Lester Ho (@lesterhokw) is back! This time we talk levers of the...
Lester Ho (@lesterhokw) is back! This time we talk levers of the body and provide an easy way to help you identify yours. Over the next few posts we will share various body types and provide suggestions on how you can pull to maximize your economy.
We understand other variables exist that will affect an athlete’s lifting style, but understanding your bio mechanical blueprint will provide insight to further add value to the way you move.
Lastly, we are looking to book 2-3 locations for a dual seminar between Lester and I in late March to early April of 2015 teaching basic bio mechanics and it’s application to Olympic-style weightlifting. If you are interested in hosting, email Diane@FuBarbell.com and put “Bio mechanics 2015” in the title!
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“2 Box 1 Squat: Identifying levers and what to do with them.
Levers are a big topic in any debate regarding weightlifting technique and more important when basic biomechanics is discussed in weightlifting talk.
Here’s how to recognize not only the lengths of your levers but also the ratio between them to better understand the role of leverage in lifting technique.
A wall squat can be a good way to identify this. Adding two boxes as a reference will show you the lengths of your torso, femur and lower leg. It also shows the relationship between these levers.
The first example given is one where the first box is of a standing rectangle and a square for the second box. This is your typical long torso, similar femur to lower leg length.
With the torso being a slight longer lever among all three, this has certain implications on the start position. To allow for the torso to remain over the bar and still utilizing leg drive, the hip position at the start has to be lower.
Similarly, due to the slightly longer torso, when trying to finish the pull, too much hip extension would send the bar flying away from the lifter. Hence, the longer torso also requires a more leg drive dominant finish in the second pull.
Therefore, it is important to firstly identify the lengths of your levers, but it is also equally as important to identify their relationship to one another to properly understand how to move your joints through the lift.”