The CrossFit Games, A Million Bucks, and Your Snatch
CrossFit has grown from a little grassroots fitness club into a massive phenomenon complete with it’s own sectional, regional, and national championships. Last year they put on a joint CrossFit/USAW competition that was larger than any American national weightlifting meet (save for the Arnold). And now, we can add a huge sponsorship with Reebok to the list of their accomplishments. What does that mean for you? There’s a $1 million dollar pot waiting for the winners of this years CrossFit games! It’s official, CrossFit is a sport. It’s time to start training for it.
OK, now we can talk about your snatch …
Ever noticed that the best athletes at the Games don’t leave anything to chance? They are conditioned, they are strong, and they have spent the time required acquiring the proper technique in the complex lifts/events. If your snatch (and/or equivalently, your clean and jerk) sucks … you are gonna suck. It would be like not being able to do a kipping pull up.
Did you watch the CrossFit/USAW competition? The best CrossFit athletes had impressive form on the Olympic lifts, and consequently, they lifted big weights. Even top Olympic lifters like Kendrick Ferris and Natalie Burgener were very impressed with these folks abilities. Guess what? These are the types of folks you’ll be competing against.
Take Chris Spealler for example. At the Crossfit/USAW meet he posted a 200k total in the 62k class, which was enough to qualify him for the American Open Olympic Weightlifting competition. He’s competed in all four of the CrossFit games and won third place at the last one. Check out his immaculate bottom position in the clean in the photo above! This guys knows that if you are serious, then you put in the time to get it right.
Learning the Olympic lifts is a high-skill endeavor. But, don’t get me wrong. You don’t need to focus on becoming the greatest Oly lifter since Naim. Just a few months of dedicated work will change your life. (That’s not Hyperbole.)
While weightlifting isn’t exactly like riding a bike, the fact is, once you’ve put in those first 3 to 6 months of technical work, you will be able to lift MUCH heavier loads than you would have been able to without it. Consequently, you’ll get stronger faster, you’ll become far more explosive, and all of the other events you do in CrossFit will become easier. There is reason that nearly every top athlete in the world, in nearly every sport, does hard work on the Olympic lifts: They work!
Right around now you may be asking, “Dude, I ain’t got a chance against Chris Spealler! I’ll never see that money, so why do I care?”
There are two reasons. First, it’s not about the money, it’s about your body. You got into this kind of craziness because you love to push yourself to higher and higher levels. You wanted to see how far you could take yourself. Learning the Olympic lifts is the next step in your evolution as a serious athlete.
Second, even if it WAS about the money, you have to take the long view. CrossFit ain’t gonna shrivel up and die tomorrow. It’s only going to get bigger. This means that the sponsorships will keep coming, and the prize money at each level of competition will get bigger and bigger.
In the near future, there will be good money to be had at even the more local Sectional competitions. When that time comes, are you going to be ready? It may take 2 to 5 years, but it’s coming. Imagine how much better an athlete you will be if you dedicate the next 2 to 5 years to improving yourself! You could be in the top of your class. (BTW, speaking of classes, they lowered the masters class down to 40 years old. This is means more opportunities for more people.)
Your Solution:
My advice is to make sure you contact the best Olympic lifting coach in your area and get started learning how to snatch and clean and jerk right away. If you aren’t sure who that person is, then simply leave a comment below and I’ll find out for you.
If you’re here in the Portland area, then you can come see me! I run classes every night, and I’m even planning on running a Monday/Friday morning class at CrossFit X-Factor soon. No excuses.
This is the year to make it happen. Wherever you are, whatever level you are at, one year from now you will either be a better athlete than you are now, the same, or even worse. It’s your choice.
It seems like it works out great for Crossfitters to train in the Olympic lifts, but do you think it’s possible for an Olympic weightlifter to train for a Crossfit meet while still continuing to improve at the Oly lifts? The scoring at the CF/USAW meet favored high-rep and upper body strength so much more than skill at weightlifting (though of course the scoring could change in the future). I guess this relates to your post about ‘functional strength’ for different kinds of athletes.
Lillian,
My feeling is this: If you are 19, and are serious about being a national champion weightlifter, then avoid CrossFit and all other endurance-like sports. If you are anyone else, then do what you find fun. I personally do upper body work no less than 3 days a week on top of 6 days a week of Oly lifting. One of my strongest guys rides his bike for up to 1 to 2 hours a day to and from work!
Interestingly, women (as a rule) are able to tolerate higher weekly work volumes than men can. Part of this is simply because they lift less overall weight. But, that is good news for you! You can easily do 3 to 5 days a week of serious work on the snatch and CJ and squats and then add right on top of it 3 days of CrossFit. So long as you aren’t dropping off your Oly training for more CrossFit you’ll be fine. Add on, don’t replace.
Who is the best in Tucson?
Sadly, I’m not sure there IS an Oly club in Tuscon. There used to be a team at University of Arizona. But, they may be defunct now. It’s possible that one of the Strength and Conditioning coaches there would be able to help you.
There’s a CrossFit in the area also:
http://www.crossfittucson.com/start.html
But, I’m fairly sure they don’t to Olympic weightlifting either.
That’s the tough reality of the Olympic lifting movements. There are a limited number of people in the country who are actively coaching them … because they are hard. And since Tuscon is a small(ish) college town, it’s even less likely that you’ll find someone doing it there. (Vs. in Phoenix where there are a couple of clubs, especially Joe Micella’s Performance One – in Mesa – where the badass Sarah Robles trains.)
I’ll keep my ears/eyes open for you though!
True, spealer is a beast and I’m convinced if he was like 3 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier he would crush. His strength per pound is enormous, but in some of the max strength events and other oddball events he struggles due to his size. But if every event was a 30+ minute metcon he would destroy everyone.
Out of curiosity, who is the best around Charleston, SC?
Thanks for looking into this for me. I am going to see what the CrossFit place is all about.
So, when is your next Phoenix workshop? I need my Nick fix!
Nigel, it will be worth the drive for you to go out to Irmo to Athletes Arena to get coached by Stephan Powell. Here’s the website: http://www.athletesarena.com
Jess, good question. But, my sisters moving out to Arizona, so now I have even less excuses for not getting out off of my buns and getting out there!
@Crossfit Equipment, unlike weightlifting, CrossFit isn’t weightclassed, so speiler is at a disadvantage being so tiny. He’d probably make a great weightlifter if he decided to, but he’d have to totally change his training to maximize his ability (namely stop doing all the metcon stuff).
The reality is, he could gain a bunch of mass and still be just as good at the met-con (or close to it), and he would end up being a lot stronger. The downside is that he’d no longer be as strong pound-for-pound. So, in weightlifting he wouldn’t be as competitive. It’s one thing to go up against 62k lifters, it’s quite another to go up against 85k lifters!
But, he’s a CrossFit guy, so he shouldn’t care what he’d be like in weightlifting. He should do what is most likely to help him win. And for him, you may be right, he needs another 20 to 30 pounds of muscle.
Hey Nick, great article, it got a lot of ideas floating in my head. The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about getting into OLY lifting as I’ve never done it before in my training. I was going to consult a friend who excelled at them throughout high school and college, but I may look into another trainer if possible. Do you know of any in CT? I’m in Southington which is pretty much dead center of the state.
Thanks!!!
While there is no one (that I know of, IN Southington), you are only an hour away from Gary Valentine, who is great, and runs Team Connecticut. You can email him at:
garyv AT optonline DOT net
Good luck!
Hello!
Who would be some great Oly coaches in the SF Bay Area/Oakland ?
Thanks
There are a few you can look at:
Golden Bear Weightlifting run by James Curry. Email: Goldenbearweightlifting@LiftTilyaDie.Com
City College of San Fran. run by Samir Golubovic. Email: samirgolubovic@sbcglobal.net
And,
United Barbell (CrossFit). You can visit their website here:
http://www.unitedbarbell.com/
There may be others. Jim Schmitz used to run a club there, but I’m not sure that is true anymore. I’d email him to find out: schmitzjim@earthlink.net
Hope that helps!
Grest article, I enjoy your site. Any OLY coaches in Tacoma WA.
Hey RK,
Yes! Contact Jeff Serven at Trident Athletics: http://www.trident-athletics.com/
How about Olympic lifters in Olympia, WA? (or Yelm…lol…)
p.s. Your blog is helping me want to learn the Oly lifts more than ever. Thanks
I’m glad to here it, Cameron!!
Hey Nick, are there any Olympic *coaches* in Olympia, Washington? Tacoma is a bit far to drive for me, as I’m south of Oly.
(I asked the question wrong yesterday)
Thanks!
OH!!! I got ya.
Well, you are only 38 minutes (according to Google!) from Sumner, where John Thrush has his club. He’s one hell of a coach with an amazing track record. That would be worth the drive, IMO.
The place is called Calpians Weightlifting at: 1627 45th St. E Suite 102, Sumner, WA
There is the club in Tacoma, Trident, with Jeff Serven that you already know about.
And there’s another one in Seattle (in the University district, if I remember right) called Sand Point Gym – but that’s a full hour away, so worse! (I haven’t met them, but I’ve looked into their window when I was in town and they were closed. It looked like a cool place to train. )
Looks like driving is your only bet to find a good coach. But, having two gym possibilities is good. You could just go once a week, maybe in order to make sure your training is staying on track. Then, spend the rest of the week training on your own. I have people who do this me. It isn’t ideal. But, it works surprisingly well.
Are there any qualified Olympic lifting coaches in the Medford Ashland area of Oregon.
Thanks for your time.
Who’s the best in the greater Pasadena area (California)?
Thanks