Interesting Observation

Bigger Stronger Leaner Christian Thibaudeau Coaching
1

I know that this will be nothing new but with all the talk of loaded carries, occlusion, full body tension etc., I thought some may find this anecdote interesting.

A little while back I hit a big milestone weight for me in the strict press. Nothing was unusual in my programming, just a general linear progression. Now my main training priority is weightlifting but I will admit that I am vain. I like having upper body muscularity and I love to press stuff. My snatch is also awful. So in an effort to improve my snatch, prior to every shoulder press session I did I would warm up with a complex of power snatch + paused overhead Squats, up to a moderately heavy weight. My focus was just to get some extra pulls in, good positioning, overhead stability and hold the bottom position of the snatch for a forced stretch. Some minimally-invasive volume, so I thought.

The very first time I did this, as soon as I went to press, there was an immediate potentiation effect. I was very, very stable overhead, the bar went back overhead nicely and every weight felt incredibly light. In a couple of weeks I pb’d very easily and my shoulders and upper back clearly grew. Great for mobility too. It also made me incredibly sore.

Some of the keys I found with this are to go moderately heavy but remember to keep the volume down and to actively push up against the bar at all times. Once I got to the point where I was powersnathing fair;y significant weight for me, the overhead squat started to become fairly tough and maybe the limiting factor. This was about the right load. The powersnatch wakes you up because of the speed/neural requirements, and the overhead squat requires stability and tension.

Something some of you may want to try if you are moderately proficient at weightlifting.

2

That sounds pretty nice and makes sense.I have come across something of my own to. For people looking to try a new stimulus. A lot of people have tried putting a small weight plate under their heels to help make squats more quad dominant or they don’t have good ankle flexibility so they use it as a quick fix.But I notice that if you take a person with a good squatters build
( long Back and Short Upper legs) and put the weight plate under the balls of their feet it not only makes them understand what squatting is like for normal people but it makes the squat more Hip/Glutes and low back oriented like a power lifter’s squat but with the Olympic Squat.

Also for those with Really good Squatter type builds that struggle with the dead lift this really helps them learn to use those muscles more effectively.After your strength work with the squat just throw in a few sets with 60% max with the plate under your toes/balls of feet and you’ll really hit the posterior chain Hard but still be squatting Olympic style.

This isn’t the best for normal people and Bad for people with short backs and long Upper legs but it really helps the squatter types and if you want to replace Good Mornings and do more squat work it really helps.