Olympic Lifts - The Snatch

Last weekend I attended the CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certification in Edmonton. What an incredible experience it was to work with Coach Burgener and his team. The two olympic lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk are the bedrock of all athletic movement and it quickly became apparent as we worked on these two lifts that strength is only one piece of the puzzle. Speed, flexibility and power are key to these movements and it doesn't matter if you are training for soccer, ballet or just general fitness, practicing these lifts will optimize your performance.

A whole gang of folks from CrossFit Regina also attended the certification. At lunch, Robyn and Lea from CrossFit Regina both performed 'Grace' (30 clean and jerks for time) and they both pr'd!

Robyn was also kind enough to take some photos of me during the cert. Thanks Robyn!

Of course I came back super excited to pass on everything I had learned. Here is Brendan tackling the snatch. Notice how he jumps straight up into the air and extends his elbows and he gets ready to pull himself under the bar. One small critique is that Brendan should be shrugging his shoulders a bit more; however, given this is only about his 5th attempt I'd say it's a solid start.