Time for another update on my journey into learning the olympic lifts (snatch, clean and jerk). Yesterday instead of back squats I decided to have a go at front squats since they are the catch position for the clean and jerk.
The main aim of front squatting is, of course, to keep the back straight and tight and the elbows as high as possible at the bottom before exploding out of the hole and standing up again. When I first tried front squatting I would always end up with my elbows pointing towards the floor which makes it almost impossible to keep a straight back since you are in the “dump” position (how you would be if you wanted to drop the bar).
The only issue I have with front squatting is that I feel I am trying to choke myself out since the bar sits right against my throat and causes a bit of discomfort. I suppose the time taken to perform a clean is minimal so the bar won’t be resting against my throat for as long as it would for say 5 – 10 reps.
As you can see my lower back rounds at the bottom and my upper back is quite rounded at the bottom as well. I will need to work on my hip flexibility/tightness and trying to straighten out my thoracic spine to allow me to keep my chest up and back straight. These are the points I will be trying to address in the future so that I can lift without any chance of hurting myself, I’ve had enough lifting related injuries as it is!
-Andrew
Technorati Tags: weight+training, training, snatch, clean+and+jerk, olympic, front+squat, squat, thoracic, back, spine
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