Overhead Squat (OHS)
The overhead squat (OHS) teaches you how to receive or catch the snatch overhead and in the squat position, and it develops total body balance, and confidence and stability in the bottom position. If you thought the push press required balance, the OHS requires at least twice as much balance and body stability.
The OHS is performed by taking a snatch grip, with the barbell resting on your traps. You take it off a squat or power rack, step back and then push press the weight overhead with the arms locked; you are standing at attention with your feet hip- to shoulder-width, probably closer to shoulder-width.
You now squat down as low as you can comfortably go, to rock-bottom (hips way below knees, hamstrings on your calves) if possible. Then you stand back up to a totally erect position. It sounds easy, but for 99 out of 100 it is very, very difficult at first.
In order to do this lift, you must always be reaching up and back at all times. There is a natural tendency for the arms to want to bend and the barbell to want to come forward. You must fight this inclination at all times. Here is where you learn that the barbell is not your friend: it doesn't know you and doesn't dislike you, it just doesn't give a damn about you, so you must always and constantly keep pushing up and back. The OHS is also done very slowly and deliberately so as to learn, develop, and maintain the correct position for the OHS and the snatch. As in the front squat, if your heels come up as you squat, place them on a 2x4 or 1x4 until your flexibility and balance improve.
You may have heard the term
"daily dozen" in reference to daily workouts. I call the above six lifts "the magnificent half dozen."
The next step in the progression of improving the snatch and clean technique would be to do the power snatch from below your knees, and the same for the power clean. Then after you feel good about that, you do the lifts from the floor. The progression for the jerk is push press, push jerk (power jerk), and then split jerk.
To do lifts from below the knees, you first lift the bar up to a standing position with the bar around your upper thigh to groin area. You then lower the bar to just below your knees, maintaining a flat back and straight arms, and then do the lift -- the power snatch or power clean, return the bar to the thighs, stand straight, and then lower to below the knees again and lift.
In doing these lifts, I don't recommend using straps as I want you to strengthen and develop your grip. Also, your grip will give out before your low back, so you won't hurt your low back doing these lifts, but rather you'll strengthen it while improving your technique. You certainly may use the hook grip if you are used to it, but if you aren't, you may want to wait until you've mastered the lifts a little as the hook grip can be uncomfortable or even painful at first.
Push Jerk (PJ)
The push jerk (PJ) is done the same way as the push press, except you re-bend the knees as the bar passes your head. That means you dip and drive, extending your ankles, knees, and hips to start the bar moving upward, and then you dip again and catch the bar in a 1/8 to 1/4 squat, with your arms locked and the bar directly over your ears; then you stand erect, hold, and lower to your shoulders, get set, and repeat.
Stated another way: dip, drive, dip, stand.
The PJ is primarily an exercise to teach the dip, drive, and catch leading up to the split jerk, or an assistance exercise to improve power for the jerk. However, the PJ has been used in competition successfully by Viktor Sots, 1981; Kakhi Kakhiasvilis, 1989-2004; and Pyrros Dimas, 1992-2004.
Kakhiasvilis
Sots
Dimas
Now that you have the basic movements, let me get into the heart of this article, exercises that teach technique.
Exercises That Teach Technique
1) The descending snatch (clean) teaches you how to squat snatch or squat clean and is performed by catching (receiving) the first rep in a 1/4 squat, the second rep in a 1/2 squat, and the third rep in a full squat. This exercise really requires a coach or training partner to tell you where you have caught the bar. You need to lift a fairly light-to-medium weight in this exercise.
2) The power and squat snatch (clean) (P&SS/P&SC) develops consistency and efficiency and is performed by power snatching (or cleaning) the first rep and then squat snatching (or cleaning) the second rep. Once you get the feel for this exercise, you'll want to handle a weight that you can power snatch (or clean) for one rep, but is heavy enough that the second rep must be a squat. This exercise gives meaning to the saying "a missed power snatch (or clean), a missed squat snatch (or clean) is a miss!"
3) My favorite exercise for teaching snatching and cleaning technique is power snatch (or clean) from the floor/squat snatch (or clean) from the hang (thighs)/squat snatch (or clean) from the floor (PSF/SSH/SSF or PCF/SCH/SCF). That looks pretty complicated and it is at first. Here's how you do it. Your first rep is a power snatch (clean) from the floor, then lowered to your thighs; get set and then do a squat snatch (clean) from the hang; then the barbell is lowered back to the floor and you do another squat snatch (clean) from the floor. That is one set of three reps, floor, thighs, floor. You go pretty light as you want to work on technique and speed, and you don't use straps as you want to develop your grip as well.
4) Another good exercise to help you improve your snatch (or clean) is snatch (or clean) high pull/snatch (or clean)/snatch (or clean) high pull (SHP/S/SHP or CHP/C/CHP. The first rep is a snatch high pull to your rib cage; the second rep is a complete snatch (squat or power depending on you); the third rep is another snatch high pull to your rib cage is possible. When doing the CHP/C/CHP, you high pull the bar to your belly button, then do a full clean, and then do another high pull to your belly button. It's okay to use straps on this exercise. That is three reps, high pull, full lift, high pull. This exercise is really good for helping to straighten your pull.
5) Here's a great exercise to improve your top pull: the high pull to a stick. I believe I picked this one up from and article written by Tommy Kono in Strength & Health magazine sometime in the early seventies.
Here:
You place a stick (broom handle) horizontally between two squat racks that are straddling one end of the bar, at a height that you feel would be beneficial to improving your top pull (this will depend on you and your coach). For starters in the SHP, I would recommend placing the stick about nipple height. For the CHP I recommend just above your belly butoon. The main purpose of this exercise is to develop consistency in your pull, pulling to the same height with each rep. I recommend three reps and hitting the stick with each rep.
6) Everyone seems to have heard of the Romanian deadlift (RDL), which is a fantastic exercise for the low back, hips, and hamstrings, but I won't be discussing it here as it isn't one of my exercises to improve technique, but rather strength. However, I have a similar exercise that I call the Miyake high pull (MHP). It is performed by taking either the snatch grip or clean grip and pulling the bar to the upper thigh area just below the groin; you flat-footed, with your knees slightly bent or flexed. You then lower the bar to the shins, but the barbell doesn't touch the platform; now you pull back to the upper thigh area, lower to the shins again, do a complete high pull, and then lower back to the floor. That is one set of 3 reps.
Yoshinobu Miyake.
For some reason I thought the "frog style pull" was done by French lifters!
The first 2 reps are done medium speed and the third is done with acceleration and explosion at the top. You should use straps with this exercise. The MHP is excellent for teaching the scoop or double knee bend, and for maintaining proper back position and straightening out the pull. I named it after Yoshinobu Miyake, the 1964 and 1968 Olympic champion who was also the first man to snatch double bodyweight, because when he was visiting me in 1990 and attended the clinic where Nicu Vlad's RDL was discovered, Miyake said he did a similar exercise, which he demonstrated and I have described above, so I named the exercise after him. It hasn't caught on like the RDL -- yet.
7) If one is cutting or not finishing the pull in the snatch or not turning the wrists over fast enough at the catch or receiving position, then a great exercise to help develop a long high pull and which must be finished with extreme speed is close-grip snatches (power or squat) (CGS). You move your grip in about two to four inches on each side from your normal grip position and then snatch. You will find this movement very strange at first, and you will have to experiment with grip widths to find the most effective for you, but you want it to be difficult so you get the most benefit. You need to stretch and warm up your shoulders very thoroughly before you begin, maybe doing several sets with a broomstick and then the empty bar. You will be surprised how much you really have to concentrate on the fast, explosive, snappy finish to make even light weights -- and that's the point: a fast, explosive, snappy finish. Do CGSs from the floor, hang, power, and squat, if you can. Most lifters can do power CGSs, but only the most flexible can to squat CGSs. Try this for a couple of weeks, then go back to your normal grip and see what you think. You might want to do this exercise at least once a week to improve the fast finish to your snatch.
Now for some Jerk technique exercises.
8) A very basic exercise, once you have learned how to military press (MP) push press (PP), push jerk (PJ), and split jerk (SJ), is to combine them all into one exercise, MP/PP/PJ/J. That means that you military press the first rep, push press the second rep, push jerk the third rep, and split jerk the fourth rep.
Press . . . push press . . . push jerk . . . jerk.
This is a light exercise, but it really takes a lot of concentration to make sure you do each rep correctly and don't get them confused, so it's great for developing consistency.
9) Combinations of lifts that help improve the jerk are PP&PJ and PJ&J. The PP&PJ is done by push pressing the first rep, and then push jerking the second rep. The PJ&J is where you push jerk the first rep and split jerk the second rep.
10) Jerks behind the head (JBH) are done with the bar resting on your traps, and you just dip, drive, and split jerk from there. This exercise teaches you how to drive your jerks straight and finish over your ears, so it is very helpful for the lifter who consistently jerks the bar out front and is good for the beginner to learn the straight dip and drive of the legs and hips. You can combine this lift with jerks (JBH/J), meaning you do the first rep behind your head and then the second rep in front, or vice versa.
11) Alterneate feet jerks (AFJ) are done by alternating your feet forward and backward with each rep. I find this exercise very good for teaching one how to move the feet and arms fast. You do your unnatural leg forward on your first rep and your natural leg forward on the second rep. You will find this movement quite challenging and effective.
12) The front squat and jerk (FS&J) is an excellent exercise for improving jerk technique after a clean because you don't have to worry about cleaning the weight. You get yourself in the correct position and do 3 front squats and then one jerk. Someone once said (I don't know who or if it is true!), "Whatever you can front squat for a triple and then jerk, you should be able to clean and jerk."
There you have some methods for improving technique, efficiency, and consistency. There are other exercises and methods, and coaches usually have their own ways of teaching technique.
This is one of my methods and it works. Remember, not everyone can have great technique -- we all know of world and Olympic champions whose technique we would never teach -- but we always have to strive for tghe best, most efficient, and most consistent technique that our bodies can do.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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