Subscribe to TechniqueWOD on YouTube

This week on TechniqueWOD we’re at the Swedish Fitness Festival with Christmas Abbott teaching the basics of the snatch, clean and jerk.

After her course Christmas came over to the Eleiko Sport booth to share some of the coaching cues she uses when introducing the Olympic lifts to new athletes. There’s lot’s of stuff you could focus on, but two points are fundamental.

A video posted by Christmas (@christmasabbott) on Nov 27, 2014 at 8:44am PST

First, you need to get the athlete to extend the hips fully and quickly. Many times a simple jump cue is enough to make that happen.

Second, the athlete has to learn how to use their arms. That means actively pulling under the barbell on both the snatch and clean, as well as immediately “punching” the barbell in the snatch to finish the lift and improve overhead position.

We had a blast teaching at the festival. Maybe a few of Christmas’ tips will resonate with you.

Happy lifting,

For more

• Barbell Shrugged is putting together a Weightlifting team. Learn more and get a free training guide HERE.
• Want to know everything there is to know about the sport of weightlifting? Then you can’t miss the World Class Weightlifting Seminar.