Saturday, October 28, 2006

Arch it up.

Nicks 601 at APC Nationals
Not a bad effort although it wasnt what I expected. My hi pulls went so well on wednesday that I thought it would carry over to the snatch as well but it didnt. I was struggling to find the same groove on the snatch as I had on the pull and it wasnt happening. Driving my hips too early out of the hole.

I knew I didnt want to pull with my arm but I was a having a hard time feeling what I was supposed to be doing.Wednesay, the bell was swinging well and my hips were popping at just the right place. Today I was trying to find the gas and got my hips into too soon. I got my reps but it wasnt what I wanted.

Then Nick helped me figure out I had to extend the back FIRST, just like in a power squat to get my hips in the right place to snap hard. It's also very much like the tap swing on the rings or the high bar. There is only ONE place where leverages and motion are optimized to get the most momentum out of the snap and create the biggest arc. Same with the swing, or snatch and now I got it.

On a power squat you go down from the hips first with the head moving last. On the way up you drive your traps into the bar and extend the back hard, which opens up the hips enough to get them into position to drive and then the quads finish things off. I was doing nothing to extend my back and trying to just use the hips and let the bell swing.

When I started arching up I immediately found the groove I had on the high pulls. The problem with snatching is that it is so easy to think about the snatch portion( which should be an afterthought) way too early. Then I start scooping or pulling on the bell. Gotta create the swing first, then snatch it.

Snatch
( 20 minute full stretch out first)

26x5/5/5/5x2
36x5/5/5/5x2
44x5/5

53x5/5/5/5x9 sets.180 reps/9540 pounds

One arms swings
53x
5/5
6/6
6/6
7/7
5/5
5/5= 68 reps/3074 pounds

Just to work technique on the swing position( which held) and get my reps around 250.

Halos
26x12/12
36x12/12
36x10/10
26x12/12

Bosu ball stands

supersetted with halos. feels great and left foot is so much more stable than the last time I played on the bosu. training barefoot has really helped.

Feel great.datsit, staying loose. rifga later today.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rif,

Thank you for the warm welcome in the comment section of the "It's a meal, not a party" post.

Please elaborate or point to a link re: "Rifga" stretching.

Congratulations on the feeling of so many things coming togeter ideally.

"Cayenne" Eddie

Mark Reifkind said...

Eddie,

Rifga is my little play on Yoga: Rifs Yoga= Rifga.I am firm beleiver in not stretching everythig evenly.I only stretch the postitions that are tight to try to achieve postural balance.

For instance, I do no flexion stretches like you would do in yoga but tons of upward and downward facing dog poses.
I do many hamstring and overhead stretching from a bar just high enough so my heels are just off the floor.this opens up my lats,teres, the abdominals and ab myofascia, the lumbar spine squares off my hips.

I also do a lot of foam roller stretching and overhead stick stretching.

I have mucho adhesions and restrictions from the many injuries and tighten up like a bulls ass at flytime in nothing quick! lol!

again its mainly a collection of moves that work all the tight parts without overstretching what is already too loose.

Geoff Neupert said...

Rif, I dunno if you've ever thought of the snatch/hi pull this way, but I learned this from my first weightlifting coach: The second pull on a barbell snatch should cause the bar to "float." Likewise, that should be our goal with KB hi-pulls/snatches. If the hi-pull is performed correctly, the bell should actually look like it's just "hanging" in mid-air. When applying that to the snatch, that "hang" creates the time and the room to punch your hand through to complete the snatch. Food for thought.

Mark Reifkind said...

geoff,
exactly! thats just how I think about the hi pull and perform it with the kb as well.I use my hipull as the main assist exercise for my snatch training

205, 215, 217.5,205 x 1 x 6, 190 x 1 x 3, laterals, rear delts bw pushups

 Well this went great. not perfect but the basic premise worked and I'm happy. I was not optimistic at all about this at all given recen...