3 Technique Principles to Cut Through The Bullshit
General weightlifting technique advice is practically useless.
The majority of technique advice you find on the internet can be argued with a simple “it depends on the person”, and it does. Factors like limb lengths, strengths, and weaknesses play a huge role in your weightlifting technique, but there are three principles that ALWAYS apply.
If you can understand these concepts, you’ll be able to cut through the bullshit and develop the technique that works best for you, without ignoring the fundamentals of efficient lifting.
Rule #1: Legs move the bar up, arms move the body down
Rule #2: Eliminate horizontal bar movement as much as possible
Rule #3: Bar must get faster throughout the lift
And if you want to learn how to do the olympic lifts correctly, then make sure to check out my free WL101: Beginner Guide + 6-Week Program here!
Rule #1: Legs Move The Bar Up, Arms Move The Body Down
Rule #1 is all about using the right muscle groups to do the work they are best suited for.
Your legs are much stronger than your arms, which means they should do the hardest part of the lift, getting the bar high enough to get under. Your arms are much weaker than your legs, so if you were to try to use them to elevate the bar high enough to get under, you might get away with it up to a certain weight, but beyond that point it would be impossible to continue to a high level with this technique. Check out this article to learn more about getting the most out of your leg drive.
The arms are an often forgotten part of weightlifting technique. Many people have heard the phrase “when the arms bend, the power ends”, and so believe the arms should do nothing during the olympic lifts. This is incorrect.
Once the bar is launched with the legs, the arms do EVERYTHING to move your body under the bar. At the same time as you pull yourself under the bar in the snatch or clean, your arms are also keeping the bar close to your body. This concept ALSO applies in the jerk. The legs will do the work to get the bar high enough, roughly eye or forehead level, then you’ll use your arms to punch yourself under the bar while also guiding it back to its final behind-the-head position.
Want to get under your lifts faster? Use your arms, but use them at the right time.
Rule #2: Eliminate Horizontal Bar Movement As Much As Possible
Rule #2 is about keeping the bar close.
Any time the barbell moves away from the center line, an imaginary vertical line that goes through the middle of your foot and up your body, the lift becomes less efficient. There will always be a certain amount of movement away from the center line. We aren’t lifting in a Smith machine here, but the more there is, the higher the likelihood you have of failing the lift.
The most common reason the bar moves away from your center line is pushing the bar away from you with your hips. This means you’ll either need to swing the bar back to you or move yourself forward to the bar, both of which require more energy than necessary. The same concept applies if the barbell is pushed away and then loops back around. Even if this does not result in a jump forward or backward, it still requires more energy to stop the bar from moving down as well as backward, as opposed to just stopping it from moving down.
Think of it like holding your groceries in front of you instead of by your sides. One is a lot easier.
Rule #3: The Bar Must Get Faster Throughout The Lift
Remember, the whole “an object in motion stays in motion” idea from high school science?
The same thing applies here. The weight is hardest to accelerate when it is at a dead stop. But as it starts to move, it becomes easier to make it move faster. If you have any inefficiencies that cause the barbell to slow down after the lift starts and before it is over your head, then you should try to fix them.
The most common cause is starting the lift too quickly. If you start the pull too quickly you are more likely to get pulled out of the strongest possible positions, which leads to slowing down. If you start the dip too quickly, you’ll lose the connection to the bar and the bar will land on you at the bottom of the dip, making it much harder to accelerate in the drive. Start slow, finish fast.
One of the best ways to work on this is learning how to lift slow. I often say to lifters, especially in the beginning, that you must learn how to do it slow if you want to do it fast! This is not a hard and fast rule, but lifters who struggle with moving fast enough often struggle to move correctly when lifting slow. The best way to practice this is through the use of tempo variations. The Tempo Snatch, Tempo Clean, and even Tempo Jerk are a great way to practice moving slow, and as long as you do them well, you’ll develop the ability to move faster as well!
Implementation
If you can master these principles, you’ll be set. But more importantly, if you understand these principles, you can direct your energy into fixing the things that will lead to technique that follows these principles.
I suggest filming some sets of your lifts and breaking down where in the video you can see one or multiple of these principles not being met. Pick one thing to work on, and focus on that one thing for a month in your training. Then pick a new principle, if there is anything that needs fixing, and focus on that for another month.
Do this, rather than trying every new cue and drill you see on Instagram every training session and you’ll find yourself becoming much more consistent in your training.
Hopefully, this clarified some things for you and maybe even gave you a lightbulb moment with your technique. If you ever need a free form check on your videos, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and drop your video in the #form-checks channel.
By the way, I’ve got a free beginner weightlifting guide and a 6-week program! If you’re new to the olympic lifts, then check it out here!
And if you’re looking for a weightlifting program designed to help you set PRs, improve your technique, and get strong af, then check out a FREE WEEK TRIAL of my 3 & 5-Day OlyStrong Team at the link below!