5 Things I Learned From Mike Cartwright:
Spending a few hours with coach Mike Cartwright during my last trip to Vancouver proved to be quite educational. Mike is a long time Olympic weightlifting coach who has trained in Vancouver area since moving from England three years ago.
Below are 5 things I learned while spending time with Mike;
1. The snatch and C&J require different timing – Even though both lifts require high levels of technique, power, and mobility, the two differ in timing. Again both lifts require a hard and explosive finish followed by an aggressive pull under the bar, but the snatch requires “balance” or a “sticking” in the bottom for success, where as the clean requires a vicious receiving in the bottom followed immediately by a fast turnover (reactive strength). The timing is more controlled in the snatch than the clean as speed out of the hole in the clean is essential and the snatch requires position and balance.
2. Squatting requires intent – When digging out of the bottom of a squat do so with intent and purpose. Do not settle into the “grind” of the squat, but power through the sticking point with intent (meaning THINK of moving quickly). To be fast one must think fast.
3. Keep the shoulders in front of the bar – This is not news to anyone, but it is always good to hear it again as it is crucial to developing power in the Olympic lifts. If the shoulders drop behind the bar before the finish of the hips (triple extension or full extension) the leverage on the bar is lost. The bar must be kept tight to the shins off the floor (a) and then pass the knees with the shoulders slightly in front (b), as soon as the bar passes the knees the leverage on the bar is maximized as one begins to drive the chest and shoulders vertical and the hips in towards the bar (c+d) approaching full extension (e). Losing this position limits potential in the lifts and must be corrected to ensure full power is applied to the barbell.
4. Do snatch balances – Some coaches love snatch balances and others do not – Mike loves them, but he loves them done correctly. Snatch balances are done to develop speed under the bar and comfort in receiving heavy loads in balance. This makes the snatch balance a very good exercise to include into all trainees program, but they must be done correctly, one should be trying to drop under the bar correctly not just get as much load overhead as possible. The snatch balance is completed with the bar beginning on the upper back and hands in a snatch grip. The feet begin in the pulling position and will finish in the squat position. The athlete dips and drives the bar off the back only momentarily before driving themselves quickly under the bar to receive it in a full overhead squat. There should be no press-out and no catching the bar high and easing into a squat – it must be completed with a proper receiving position in the bottom with a tight fixed/balanced position. Then the bar is drove off of the shoulders it is done minimally as the goal is for the athlete to drop under the bar and not the bar to rise over the athlete.
Watch THIS video for proper technique and note how th bar does not rise very high off the shoulder of the lifter.
5. Load the technique not the body – This is easily the most influential statement I heard throughout our training sessions – load the technique not the body. Most beginning lifters have a good handle on the basics of the squat, deadlift, press, etc, but the Olympic lifts are a bit of a “work in progress” as there are such high levels of technique required to complete the lifts properly. When learning the technique it must be loaded correctly – overloading poor technique (loading the body first) is a large mistake as it will not allow proper transfer of mechanics and abilities. This is very similar to our motto of mechanics, consistency, and then intensity (the three fingers of Synergy S&C-CrossFit). Beginning lifters will have the ability to load the body during the big lifts (squats, etc), but will need to back-off on loading the body for the technique lifts as overload slows progress.
Chad
