F=MA

by Atomic Athletic on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 11:06am

Force equals Mass times Acceleration. 

Increasing the force generated during weightlifting is a measure of your strength.  There are two ways to generate more force in your lifts.  You can either lift heavier weights or make them move faster. 

Here is the problem for “full body” type lifts, you have a great distance to move the weight.  That distance translates into an increasing degree of technique required.  Here is a trick to help you improve your technique, thus resulting in greater ability to lifting heavier weights.

Training Tip

As Norbert Schemansky once said about a missed lift, “The weight's too heavy.”  Of course the weight was too heavy, that's why it was missed.  Think about that statement.  The guy he was critiquing wanted a suggestion on ways to fix his technique.  What Norb meant, is that the guy needed to lower the weight for training.

One way to improve the speed of your heavier lifts is to start off light, working the acceleration.  Andy and I , recently did this with our power snatching.  As we are training partners, we try to pay attention to the other guy's technique.  I noticed that he was a little forward on his overhead position, but not missing the lift.  Basically, Andy was grinding it into place with his delts.  It was very impressive, but also poor technique.  Essentially, he could have been lifting far heavier.

I had him start with 40 Kg (88 lbs.) for sets of 3 Power Snatches.  He could only increase the weight by 5 Kg, but he had to do all three lifts perfectly.  Believe me, it is harder than it sounds.  Ultimately, he made it up to 65 Kg.  He must have done seven or eight sets with that first 40 Kg until he cemented the concept into his neuro-muscular system.  Then he needed only one or two sets, until he got to 60 Kg.  This is still very light, as he is a very muscular 215 lbs., doing dumbbell presses with far more than a combined 65 kg, but he just started working his snatch a few weeks ago.  He's highly dedicated, so I see some good lifts in his future. 

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

PS By the way, I did the same routine for part of my workout.  It was very helpful.  It forced me to look at my lift under a microscope.