FuBarbell

During the snatch and the clean, there’s a sequence of movement that needs to be respected. First, the legs take action. Then, the back comes in to play. And finally, the arms pull to continue the rhythm and flow. Move out of order and you fail to maximize the potential of your levers.

Beginners, however, have difficulty sensing the proper flow of this rhythm and often will try to initiate the lift with their backs, arms and finally their legs.

It’s really exciting to hear from athletes that are following my online program. Krista has been doing my Olympic Weightlifting Starter plan and just sent me this photo with the following note:

It was a full house today at CrossFit Leverage! There was so much good movement happening in this group. It was exciting for me to watch them progress through the day. Thank you all for carving out the time and spending your Sunday with me.

#FuBarbell #CrossFitLeverage #USAWeightlifting #crossfit #crossfitgirls #crossfitmen #Olympicweightlifting #snatch #clean #cleanandjerk #technique

Another weekend, another group ready to learn! Day 1 complete at CrossFit Roscoe. The athletes that attend never cease to amaze me with their enthusiasm and dedication to improving their knowledge and performance. Thank you everyone for bringing your A game.

#FuBarbell #CrossFitRoscoe #USAWeightlifting #crossfit #crossfitgirls #crossfitmen #Olympicweightlifting #snatch #clean #cleanandjerk #technique

Got to hang out at Superior Athletic Advantage with Will and @malrawlings in Lake Barrington, IL. Thanks for organizing such a cool group to come out and lift. The energy was outstanding!

Looking forward to my seminar at CrossFit Roscoe tomorrow and CrossFit Leverage on Sunday. It’s good to be home in Chicago and see friends and family.

#FuBarbell #SuperiorAthleticAdvantage #SAA #USAWeightlifting #crossfit #crossfitgirls #crossfitmen #Olympicweightlifting #snatch #clean #cleanandjerk #technique

D’Angelo Osorio is California grown. He started weightlifting for HassleFree Barbell Club with Kevin Doherty at Abraham Lincoln High School at the age of 14.

Now 20, D’Angelo is now coached by Zygmunt Smalcerz at the OTC. His best official lifts are 155kg/195kg and best unofficial lifts are 160kg/200kg in the 94kg weight class.

When asked what his biggest take away from the OTC was, it was to finish the pulls on his snatch!! D’Angelo has his sights set on Rio 2016. Show him support at @ooosorio!

Spent the morning with Coach Wu again today. Today he tried explaining to me the concept of using “chi” to create stability in the body allowing the muscles to stay in a more relaxed and ready state to exert energy. Can’t say I’ve been able to wrap my brain around this concept yet; but with Coach Wu’s patience, I’m slowly learning a little more each week. Here Coach Wu demonstrates a casual 352lbs/160kg snatch balance double. Impressive.

Video cred: @CoachWu

New practitioners of weightlifting will often walk themselves up to the bar, put their shins right against the bar and set-up with the majority of their weight sitting back in towards their heels. The outcome in this style of set-up often results in the lifter either pulling the bar around their knees, shooting the hips up first while rising, scraping the shins up during the first pull and/or being off balance over the base.

Got to hang out with the strong boys and girls down at NorCal CrossFit a couple weeks back when @kendrickjfarris dropped into town to hang. We did triples on the rack jerk and Kendrick led the crew through his warm-up and coached the boys as they worked up in weight.

Videoed here are: Jason Khalipa (@jasonkhalipa), Garrett Fisher (@garret0329), Miranda Oldroyd (@crossfitmiranda), and Molly Vollmer (@molly_vollmer). Lauren Fisher (@ltfisher12) was in to play too, but she was tapering to slay Jr Nationals that weekend.

Big thanks to John for hosting a great day at Buckeye CrossFit. This day flew by fast! Thank you everyone who attended from all around bringing in positive vibes and an open mind to learning. Oh, and Columbus has the EASIEST airport to navigate. Wow.

Everyone coming in and out for the Arnold Classic is going to have a great time!

#FuBarbell #BuckeyeCrossFit #ArnoldClassic #USAWeightlifting #crossfit #crossfitgirls #crossfitmen #Olympicweightlifting #snatch #clean #cleanandjerk #technique