Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5
5 Rounds:
10 Good Mornings 45/33
10 GHD Sit Ups
These pictures were stolen from the following video on the CrossFit main site. When I saw this video my mind immediately thought of the many athletes in our gym who struggle to get heavy weight overhead. I can picture many of you dipping and driving the weight upward beautifully then continuing to try to push the weight upward in stead of committing to pushing yourself deep under the weight, then missing the lift because it was too heavy to push upward. Much of this has to do with fear, some of it has to do with a misunderstanding of the jerk, and some of it has to do with lack of midline activation or mobility issues.
At maximal loads, the hips can only generate enough force to send the bar upward a few inches creating a split second window of opportunity for the lifter to forcefully shove themselves downward and lock out the weight. The screen shots above from the video are taken from the third consecutive clean & jerk at 170 lbs! This is a tremendous effort for a female of this stature, and is achieved through a high level of commitment and understanding of how to lift really heavy shit.
The first picture is taken at the instant of full hip extension and the second at the instant of lockout. If you look just to the right of Jessica's face in the first shot, you can see a guy with a green hat. The bill of his hat is even with her teeth. In the second shot, the bar is at the same level as the man's hat and Jessica has moved herself all the way down to meet the level of the bar. The point is that the bar moved upward at most 5 or 6 inches and the lifter moved down about 18 inches! If Jessica attempted to push the bar upward, this would have been a badly missed lift. This type of effort requires great confidence, commitment, speed, strength, shoulder mobility, and midline strength.
If you want to lift more, start with a weight that you are confident with and practice pushing yourself really low under the weight. Going off your back is another way to get yourself used to being under the weight instead of hanging out tall behind it. Slowly increase the weight and continue to GET LOW! When you reach a weight that intimidates you, its time to nut up and get your ass down there. Tell yourself that the worst thing that is going to happen is that you will miss the lift and dump the bar on the floor. The more committed to forcing yourself under the bar you get, the more weight you will put up!
Jessica Pamanian's 170lb x 3 clean and jerk at the Northeast
Regionals by CrossFit
Again Faster – video [wmv] [mov]
