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THE TAKANO ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1, No. 8
June 1, 2008

THE TAKANO ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER VOL. 1, No. 8
This free newsletter is to inform you of events, and thoughts regarding the training of weightlifters and the incorporation of the Olympics lifts into the training of athletes.

Flexbility is a baby thing

Flexibility is an often discussed topic among weightlifting participants and with good reason. Unfortunately the term is often misused since it specifically refers to the ability of a joint to bend or flex. The opposite of it would be extensibility. I think, however, that what we are all concerned with is whether or not the joint has an appropriate range of motion (ROM). Anyone wishing to participate in weightlifting needs to have an adequate ROM at each of the following joints: wrists, elbows, shoulders, spine (a whole series of joints), hips, knees and ankles. An inadequate ROM at just one of these joints may prevent an athlete from achieving his or her full potential in the snatch and/or clean and jerk. Since one of the first tasks of a weightlifting coach or any coach for that matter should be to remediate the weaknesses of the athlete, most weightlifting coaches have probably encountered a significant number of newbies that have inadequate! ROM at one or more joints that need to be re-engineered before snatches and cleans and jerks can become realities.

Let me develop this theme further by throwing out a few observations with which most weightlifting coaches can probably concur.

International coach Tim Swords' son James maintains great ROM by performing technically correct O-lifts.

1. There are no babies with limited ROMs. That means everyone starts out with sufficient joint mobility to perform snatches and cleans and jerks.
2. ROM can be maintained through activity started young enough, but can also be lost through inactivity.
3. There is a limit to the amount of ROM that can be reacquired.
4. All of the high school athletes I've encountered who attended elementary school physical education programs in Europe or Asia have retained most of the ROM's in the aforementioned joints.
5. High School athletes of European and Asian descent that I've encountered who've attended elementary school in the United States have a significantly greater number of joint mobility restrictions.
6. Hip hop fashion (unlaced shoes, low slung shorts with the crotch at knee height) forces a shuffling gait that gradually limits the range of dorsiflexion at the ankle.

The point to be made here is that if you are working with youngsters or have your own children and want them to have full ROM's so they are not limited in their choices of physical activity as they go into adolescence, having them perform movements that require full ROM's such as technical snatches and cleans & jerks will go a long way toward keeping all of their athletic doors open. And mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be rappers!

Employ a staircase to develop the triple extension

And now for a little something that will improve your weightlifting and/or your vertical jump provided you have access to the right equipment.

I used to have my weightlifting program in a basement of the administration building at Van Nuys High School. It was dirty, dingy, hot in the summer, steamy hot in the winter and lots of clanking sounds and grunts and groans came out of it daily. We called it the dungeon. It the perfect site for a weightlifting gym. Fortunately for us there was a sixteen step concrete staircase that led from the main hall down to the dungeon and that may have been the reason why I never had any problem getting the lifters that trained with me during the dungeon years to fully extend the hips, knees and ankles while performing the snatch and clean.

I would have my athletes perform "stairs". "Do a set of stairs!"
"Jumps or hops, T?"
Jumps meant using both legs. Hops meant using a single leg.

The idea was to get them to perform sequential jumps up the stairs like a kangaroo. Boom, boom, boom! The exercise was pliometric and in order to be done properly the triple extension was an absolute necessity. Most of my lifters would jump with both feet at least three steps at a time. My better lifters could go up four steps at a time and my best ones could do five steps at a time. Always the goal was to see how fast they could get to the top. I often had them do a set of stairs immediately following a set of squats so that pre-fatiguing of a certain percentage of motor units took place before the jumping began. Fortunately the squat rack was adjacent to the staircase.

Of course, if five steps with two legs was an insufficient challenge, I'd have the lifters hop on one leg. Most could do two steps at a time. The better ones could do three or even four at a time.

The upshot was that I never had to do much coaching to get them to extend fully on their pulls, and all of them had great vertical jumping ability. And because they were never descending from great heights, there was a minimum of joint trauma.

Try some stair-jumping with your athletes if you are looking for a great way to improve explosiveness and full extension of the hips, knees and ankles.

Coming soon to the member section of Takano Athletics - the detailed weight workouts of a top high school female volleyball player before she embarks on her first year of Division 1 intercollegiate competition. Anyone coaching volleyball players should not miss this article! Go to www.takanoathletics.com

Try Overhead Lunges for an additional variation

Looking for an exercise that will work a large percentage of the body musculature, especially the core, improve balance, maintain flexibility and function as a precursor to more dynamic movements? The overhead lunge with a barbell is just such an exercise. Not only is it an excellent exercise in itself, but it prepares the athlete to learn the receiving position for the split snatch, a great movement for developing athleticism and improving foot speed.

Place the bar on a squat rack and take a grip width equal to that employed when performing a snatch. Position the shoulders under the bar with the bar behind the neck and take it off the rack as though to perform a back squat. Step back away from the rack far enough to accommodate a lunge stride and power press the bar overhead. The feet should be in a line in the coronal plane. This is the starting position.

Emily Ochsner in the low position of the overhead lunge.

Take a step forward far enough to allow full flexion of the knee of the forward leg, while the knee of the rear leg remains unlocked but does not touch the floor. Recover by pushing with the forward leg, pulling with the rear leg, and then stepping back to the starting stance. The bar should remain directly overhead during the entire movement. The torso should remain stable throughout as well. Any leaning forward of the torso is to be avoided.

Repeat the movement with the alternate leg taking the forward stride. Three to five repetitions with each leg should comprise a set that when loaded properly will develop strength and balance. Four sets to six sets is optimal.

When athletes become comfortable with this movement they should have no problem transitioning to the split snatch which is an excellent variation to overcome boredom in the workout, develop foot speed and minimize the chances of non-contact knee injuries during athletic activities.

06/01/08

Equipment, Training & Teaching Aids