I’ve been lifting for some time now but have recently been fascinated with olympic lifting. While i’ve tried to do the lifts (and actually had a serious injury because i was being an idiot while learning them) - i have no available coach. I would say I can powerclean well, but what does that matter?
I have all the olympic lifting equipment needed available to me (bumpers, shoes, platform, chalk, etc), but I’m having a lot of difficulty learning a few things without a coach:
the rack position - my wrists aren’t getting more flexible… i have a lot of trouble gripping the bar on my shoulders with all my fingers
front squat - i keep losing the bar because i tip over forward/go on my toes
for the life of me i can’t seem to split jerk correctly - my injury was from jerking and part of it is a psychological thing, but I also can’t seem to split and punch the bar up correctly
I haven’t even attempted to snatch more than the bar w/out coaching so that’s up in the air
any advice? i’ve done my share of reading from medvedyev to roman to webster and so on but of course it doesn’t really mean anything in the gym.
Find a coach or someone who knows the lifts. I was taught by a guy (Neospartan) who knows the lifts and has read but by far is not a coach. I lift more than him now. BUT, he gave me some good drills to do and helped with my form.
My experience is a bit different than some of hthe guys here who have access to coaches. At school I have no such access. I know its a weighlifting faux pas to lift without a coach, but its not the end of the world.
Of course there are issues that a coach would have noticed and fixed. My jerk sucks. My snatch only recently got a bit better. But I knew how to squat heavy and get strong and that helped a lot.
It looks like I will be able to meet with a coach over the summer! BUT, so far I have made progress without one, because I had no choice. Of course it would be better, but don’t feel like you can’t do anything without one.
Though it depends on your strength and size. Snatching the bar could be hard if you are a 100 lb girl or a beginning lifter but otherwise you should be able to add weight to that, even if not much. Post some videos or stats so we have an idea.