You May Be (Emotionally) Unstable, but Your Lifts Don’t Have to Be
Written by Sage Burnener
The title of this blog post has VERY little to do with the actual content, but it’s catchy and I like it.
Because there is so much to focus on in the actual lifts, we rarely think about our feet and how they feel against the ground. And when we disconnect from our feet, it’s easy to disconnect from our legs. And if we disconnect from our legs, we’ve lost our main source of power and might as well just quit weightlifting all together (may be a bit dramatic).
I touched on this concept a bit in one of my earlier blog posts, “How Well Do You Know Your Feet”, but maybe “feeling your feet or feeling your legs” are cues that don’t seem to work for you.
If that’s the case, I challenge you to think about this: “the floor is your source of power and source of stability”.
How can we use the floor for STABILITY?
In the beginning of the lift, when we’re pulling from the ground, we spread our feet and use every inch of our shoe to push the floor away from us. Use the ground as a reference for how balanced you are on that initial liftoff. The initial liftoff will set you up for success or failure in the rest of the lift depending on how balanced you are.
But even more important, in terms of stability, is the end of the lift. When you pull yourself down and around that bar, whether it be on a snatch or a clean, how your feet land against the ground is a HUGE indicator for how tight you are going to receive that bar. If you land with soft feet, or if you aren’t paying attention to how the floor feels under your feet, you’re probably going to be wobbling around under that weight. Being shaky and loose under heavy loads is not an ideal situation for anyone.
On the other hand, if you think about the ground staying strong and steady under you, you can jump your feet out FAST and imagine your feet STICKING to the floor like glue. Really, really strong glue.
How can we use the floor for POWER?
One cue that I love that my dad uses all the time: “stay flat-footed as long as possible”. What he means by this is…until you have fully extended your body as much as it’s capable of extending (aka jumping ALL the way through your legs), you CANNOT stop pushing through the floor. Until you are up on your very very tip toes, milliseconds away from jumping your feet out into your landing position, you need to be pushing through the floor. This push through the floor is what is generating power into the bar.
To Summarize:
1. Off the ground, use the floor to stay balanced on your liftoff.
2. When you’re jumping and pulling, feel your feet pushing through the ground AS LONG AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE.
3. When you’re pulling under the bar and you’re about to land, connect with the floor and land firm in your feet. Use the ground to help you stabilize under that heavy weight! In other words, STICK IT!
Also Check Out…
Reclaim The Hang And Stop Lifting From The Floor!
How To Choose Your Tempo Off The Floor In Olympic Weightlifting