Help w/ Olympic Lifts, Flexibility

I�??ve been told that the only dumb questions are the ones you don�??t ask. However when your IQ is a lower number than your birthday any help is greatly appreciated.

I have recently started (trying) to do Olympic lifts as part of my workout. My question is during the catch?? movement (where you roll your arms under the bar at shoulder height) all the lift photos show the forearms parallel to the floor. An article I read said �??you should catch the weight on the front of your shoulders�?? and then finish the lift.

I can�??t seem to get the weight to rest on my front shoulders without enormous stress on my wrists or chocking myself because the bar comes too far back and hits me in the throat when my I raise my forearms parallel. (Its no problem if I point my elbows down or use a slight angle but I�??m afraid I�??ll never get the form right and lose progress).
I�??m sorry for the long winded explanation. I was looking for advice about the cause and perhaps some possible cures. I don�??t know a) if the problem is flexibility, technique, or just overall lack of strength or b) what to do about it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, so you have a reference point, I lifted quite a lot in my 20�??s and 30�??s (probably not correctly) but stopped for a number of years. I�??m now 52 and have been lifting for about 2 years. My best �??clean effort is 4 sets of 5 reps at 155.

Thanks in advance!

It takes time and it will hurt for a little while but once you get some meat under those bones you’ll have more of a cushion. Just keep to basic lifts like the front squat to build up the pain tolerance first.

Some wrist/forearm stretches might help as well. I usually just take one hand and push my fingers of the other hand back towards my elbow. It hurts, but its helpful.

The front squats will help you feel more comfortable in the rack, and its best to keep the weight relatively low while learning the movements. I always end up with a couple small bruises on my collarbone when I do them, even with the light weight.

Just keep practicing, its a hard lift to learn, and I don’t think I’ll ever totally figure them out.

I just found these, they might be of some assistance: