The fundamental Principle of Weightlifting

When I first started weightlifting, the squat portion of the lift didn't really make sense to me. I thought that the idea of the lift was to get the bar over head, then squat and then stand up and ta-da you are amazing!

However, upon starting I started to realize that the only purpose in the sport is to get the bar overhead. There is no need for a squat. So why then does everyone seem to end up in a deep squatted position when doing said throwing of weights over head? The answer to this question is the same as the answer to every question in this sport: to lift maximal weights overhead with minimal exertion.

To be honest, it didn't really start out this way. The origins of weightlifting interestingly involved something called a split snatch or a split clean. Where, similarly to a split jerk, the weight would be received in some sort of quasi lunge.

The now obsolete split Snatch  (really cool though!)

However, at some point smart lifters started figuring out that there was another way to lift. Many started lifting heavier weights by receiving in a deep squatted position.

An absurdly deep position! Like really? God damn asians! >=[

Well it's really simple. Let's say I asked you to lift a weight, do you think it would be easier to bend over and muscle the weight up onto your shoulders? Or would it be easier to get into a squat beneath the weight and stand up with it? I think intuitively it is pretty obvious. Our legs are amazingly strong, and can lift heavy weights much more easily than our arms/back/etc can manage in the positions they would have to be in to muscle something overhead.

So basically, the primary principle behind weightlifting would be the following:

Displace your body underneath the weight, allowing your legs to stand up with it.



So it's obvious that we can move the weight more distance using our legs from a squat than we can picking it up from the ground. The following implication would be that the lower we can get our bodies, the lower we need to pull the bar. If we don't need to pull the bar as high, then obviously we can lift more weight. Assuming we can stand up from the squat, which most of the time you can.

Now a major issue arises. How can we drop down into a squat underneath the bar fast enough? We can't really go all that much faster than gravity will let us so how then are we meant to get our hands underneath this heavy bar that too is affected by gravity?

The answer to the question is one of the most beautifully elegant things in this sport. It is the ability to pull yourself underneath the bar using the weight as an anchor point. Allow me to demonstrate:

The moment of extension - You have successfully (or not) applied maximum momentum to the bar

The Third Pull - Due to the momentum applied above, the bar moves freely and is weightless, your body is not anchored to the ground anymore, you can use the bar to pull yourself under.

Notice how between the above picture and this, the bar is hardly elevated. It's his body that moved underneath.

The first picture is near the moment of complete extension. It is when after pulling the weight from the ground you have applied as much momentum to it as you can and it is now going to free float in the air for a short period of time before gravity pulls it back down. It will feel pretty weightless. The other very important part about this point in the lift is that you are no longer anchored to the ground, look at his feet. Do you notice how he is not actually pressing on the ground. I don't believe the toes are necessary, what is necessary is that there is no pressure from your foot to the ground at this point, you must be free.

Because when you are free, you can be anchored to the bar. He can now use the bar to pull his body underneath super fast! And he has to! Because the second picture is pretty much the highest that bar is going to go. After that it will drop, and he has to be beneath it to receive it.

And of course the victorious growl of a stereotypical Russian badass. 

But, now another major problem arises. You see, the Overhead Squatted position is incredibly unstable (at least if you have bad stability like me!). This is going to be magnified when you just threw a weight and dropped beneath it. The very important thing at this point after receiving the bar is that there is minimal forward or backwards momentum on it. The bar must be aligned vertically as well as possible. Because with 400lbs over your head in a deep squatted position, the bar moving a bit forward from your strongest position will almost definitely cause you to miss the lift.

So what then is the great challenge of weightlifting?
Well, we must lift a heavy weight over head. However, to maximize the weight a few conditions must be met:

We must be able to move the weight from the ground in such a way as to maintain as optimal an alignment as possible. We must also be able to enlist a great amount of force to the bar such that it has a great vertical momentum - enough for it to reach high enough when fighting gravity for us to pull under. Additionally, we must lift in as efficient a method as possible. We must then pull our bodies under while maintaining this alignment and receive the bar tight enough and in the proper overhead position to hold onto it. Next, we must ensure that the bar is under control and stand up with it.

How to do all of that? Well, more on that another day I guess :D


Thanks for the read.