The second lift contested in a weightlifting meet. The lifter performs a clean, followed by a jerk.

See Clean, See Jerk
Often abbreviated CJ, C&J, Cln+jrk

Jan 16, 2012

The first lift contested in a weightlifting competition. A lifter takes a wide grip on the bar, stands up while aggressively accelerating the bar, drives him/herself into a squat position. The lifter stands with locked out arms to complete the lift.

May be referred to as a Squat Snatch or Full Snatch
Often abbreviated S

The 2011 Collegiate Nationals were full of excitement, records, and mishap. The turnout was quite large for year’s meet, including many of America’s top weightlifters. Most notably, Kendrick Farris (85kg) and Jared Fleming (94kg) set collegiate and junior records respectively. Many of the weight classes were highly competitive, with a few of the men’s classes being split into A and B groups to due the high turnout.

The competitive nature of the meet lead to many lifters attempting to use every trick in the book to get ahead. Many lifters were making every possible change to their weights both before they took their openers and during the meet. This lead to confusion among meet administrators, as well as some delays. Often time the bar would remain empty for long periods of time while administrators attempted to sort out who was supposed to be lifting and with what weight. The loaders did a commendable job keeping track of what weight was supposed to be on the bar and executed their job with speed.

The judges were not kind at this meet, enforcing the strictest adherence to the rules possible. The slightest wobble in elbow lockout was red lighted, causing frustration for many lifters. Despite these setbacks the best collegiate athletes were able to participate and demonstrate the best the had to offer. Despite the drama, the meet was a distinct success.

“Take account of the difficult while it is still easy
And deal with the large while it is still tiny
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny”
-The Dao de Jing (Ames and Hall Translation)

This will be a 3 part post about how to warm-up for squatting. I hope the cliffhangers don’t tear you apart during your agonizing wait…

So it’s squat day and you’re faced with a horrid Westside/Bulgarian/German Volume mash up and you need to be warm and ready for the hard physical task ahead of you. Let’s tackle the general warm-up first before moving on to specifics. The first thing you want to do when you get to the gym is sit down in a deep squat position.

Let yourself relax into it and try and loosen up all the hip tightness caused by your overly stressful desk job (read: sitting on the couch watching tv, melting your brain). After the initial discomfort goes away try pushing your knees out or shifting your weight to one side then the other to try and generally loosen up the bottom of your squat. This step can be followed by other mobility work if your hips are super duper tight (try mobilitywod); however I typically move on to the barbell after I feel my hips are loose enough.

The first set of squats with the barbell should be done with no additional weight. These squats should be perfect. Cue yourself with any errors you are prone to, and have a partner watch you to make sure that these squats are the most beautiful thing in the world. With no weight on the bar you should be able to squat with perfect technique. If you can’t there is absolutely no way you will survive when you load the bar up with all the weight in the gym and everyone is screaming at you to blow it up.

Next step, putting weight on the bar…