We recently had Wil Fleming do an inservice for all of our trainers and I have to say it was amazing. Wil knows his stuff when it comes to Olympic lifts for sure. I was pumped when Wil said the he would share an post with us on the Smart Group Training Blog.
Wil Fleming Olympic Lift In-Service
Teaching Olympic Lifts is hard enough, so teaching it groups make it one of the biggest coaching challenges we can think of. Wil has offered up some great advice on how to teach Olympic Lifts to groups much easier. So that being said, check out Wil’s blog post below.
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Teaching Olympic Lifts to a Large Group
If I presented most people with the following list, the likely response would be “Psssshhhht, impossible”
-Actually finding a real live bigfoot.
-Water skiing with no boat.
-Climbing Mt. Everest with no ropes.
-Developing a cold fusion machine.
-Teaching Olympic lifts the right way to large groups of athletes.
Like the guys on Monster Hunters, the mythbusters, and Bear Grylls I beg to differ (at least on the last point). No, like a mad scientist hard at work on a world changing project, I am here to present to you the way that you can teach Olympic lifts to large groups with no problems.
1) Have a way to determine if someone is ready
Just putting any John or Jane Doe on the platform is a bad idea. Actually, it is worse than a bad idea, it’s a horrible idea. Aside from the technical know how that is required (which we will cover in a moment) there are so many physical requirements that putting a newbie on the platform without knowledge of their ability is absolute craziness.
To really teach large groups how to Olympic lift it is important to determine their readiness through your assessment process. The FMS gives us some important information about the movement patterns that new trainees posses but there are a couple OL specific ideas that are important to wrap your head around as well.
Expanding on the FMS and the deep squat test, I find that having an individual perform a full front squat with a barbell is perfect to determine their physical ability to achieve and maintain the racked position of the clean and its variations.
Standing tall have the potential Olympic lifter rack a barbell at the shoulder level with their upper arm parallel to the floor. This position itself requires great thoracic extension, and shoulder external rotation, and those that do not posses the right amount will find this position uncomfortable and difficult to achieve. Descending into the full squat position will give you back up data to support conclusions you make in the deep squat about thoracic extension, hip and ankle mobility.
With that information and the appropriate corrective exercises in place, 3 sets of movements should be practiced in a group setting to prepare individuals for the platform.
The hinge
The squat
Plyometrics
The hinge will form the basis for the starting position in terms of weight distribution, and foot placement, and the movement pattern will be used to accelerate the bar in the hang position, or above the knee in the traditional clean or snatch.
The squat will then form the basis of the receiving position, and the pattern of knees out will be mechanically identical to what happens at the catch. Have your group prepare by practicing both goblet squats, and overhead squats.
Finally, plyometrics are an important class of movements to prepare for Olympic lifting. The take off position teaches individuals how to produce force, while the landing position informs the group on how to receive the bar with proper patterns.
2) Have a ready made set of progressions
Technical knowledge in the Olympic lifts is one of the biggest problems that most coaches see with implementing the movements in a large group setting.
While there is no doubt that technique makes the lifts successful or not, a simple set of progressions to take a newbie to a seasoned lifter is not a pipe dream.
The key in teaching the Olympic lifts is to teach from a position that allows for early success, doesn’t require extreme mobility, and is easily relatable for most individuals. I am talking about using the “hang” start position for the Olympic lifts.
The hang start position for the clean and the snatch will be a much easier task for most clients than using the floor start position. The floor start, in the traditional power clean or power snatch, is one that requires mobility and technical knowledge that most do not posses early on.
Instead we use the following progressions of movements, each with their own individual teaching progression to use Olympic lifts effectively with new lifters.
Hang Clean à Power Jerk à Power Clean à Split Jerk à Hang Snatch à Power Snatch à Full Clean à Full Snatch
Your clients can get great benefits of the Olympic lifts by just performing the first 2 movements. Progressing to the latter stages of these movements is not necessary unless you have great confidence in the abilities of the individuals you are coaching.
3) Know the corrections to make for common mistakes.
As technical lifts there are many things that can occur during the completion of the movements that can make the lift go wrong. If your qualification process and progressions are together there are not many mistakes that are outright dangerous, but rather are just impediments to maximizing the benefits of using the Olympic lifts.
Knowing common corrections to common mistakes will allow your clients to unlock the full potential of the Olympic lifts.
One common mistake that has an easy correction is jumping forward when receiving the bar. This is often a result of incomplete hip extension in the second (fast) pull above the knee. In turn the typical reason for this mistake is the athlete being too far forward over their toes in the pulling position.
When on the toes the individual is unable to get their hips to the bar and complete hip extension. This causes the individual to jump forward when receiving the bar.
While there are many other mistakes that can be made in the lifts, you can have confidence that qualifying the individuals before beginning lifting will remove much of the chance that the movements can be dangerous.
Conclusion
The Olympic lifts can hold a lot of benefit to your clients. Unlike many might suggest there is an easy and effective way to teach the lifts to large groups so that they all can become stronger and more powerful.
Wil Fleming is the Owner of Force Fitness and Performance in Bloomington, IN. He is the author and creator of COMPLETE OLYMPIC LIFTING, detailing his entire system of teaching Olympic lifts to any individual.
I enjoy reading your writings on Olympic lifting. Most of your info. is spot on and organized well. I’ve been in the fitness field for 38 years. I put a high priority on consistent science based education. One of the foundations for that education would be consistent terminology used across the board. The biggest difference I see between your teachings and USAW’s is the use of the word ” power ” as it pertains to how the exercise is defined. USAW defines a power clean or power snatch based on where the bar finishes, not starts. If the bar is caught with the thighs above parallel then regardless of where the bar starts it is a power clean or power snatch. You seem to define a ” power ” movement based on starting from the floor only. Since inconsistent terminology is a big problem in Olympic lifting , it would be an educational plus if everyone got on the same page. Since it seems to me that your heart is in great education in this specific field I think you would agree. I’m interested in your thoughts on this.
Hey Mike, great observation. I’ll see if Wil can comment on this to make things clearer.
In the interim, I know that USAW and Wil have both taught me that a power clean or power snatch does not involve a deep squat to catch the bar, but a full clean or snatch requires the deep squat to catch. I could be wrong so I will ask Wil to clarify his thoughts.
Thanks for the great comment!!
I am not certain we disagree.
Power refers to the height of the catch like you said.
If not noted as power it means a full catch.
Hang or blocks means start elevated, if not noted it means start from the floor.
So a power clean means start at the floor and catch high.
A hang clean means start elevated and catch low.
And a hang power clean would mean start elevated catch high.
I have never been around any coach that writes floor power clean to denote start and end position. The assumption in Olympic lifts should always be start on the floor AND catch in the full squat. Only in the cases of deviations from these two assumed positions, is it necessary to note it.
Now I have caught myself screwing even that naming convention up on occasion but I write a lot, and don’t have a professional editor to catch those mistakes.
Hope that helps and have a great weekend. If you ever have some need for technical help or another pair of eyes please feel free to reach out.
Wil Fleming