Alex's accolade to the gods of flexibility

Another guest article here to whet your appetites and hopefully we can all learn from this. Alex has really helped me with my flexibility training and I think she can help you too. Here is part one of a guest article from Alexandra Craig on flexibility for the weightlifter. She is a professional acrobat and an extremely flexible lady who has took up weightlifting in December. This part of her article deals with the warm up.


How should a weightlifter warm up? That this depends on the weightlifter is a given--everyone is unique--but what remains constant? The movements and positions in which we load our bodies. These movements mean that weightlifters seem to require most flexibility in the shoulders, hips, quads and calves, as well as good spinal mobility.
To prepare the soft tissues we want to get some blood into them to make them pliant enough to avoid injury, and to work out any stiffness which will inhibit good technique. Dynamic stretching is a good way to do this and helps to develop strength in your range, which it can also be used to increase. It involves swinging your limbs in a controlled manner and gradually increasing the amplitude to your maximum range. We also want to mobilise the joints by moving them in all possible directions permitted to increase intra-synovial lubrication.

The mobility warm up which I would suggest, having taken into account the weightlifting sport-specific movements, mobility demands and need to maintain tension, is as follows:

To be performed at a good pace:

Ankle circles: 5 each direction, each side
Ankle mobilisations: 10 each side
Knee circles: 10 each side
Hip figure eights: 10 each side
Full ROM lunges, front and side to side: 10 of each, each side
Kicks, front and back: 10 of each, each side
Cats: 5 happy, 5 sad
Wall thoracic spine roll downs: 5
Shoulder shrug circles: 5 forward, 5 backward each side
Arm cicles: 5 forward, 5 backward each side
Shoulder dislocations with band or stick: 2 x 6 progressively narrowing grip
Wrist walk arounds: I don't count but usually will so this for about 45 seconds.

I also advocate the use of activation exercises, particularly for the shoulder and hip stabilisers during warm up, as well sometimes some form of CNS preparation (discussions of the details of which are beyond the scope of this article); I tend to mix the order of all my warm up exercises together to keep things interesting. I also find that most days there will be particular body parts which require more attention or time and it is important that they get it.

Here are two quick videos for the ankle mobilisation and shoulder flexibility exercises. You will need volume so that you can hear Alex's explanations:





In my own training, I trained on Wednesday and Thursday and worked up to 95 in the Power Snatch and some Front Squats with a few Power Clean and Jerks thrown in for good measure. This is my recovery week so I am doing three sessions in total to get ready for training in Amsterdam next Wednesday for five days with Zag.

Squad session shenanigans

The weekend was a successful one for Irish weightlifitng. Not everyone was able to make it, but we still had around eighteen to twenty lifters show up and generally, everyone lifted well. Thanks again to all the coaches involved and all the people who organised the weekend.

Saturday morning had us start off with a talk on warming up and flexibility for weightlifting from Alex and afterwards, we did a short power up session to wake the body and the nervous system. I Snatched up to 70 for two singles and did some skill work with 60kg and the bar for the Jerk. We then had a break and after that, a talk with a lady from the Sports' Council on anti-doping measures and what to avoid in everyday over the counter medicines, psuedoephedrine being the main culprit. We then went into our second session of the day where everyone went to max. Zag got a 1kg pb with 102kg in the Snatch. Cillian hit several pb's with a 3kg jump in the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. Laura also hit a 1kg in the Jerk as did Murph with his lovely 122kg that did not look like a max at all. Everyone else generally lifted very well, including Kris Greene who is only lifting for the last month and has Power Snatched 85 and Clean and Jerked 112 weighing 71kg! Byrdie Snatched 115 again and narrowly missed 116 a few times. Here is what I did:

Snatch--2x2@50, 70 1x1@80, 90, 100, 105, 109, 113--as you will see in the video I had to go for quite a little run for this one. I then missed 115 twice and got 116kg for a 1kg pb. I missed 117 which was just a bit slow.

Clean and Jerk--Myself and Byrdie were rushing to fit time into our Clean and Jerks so we took big jumps and did not really have that much rest. I worked up to singles with 125, 133 and then 139. I then Cleaned 143 twice but missed the Jerk and I then failed to Clean 144 because although it was very high, I pulled back on it too much and ended up behind the bar. We had to leave it then because we had run out of time for the hall and had to leave.

Sunday morning had us lifting only once and I followed Byrdie with what he was doing generally. I was a little tight and fatigued from the previous day so I Snatched up to 105 and then missed 108. I got it on my second attempt but it was ugly and I was not feeling the Mae West so I left it there. Byrdie worked up to 110 and missed 112 a few times. I then worked up to an easy single with 120kg in the Clean and Jerk and I left it there. Alex then led a stretching session and I felt far better afterwards when it was coupled with some work on the cardboard roller.

Have a look at the video below. I did not get that many videos so apologies if people are not showing in it. Hopefully we will be able to have another squad session in the next few months because there was some great work done over the weekend.

Saturday's slip up

I ended up having a decent workout on Saturday despite indulging in some wishful weightlifting. I still had it in my head to get the jump from 100 to 110, but it was not to be in this session. I will get it very soon though...

I warmed up with the Jerk exercises again and I am finding these very beneficial. I do more light Jerks for repetitions more than the assistance exercises themselves, but I find they are getting me more and more comfortable in the Jerk position. I am trying to get how I rack the bar as relaxed as possible. I read in a forum where John Broz said that if you could rack the bar and take your hands away, clap them and then put your hands back onto the bar, you had a proper rack position. I am nowhere near that comfortable yet, but with more time and experimenting, I will get there. Another skill that I am trying to implement is to get my chest through rather than my head. This will keep my chin up and from diving my body through in the catch which is a habit I formed for a while.

I started off the Snatch with three doubles with 40kg getting Harry to try and force my back into position. I did doubles with 60, 80 and then singles with 100 and I missed 110 three times. I was happy to make the jump from 80 to 100 again, but it was not the wisest of moves in retrospect. It was a Saturday morning after a week's work and training the previous evening. But, there are worse traits than being too ambitious; I would rather be that way than the opposite.

I moved on into Power Clean and Jerks. I was supposed to do full Cleans but my calves/achilles/soleus were killing me, particularly my right one. I did 3 singles with 70, then a single with 90, 100, 110, 120 and after an ugly Clean with 130, I went back down to 127. I had to fight against my instinct for this last lift. I wanted to walk away and call it a day. I was tired and irritated with my misses. I had to swallow the pride and go get my 127 which was only a Clean and Jerk. I could not Power Clean the weight, but at least it was smooth.

Front Squats--6x6 @ 50kg. I did these as an active recovery and also a way to try and get my Front squat stance wider in order to open up my hips and get me used to getting my feet out in the catch in the Clean and the Snatch. In the first set, my hips were really stiff and tight, but as I got more reps and sets in, they loosened up and I was able to get deeper than parallel in a stance that is far wider than normal. I am really glad I did these because it shows me I can go wider and this will take the stress off my calves and achilles when I squat.

Wednesday’s wrap up for the Christmas break

Training was great fun on Wednesday. I knew that I would have to keep it light and I enjoyed myself anyway. I will now rest until training on the 29th, 30th and then take two days off before I go to London to train for five days with Zag, Paudie Roche and Cathal Byrd. My session finished with another hour of flexibility work and I could feel the benefits in my lifting. Emmett showed myself and Zag a way of releasing some tension in the lower back that leads into the hip flexors and I found this very helpful with keeping my back locked throughout the pull in the Snatch. Here was my workout:

Snatch—1x2@50, 50, 50 1x1@70, 80, 90, 100
Clean and Jerk—1x2@70, 70 1x1@80, 90, 100
Power Clean and as many Jerks as possible with 100kg—I did this a few months ago and I got seven Jerks. This was as tired as I have ever been practicing the sport of weightlifting. In my first set, I Power Cleaned 100 and got 5 Jerks. I knew I was being soft on myself and letting the fatigue mask my ambitions, so I rested five minutes and had another bash. I got the rest of the crew to encourage me and keep me going until I got my 8 reps. It was at around the fourth rep that I realised how tiring this was on the legs. I struggled to get the bar under control for my last rep, but I got my eight reps. My lungs were screaming at me and my legs felt like jelly. That was the end of my light squatting at the end.

We stretched at the end for an hour. It was intensely painful, but I felt great afterwards again. We worked primarily on the hip flexors and groin area and some soft tissue work for my glute meds. Alex and Emmett showed us a few acrobatic feats to cap things off for a fine session. As always, please give any constructive criticism that you think can help. Have a great Christmas everyone!

Thursday's tango moments

I had not trained since Saturday's competition which is a rarity for me. I was looking forward to training tonight and was determined to have an equally rare "free" fun session where I could do what I want. Another lifter Alex trained with us tonight and she is a professional acrobat. She guided myself and Zag through through stretching at the end and I have never been through anything like it. It was so intense, I was feeling emotional. I kid you not. Anyway, more on that later, here is what I did:

I chose to forsake my usual prehab and flexibility and went straight into bar work.

Clean grip Snatches--1x2@50, 50, 50 1x1~70, 90, 100--I missed 100 twice and then got it. I then missed 105 twice, but I enjoyed going for it anyway. I have only ever done these once before and they were fun.

Clean and straight into Jerk--With these I cleaned the weight and Jerked straight out of the Clean recovery. It was fun and it meant that you had to put everything into the drive in the Jerk, particularly with the heavier weights.
1x1@50, 50, 70, 100, 110, 120, 130--I just missed the Jerk but I got it second time lucky. These were great fun also and they were a slightly different movement which actually put more reliance on skill than strength.

I did some light Front Squats and worked up to a double with 110 and a single with 130. My legs were actually quite tired from the previous exercise. Alex then stretched myself and Zag out in only two stretches, but they felt like they went on forever. It was the 7 stretch and the regular hip flexor stretch. She did slight variations on a traditional pnf model, but it was as intense a stretch as ever I have felt. I was happy to hobble out in the end.

I made a quick video of some of the lifts from tonight, so as always, please feel free to offer some constructive criticism.