I started Oly lifting a few weeks ago after doing Crossfit off and on (mostly off) for about a year. It has become quickly apparent that I have no fast twitch muscles to speak of. I lift like I'm in the opening number of "Porgy and Bess".
Does anyone have any recommendations for any specific conditioning exercises or drills that might help?
Just kidding. I would start off with a really light weight and practice exploding with it. Doesn't necessarily have be oly. Could be KB swings or thrusters or whatever. Also, sprinting correctly is great. Will get you used to accelerating things. Then start out with a barbell only and work from there.
Agreed. I would define light weight as around 65% of your max. Power cleans are supposedly quite good for this.
There's another rare form of exercise which many people seem to avoid, but can have great results. Play a sport ;p
Actually, finding people to engage in a sport with is kind of hard these days... sadly. But anything like basketball or soccer (due to quick changes in direction/speed) can really help.
MY coach had me do short bursts pf "fast walks." Move your feet forward in incremental steps as fast as you can, while moving your hands like the tin man!! Do like 20 sec sets alternating with something else 6x! You may feel ridiculous but it really helps! I think I did these alternately with V-up works and Russian twists!
Power variants for triples from the hang worked really well for me. Do a few sets of these and try to make each successive rep faster than the one before. Form and speed of execution are more important than weight used. For added effect, find someone to scream at you and call you "slug" in between reps...this probably was the key for me
Last edited by Yuen Sohn : 07-28-2008 at 10:02 AM.
Reason: Grammar!!!
Get aggressive. Drills won't make all that much difference if you're just sitting around drinking tea when you lift. I'm guessing you have a lot more speed in you than you think.
Also, more weight means faster pull under, so don't be too surprised if your 100lb clean doesn't hit the full front squat as fast as Natalie Woolfolk's 20,000.
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