OLYMPIC LIFTING AS A TRAINING METHOD FOR ATHLETES:
First, if you were as capable as a weightlifter of "turning on" as great a percentage of all of your muscle fibers instantly during your shot put, long jump or each individual step in your 100 meter dash, perhaps you'd be winning more. Chances are, you lose because you simply never learned to "turn on" maximally. There's a learning curve involved in explosiveness; it's far more than simply lifting the weight. And remember, those explosive fast twitch muscle fibers have a disconcertingly low oxidative capacity. Then there's the "compensatory acceleration" factor. You see, Olympic style lifters MUST compensate for improved leverage during the course of the clean and snatch pulls by accelerating the bar. Otherwise, they'd never impart sufficient upward momentum to the bar in order to get under it. So, I ask you, if YOUR leverage is improving during any given sports movement, how come YOU don't take advantage of that fact? Let's not forget the fact that many sports movements are MUCH like those used in weightlifting. Jumping, exploding and related movements are all total body movements that must be learned.

For those who say "My knees can't take it"; you need to break into it slowly, doing some light stuff. But you needn't go to rock bottom. While your body has a wonderful, built in adaptive ability that will most certainly aid in preparing your knees for the tremendous stresses involved in moving heavy iron in your power-lifting skills, the ballistic forces involved in both sports and weight-lifting can be degenerative for everyone. Start slowly and with light weights. Maybe even an empty bar, just to learn the movements. And, stick to the power cleans and snatches where you're catching the bar at about the depth of a half squat or so.

Complete 5 sets of 5 reps of cleans once weekly off-season. Concentrate on accelerating the bar, and catching the bar's harmonic unbending action. Front squats and overhead squats done weekly off-season will target your quads as well as any exercise there is. Power snatches (catching the bar overhead at a half squat) and muscle snatches (pull to overhead without re-bending your knees) are excellent assistance exercises in mastering these movements.

Apply some of the pulling techniques spoken of in regards to sports related jumping technique, including the double knee bend. It's not uncommon to add up to 4 inches on your vertical jump immediately, just by learning how to take advantage of tissue visco-elasticity and stretch reflex stemming from the double knee bend technique. Practice, practice. But only under an expert eye. I'll wager you'll become a better athlete. And, that's the bottom line.

SNATCH:
In the snatch, lifters take a shoulder width or narrower stance in addressing the bar. Next, they squat down and grasp the bar very wide, using a "hook grip" (pinning their thumbs to the bar with their index fingers). This grip is important in overcoming the bar's inertia during the violent "second pull" (explained below) without losing your grip. The back is kept tight and flat at about a 45 degree angle to the floor (more or less depends on the anatomical structure of the lifter), and the shoulders are situated well in front of the bar. The lifter then lifts the bar upward during the first pull, using only the legs. In other words, the back remains at about a 45 degree angle to the floor during the initial pull. You shouldn't use your back to pull during the initial pull. Instead, the back muscles (notably the erector spinae) act as stabilizers, remaining statically contracted. The bar is kept very close to the shins, and the shoulders remain far over (in front of) the bar. Once the bar passes the knees, a re?bending of the knees (called the "double?knee bend" or "scoop") takes place. This enables the lifter to reposition his thighs under the bar for a powerful second pulling phase. The double knee bend, together with this "second pull" is very similar to the action athletes use in vertical jumping. In fact, the carryover benefit of pulling in this fashion is increased vertical jump performance for athletes in many different sports.

The reason for keeping the shoulders well in front of the bar during the initial pull is to set the lifter up for the double knee bend and subsequent second pull. If the shoulders were either directly over or behind the bar during the critical first pull, the lifter would end up way behind the bar after the double knee bend. This, of course, would make it impossible to impart great upward force to the bar during the second pull, and the lifter would miss the lift out in front. The faster you are at getting under the bar, the less high you have to pull the bar, and therefore the more weight you can lift. Getting under the bar occurs much faster than gravity allows, because the lifters are actually pulling themselves under the bar. In fact, the snatch and clean movements ?? getting under the bar ?? are measurably the fastest total body movements that exist in all sport, when done correctly.

A highly coordinated shoulder shrug during the final inches of the violent second pull "un-weights" the bar. The lifter is now able to lift his feet from the floor, allowing him to quickly "slingshot" himself straight down to a rock bottom squat, with the barbell locked out overhead. If the lifter must wait until the weight is stabilized overhead before standing erect, two things happen: 1) the bar's upward momentum stops, and 2) the bar begins traveling back downward (making it much heavier than the full weight of the bar must be lifted).

CLEAN & JERK:
Form used during the first and second pulls of the clean are very similar to that incorporated in the snatch. The lifter takes a narrower grip than for the snatch, usually slightly wider than shoulder width. This allows for a slightly more upright posture prior to the first pull. Also, the weight is considerably heavier than that hoisted in the snatch. The reason that heavier weight can be used is that while the snatch involves pulling the bar and then catching it at arms' length overhead, the "clean" involves catching the bar ("racking it") on top of the front deltoids and clavicular pecs. Simply, you don't have to pull it as high, so you can use heavier weights. The forward position of the shoulders, the re bending of the knees after the bar passes the knees, the vicious upward extension of the body, and the slingshot like drop into a rock bottom squat position under the bar are all quite similar to the corresponding movements in the execution of the snatch. There's one difference of significance, however, and that's the fact that the lifter's hands are much closer together while executing the clean. That means the bar can bend more. The jerk involves a very fast "dip and thrust" motion. The bar bends as the explosive upward thrust begins, and the harmonics of the upward?whipping bar is timed precisely with the lightening fast drop under the bar and upward recovery push. Unskilled lifters dip and thrust tenuously, often pausing before the explosive thrust upward. This is not good. They are then unable to avail themselves of the bars' assistive harmonic action. They then have to thrust with greater force, often resulting in being "rushed" to get under the bar. Because they're rushed, they are obliged to cut their upward drive short, and less force is imparted to the bar. These unskilled lifters also often catch the bar overhead, and wait to adjust. This results in bearing the full added weight of a now?downward moving bar. Often, it results in the elbows coming unlocked. If they're lucky, their elbows remain locked, but they are obliged to recover to an erect position with great difficulty. In recent years, a sideward splitting of the legs is being seen more and more as the lifter takes his feet off the floor to thrust his body downward under the upward moving bar. The theory is that since the squat position is more stable and natural than the front and back split leg position, an advantage is gained. It may well be. It certainly is in the case of the snatch.