Technique for Beginners

[Josh Ferguson]

I am a novice O-lifter (took 1 private lesson at Mike's Gym), and I guess I tried to progress too quickly and ended up hurting my shoulders.

I'm doing 531 and would like to hear some strategies for introducing the snatch and C&J--and their related lifts--into my routine, just for some power development. Since I cannot snatch that much weight, what kind of volume should I use--and on which day--to get better? And what type of progression is realistic? My schedule and budget cannot support more lessons right now, but I do have unlimited access to a platform and bumpers.

Right now, I'm doing 3 sets of 3-posit snatches with 65-95 lbs before my squats or deads. I still get pretty squirrelly on this lift, but the one time I spent a few hours working on technique, my shoulders got fried (impingement of the supraspinatus). I'm trying to eliminate my ego from the situation as much as possible, but I'm sure most people can understand my frustration since I can lift respectable weight in practically everything except the snatch and overhead squat.

FYI, my goal is to be as big, strong, and explosive as possible; I won't ever compete, I just want to be more useful and harder to kill.

[Eric Egan]

where do you lose it on snatches and OHS?when I first started I used to always drop the weight infront of Me on both lifts and then I started doing clean grip OHS and even OHS with a shoulder width grip and that solved the problem I was having sence I was just leaning forward when I tried to stand up.

[Josh Ferguson]

I lose it to the front. My rehab has increased my shoulder flexibility and I can hit the bottom of the OHS much better now. I'm taking it easy now since I know my shoulder is a point of concern.

I also have trouble hitting the full bottom position on my snatch, which basically limited me to power snatches. I'm doing snatch balances to work on this.

[Andrew Wilson]

I am a novice O-lifter (took 1 private lesson at Mike's Gym), and I guess I tried to progress too quickly and ended up hurting my shoulders.

I'm doing 531 and would like to hear some strategies for introducing the snatch and C&J--and their related lifts--into my routine, just for some power development. Since I cannot snatch that much weight, what kind of volume should I use--and on which day--to get better? And what type of progression is realistic? My schedule and budget cannot support more lessons right now, but I do have unlimited access to a platform and bumpers.

Right now, I'm doing 3 sets of 3-posit snatches with 65-95 lbs before my squats or deads. I still get pretty squirrelly on this lift, but the one time I spent a few hours working on technique, my shoulders got fried (impingement of the supraspinatus). I'm trying to eliminate my ego from the situation as much as possible, but I'm sure most people can understand my frustration since I can lift respectable weight in practically everything except the snatch and overhead squat.

FYI, my goal is to be as big, strong, and explosive as possible; I won't ever compete, I just want to be more useful and harder to kill.

I fixed my shoulder imping in about a week doing this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YHIV4a81Os

& here's snatch progression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K13MGWq28Jc

all wfs