her own lift. Lipson (215 lb., 6’0”) can move large loads like no other (think deadlift well over 650 lb. and a 335-lb. overhead squat), but his best snatch is 220 lb.

In… Continue Reading

Have you ever seen kids scooting around in a CrossFit Kids class at your local affiliate? Those children could very well be the next face of USA’s national weightlifting team—or so is the hope of Coach Mike Burgener and the rest of Team CrossFit, a newly organized group of people interested in testing themselves in weightlifting competitions.

Coach B has been around weightlifting and athletics for a long time and has coached many… Continue Reading

Competing at the upcoming CrossFit/USAW Open in Colorado Springs? You could really use a guy like Mike Burgener in your corner. Luckily, Coach B is here to tell you all about what to expect when you walk through the doors at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort for the first hybrid competition of its kind.

Take notes, CrossFitter.

In this two-part interview with Coach B at his home gym in California, he… Continue Reading

You just cleaned a huge weight—but can you get it overhead? Hall-of-fame Oly coach Bob Takano explains how to correct errors in your jerk.

In the CrossFit community (and in the weightlifting nation at large), most of the effort is being put into learning proper technique in the pull—and justifiably so. Correct pulling technique is absolutely necessary for the performance of the snatch and clean.

Within an Oly Cert, we focus… Continue Reading

Maybe you weren’t strong enough to make the lift, or maybe something else went wrong. Jeff Barnett offers a non-exhaustive list of reasons why the iron didn’t move.

A missed lift is a wonderful opportunity. It’s an opportunity to test your limits, to build character through willingness to fail, and to examine what went wrong.

Many proficient coaches have said that you should plan your lifts carefully such that you never miss. Perhaps… Continue Reading