Olympic lifts too complex???

I want to introduce some Olympic lifts to my routine, been lifting on/off for over a year now. I am thinking of starting my week with them. Yesterday I started with the clean

 

i think theyre very complex...you need alot of assistance lifts to get real good at the big ones....also a olympic lifting coach would help you out tons in getting your weights up

 

Well if I can

 

Hmm there's a lot to cover, my first suggestions are to use an olympic bar (after a while you'll understand why, you need the rotating collars or the technique will go way off), your weight should always be nearer to the back of your foot (except when you're extending to your toes of course), and try think of it as two semi-seperate pulls, the first is positioning yourself and setting up (so keep your back arched, just using the legs, arms are loose like strings), then the second phase just after the knees where you get your hips through and fully extend.

Perhaps post a video on here for a critique?

 

u can learn them on your own,people have in the past

 

have someone teach you the proper form. I starter with power cleans before moving into the clean and jerk

 

I was fortunate to have an old guy in my gym that used to compete. I asked him if he could teach me how to perform the lifts.

I started learning how to perform the snatch with just the bar, but both movements are complex and have a high risk of injury if performed with poor form.

 

all exercises may injure you if done with poor form.

 

No way dude, pec deck all the way.

 

try just doing a power pull. just like a clean but with out the catch. this will save your wrists pluss you could go up in weight with out being afraid of the catch. you will get the same explosive benefits from the lift but with out the increase of injury. you can get the benefit of the lift until you find a coach to help out with the entire lift.

 

I always use bad form on Leg Extentions. I like to use as much weight as possible so i kind of do ballistic reps and I work up to a 10lbs, (a 5 on each side). I pulled my back doing this so I can no longer do squats or deads ever ever again.

In all reality I think OLY LIFTS are the best. I agree with Alon that the different parts of the lifts should be "disected" and looked at individually. I also agree with BP that you should start out just perfecting the PowerClean before moving on.

 

BabyPhenom, I agree with what you said. and my point should of been clearer.

Because the Oympic lifts use so many muscle groups and because the movements are explosive, the chances of injury are higher than normal if poor form is used.

While poor form on any exercise can cause injury, for exemple bench press can cause problems such as shoulder injuries or even worse a pec tear which in most cases will heal with time and /or surgery.

However poor form on the olympic lift could cause an injury to the knees, hips, shoulders, or wrists. But those injuries pale in comparision to the damage that poor form on the olympic lifts could cause to the spine, from which a person may never recover.

 

Clean and Jerk is ok to learn on your own. Do some reading, watch some videos, work with just the bar.

Build slowly and don't worry about the weight.

I've learned clean and jerk this way. That hardest part is the catch.

 

That would mainly be due to the stress on the back, which from what I see, is very similar to that caused by the deadlift, but less (since more weight is lifted in the dead).

Or did you mean something else ?

 

You mean high pull right?

 

The same thing can be said about deadlifts, behind the neck presses, pulldowns behind the neck. Any lift with poor form can wreck you. I know more people who have injured themselves in other lifts as compared to the olympic lifts. Them being complx in nature makes a person more conscious of their form and technique.

 

The severity of the injury should also be taken into account.

If you were to injure yourself doing a bicep curl, such an injury could be serious (i remember that thread with the guy's arm looking purple), but generally the injury will just be a niggling one.

If you were to injure yourself in the squat, you could pretty much become a cripple. I think the olympic lifts have similar risks as the other compound movements endorsed here, just that they are also much harder to learn.

Personally, you need someone who knows what general good form is like to watch you. If you don't have that, consider other exercises.

But for most people with lacking form, they use little weight anyway and it isn't as easy to injure yourself with such small weight.

 

BabyPhenom, I agree that any lift with poor form can wreck you.

And I also agree that most people when performing the olympic lifts put a lot of effort into their form and technique because of the high level of complexity.

But if you don't have a good trainer or coach to show you how to perform the lifts with the correct form, then trying to learn the olympic lifts by yourself has to have a higher risk factor then learning how to do something like behind the neck presses by yourself.

Firstly because of the complex nature of the olympic lifts and secondly because of the explosive nature of the lifts.

My point was also the severity of the possible injuries that poor form due to teaching yourself an olympic lift may cause, which SKD also brought up.

And in respoise to SKD's post about the stress on the back being similar to the deadlift.
Similar stresses on the back at the start of the movement but remember the speed or explosiveness of the lift greatly effects the amount of stress on the body, and when the bar is caught and the lifter is in a deep squat either in the snatch or the clean and jerk there is also alot of stress on the body and lower back especially.

The piont of my original post was simply to encourage aljeffery to find a good coach and learn the lifts properly, in the interest of his safety and lifting longevity.