Cinco de Mayo!

Workout of the Day:
Take 15-20 minutes to practice your Snatch technique;
and then,
Four rounds for time of:
135/95 lb. Power Snatch x 3 reps
30/15 lb. Weighted Pull-Ups x 6 reps
400 Meter Run

Uh, this isn't exactly how we teach this stretch . . . but you're welcome to try it.

Britney Spears + Fergie = Successful Olympic Weightlifting
Written by Sage Burgener

In recent studies, it was clinically proven that 4 out of 5 Invictus members who listened to Britney Spear’s “Oops I did it Again” every single day, learned the words to the whole entire song and could recite them at any point in time without thinking twice! (It’s physics..) So, who’s to say that we cannot apply those same methods to Olympic weightlifting?

First of all, I want to take a brief second to give a shout out to all my homies out there that have taken my Olympic weightlifting class.  You guys have done awesome at pretending to laugh at all my jokes.  Also, from the first session to the last, I have seen the most AMAZING improvements in technique from every single one of you.  This impresses me and makes Mama so proud.

Secondly, I get two common questions:

#1.  “ Sassy Sage, why do you always play Fergie when you’re coaching class?”

My Answer: Fergie automatically increases your snatch PR by 5 kilos and her songs make you a better person.

#2.  “ I’ve taken your class and you’ve thrown a million cues at me (which, by the way, I only understood about ½ of them).  What am I supposed to do now?”

My Answer: Much like listening to B Spear songs over and over again to fully grasp an understanding of her brilliance, you must practice and drill the snatch and clean and jerk every single day to really start to get comfortable with the movements.  Four sessions of my Olympic lifting seminars is only just scraping the surface of the two movements.  The sessions are designed to give you a better understanding of what weightlifting is all about and to give you more confidence when you approach a barbell to do a snatch or a clean and jerk.  Now, it’s all up to you to decide what you do with the information. Lose it, or retain it?

During my last seminar, my 6:30 class and I came to the consensus that mastering Olympic Weightlifting will take somewhere around 47 years, give or take a few years.  Don’t let that get you down! You can drastically change that number by simply drilling what I have taught you every single day.  You are all so good about coming in and rolling out before a workout. Now, I want you to roll out and then grab a PVC (not PCP) pipe and do the Burgener Warm up and skill transfer exercises followed by some snatches and clean and jerks.  Simply training your body to perform these movements every day, even with lightweight, will be extremely beneficial for you.  You want to make these movements second nature so that when you are approaching a barbell, you trust in your technique and have absolutely no self-doubt.

Ya’ll best come talk to me if you have ANY questions or if you want to make small tweaks in your technique.  I’m here to help! My goal is to have Invictus members sporting the best snatches and jerks around.

(Editor’s Note – First, this might be one of my favorite posts ever.  Second, Sage has new Olympic Weightlifting seminars starting up next week after Regionals.  Sign up now!)