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Best Mobility For Olympic Weightlifting (The Complete Masterclass) — Transcript

by Sonny Webster · 9,206 words · 1,286 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00What I'm about to tell you in this video
0:01is going to unravel any frustrations
0:04that you've ever had when it comes to
0:05understanding mobility and Olympic
0:08lifting. We're going to be unpacking the
0:10key positions that you'll find
0:11challenging. Whether it be the overhead
0:13position in the snatch or the front rack
0:15position of the clean where you keep
0:16getting spat out or even finding depth
0:18in the squat. If this is your first time
0:20to my channel, my name is Sunonny
0:22Webster. I competed in the 2016 Olympic
0:24Games, 2014 Commonwealth Games. I have
0:25personal best lifts of 160 kg, snatch,
0:28200 kilos, clean and jerk, and I've
0:30helped over 40,000 people worldwide hit
0:32new PBs and master this sport, Olympic
0:35weightlifting, using my modernized
0:37approach. So, without any further ado,
0:38let's dive into it. We need to
0:40understand first of all exactly what is
0:42poor mobility, and if it is the actual
0:44reason why we're missing lifts. So, the
0:46first thing we really need to understand
0:48is is mobility the thing that's causing
0:50a problem. And this is the biggest
0:51problem that people fall into or the
0:53trap should I say is thinking that
0:55mobility is the thing that's holding
0:56them back. Nine times out of 10 it'll be
0:58playing a part but position is equally
1:00important. So we're going to be looking
1:02today at the overhead position which I
1:04think is one of the most challenging
1:05things for people to do particularly
1:06we're in the bottom position of the
1:08squat. We're going to look at squat
1:09depth full stop but in addition to that
1:11front rack mobility because no one likes
1:13getting spout in the bottom of clean.
1:15So, let's look at what good positions
1:17actually are, what mobility we need to
1:19achieve them, and then I'm going to be
1:20diving into the exercises to help fix
1:22these problems. So, let's look at the
1:23overhead position first of all. One of
1:25the biggest things that causes people to
1:27struggle when it comes to overhead
1:28mobility is purely just setup. Commonly,
1:31and the thing you need to understand is
1:33the closer the grip will be, the more
1:35challenging it will be from a mobility
1:37standpoint to get the bar overhead. The
1:39wider you go, the easier that may
1:41become, but the less stability you're
1:43going to have. And the thing that makes
1:45overhead position so comfortable is
1:47making sure that from side on, if we're
1:50maintaining keeping the load over
1:52midfoot, that is where we're most
1:54stable. If the bar gets too far back,
1:56which is commonly what people are
1:57queuing when they're snatching, what
1:59you'll see is nothing is underneath the
2:00end of the bar, which means my shoulders
2:03have to work overtime to stabilize the
2:04bar when I'm in this position. Equally,
2:06if the bar is too far forward, it's
2:08going to drop out in front like so. So,
2:10the first thing you need to understand
2:11about achieving a good overhead position
2:13is have I actually got the bar in the
2:15right position, i.e. over midoot when
2:18I've got the bar there. If not, that's
2:19going to be one of the biggest things
2:21that's actually making your mobility
2:22more challenging. Because what you'll
2:24notice is as a byproduct of me letting
2:26this bar sit too far back here, what
2:29what starts to happen is internal
2:31rotation. Now, when the shoulder
2:33internally rotates like so, we're
2:35relying on the muscles in the mid to
2:37upper back to provide stability to the
2:39bar overhead. But you'll also see that
2:40affects my lockout position, which means
2:43my shoulders have to do a lot more work
2:44than they should be doing in order to
2:46keep the bar in a good position. So, for
2:49me, when I'm in my overhead position,
2:50what I'm really focusing on is making
2:52sure that I'm letting my wrist sit back
2:54and I'm staying externally rotated. that
2:56engages my lats then and achieves a
2:59solid lockout position so that when I'm
3:01here the whole way through the movement
3:03I'm maintaining that exact same posture
3:05and position with the arms throughout
3:07the whole position. What commonly will
3:10happen particularly for you if you think
3:11your overhead mobility is an issue is
3:13you'll go down the chest will drop and
3:16you'll look something like this when
3:17you're in the bottom and that's why you
3:19feel so shaky and unstable. So the first
3:21thing you need to understand is that
3:22right am I actually putting the bar in
3:24the correct position first of all
3:26because if you're not then your mobility
3:28is going to be put in a lot more strain
3:30when it comes to finding a good overhead
3:32position. So when we think about then
3:34understanding overhead mobility and what
3:37needs to have good range of motion. You
3:39heard me touched already on external
3:41rotation at the shoulder being crucial.
3:43But in addition to that, we need to have
3:44good flexibility in the wrists. And then
3:47we also need to have good flexibility or
3:49range of motion through the lats as
3:50well. If we're tight through here, we're
3:52going to struggle with overhead
3:53position. All right. So, I'm going to
3:55run through some key exercises now
3:57specifically for this position. The
3:59thing that plays true for me full stop
4:01whenever I'm thinking about mobility
4:03specifically for Olympic weightlifting
4:04is it needs to mirror not only the
4:06position that we want to mobile in, but
4:08also the intensity. Because a lot of the
4:11time when people are trying to get into
4:12good positions, they'll say, "Oh, well,
4:14Sunny, I've spent ages stretching out my
4:16lats. I've spent ages stretching out my
4:17triceps and my shoulders or my chest,
4:19and I'm still not getting any better.
4:21It's not carrying over into Olympic
4:23movements." And this is like the biggest
4:25thing that I discovered in my journey to
4:27helping people become more mobile when
4:29it comes to Olympic weightlifting is the
4:31missing link was generally the fact that
4:33it wasn't sports specific enough and it
4:36wasn't done in an intensity that matches
4:38weightlifting. At the end of the day,
4:40you're watching this video, you want to
4:41be mobile with 100 kilos over your head.
4:43We need to make sure the mobility drills
4:45and exercise that we're doing
4:46specifically to improve this mirror
4:48that. So, this is where I then take,
4:50okay, increasing range of motion
4:52specifically of the joint. But then part
4:54two, building stability and strength to
4:57supporting muscles of that joint, which
5:00then puts you in a position where you
5:01can take range of motion, strength, and
5:03stability in good positions. And then
5:05that is what results in it carrying over
5:07to a better overhead position when
5:09you're snatching or when you're jerking.
5:11First exercise that we're going to start
5:12to look at and one that's very sport
5:14specific to Olympic weightlifting when
5:16it comes to overhead position is one
5:18that I call right backs. For this
5:20exercise, what you're going to need is a
5:22wall ball or like I always say if you're
5:24at home watching this video then just
5:26pile up some cushions or if you've got a
5:28foam roller also really really good.
5:30Okay. Um, a lot of the time, like people
5:33avoid doing mobility, right, because
5:34it's not the sexiest part of training.
5:37But I always say it's like the biggest
5:39lever that you can pull in progressing
5:40in your lifting, providing you give the
5:43time and attention to it before you get
5:44in the gym. And what I mean by this is
5:48I'll always think about mobility being
5:50my priming or I want to increase the
5:52range of motion before I start to load
5:54through it so that when I'm actually
5:56lifting, I'm working for a full range of
5:57motion. So, it's always something that I
5:59do pre. Now, if you're watching this
6:01again as a CrossFit athlete and you're
6:03currently going to classes and you know
6:05your mobility sucks, you can't be
6:07relying on your coaches at the gym to be
6:09like, "Yeah, take me through a 20-minute
6:11mobility flow before we start snatching
6:13today because ultimately you're there
6:15because you want to get a sweat on and
6:16get your workout done." This has to be
6:17the thing that you do before you get to
6:19the gym, right? So, I digressed. But to
6:23my first exercise, right backs. Now,
6:25you'll see what I'm doing here with the
6:26wall balls. I'm putting that into the
6:28lower of my back like so. Because what I
6:30want to think about here is extension
6:32through my thoracic. This is also
6:34something that's key, particularly we're
6:35in the bottom phase of the squat when it
6:37comes to achieving an upright torso
6:40position, which in turn makes it easier
6:42for us to stay externally rotated. If
6:44the chest drops, we need even more
6:46external rotation to get into good
6:48position. So that's why this will play a
6:49part specifically in this. What I'm then
6:52doing from here is I'm then taking the
6:55flats of the hands underneath a plate.
6:56So, our plate is acting as our element
6:58of resistance, shall I say, when we're
7:00doing this movement. And then I'm taking
7:02the plate back behind the head, keeping
7:05the arms straight, and then returning in
7:08front of me like so. You'll see that I'm
7:10focusing on keeping the arms nice and
7:12straight here, keeping the flats of the
7:14hands locked here, and then moving back.
7:16I'll generally be going for 10 to 15
7:18reps, and I'm feeling the stretch at the
7:20end of range. Now, when I'm doing this
7:22movement, what I'm focusing on, like I
7:23said, keeping those arms straight,
7:25feeling the stretch run all the way
7:27through the chest and through the lat.
7:29So, we're mimicking that same position
7:31as what we're going to have when we're
7:33overhead in the snatch. Now, equally,
7:35what I'm doing here when I'm letting my
7:37arms go back is I'm staying externally
7:39rotated here, not internally rotated.
7:42And that puts the shoulder in a much
7:44better position when we're in the
7:45overhead. So you can run through three
7:48to four sets of that 10 to 15 reps and
7:51you'll start to see improvement in terms
7:52of the range but also the load in which
7:54you'll be able to do this exercise with.
7:56Just be conscious not to let the arms
7:58bend when you're doing it and that
8:00you're holding at this end of range when
8:02you bring the arms back through. So this
8:04becomes like I said a loaded mobility
8:06exercise that we're going to build rep
8:08ranges moving through. And this is
8:10playing a huge part in our first
8:12struggle that people will have with
8:14their bed mobility, which is getting the
8:15arms back behind the head. Now, we're
8:19going to move on. One of the key things
8:20I mentioned to you, and I'm going to
8:21show you actually another variation of
8:23the exercise in a minute, but I
8:25mentioned how important it was to have
8:27good range of motion or flexibility
8:28through the wrist. So, we need to have
8:29the ability to let the wrist sit back
8:31like so. Whenever we're in an overhead
8:34position, what we almost want to
8:36imagine, right, particularly when we're
8:38in the snatch, when we're in the jerk,
8:39it's almost like we've got two plates
8:41here, that these plates are full with
8:43food here, and we don't want to spill
8:44it. Whenever we're in the overhead,
8:46we're trying to let the wrist sit back
8:48like so, so the plate stays stable. If
8:51we don't do that, and the wrist doesn't
8:53move back in this position, all the
8:55food's going to slip off the plate. So,
8:57in order to achieve a good lockout
8:59position when we're in the overhead, we
9:00need to be letting this wrist sit back
9:02like so. So, simple exercise that you
9:06can do is called wrist rocks, right?
9:07Just to start to build this range of
9:09motion in the wrist, but we're going
9:10flat. So, the hands on the floor like
9:12so. And we can just practice rocking
9:15shoulders coming back behind finger line
9:18and then taking shoulders back over the
9:20wrist. We then rock back again, feeling
9:24the stretch running down through the
9:25forearms.
9:27here and then rocking back like so. This
9:30is a nice simple one. Another variation
9:33of this particularly for the wrist that
9:35you can do is by taking the bar up from
9:38a seated position, popping it up
9:40overhead and working through the range
9:42of motion where the knuckles are up and
9:45then we're letting the bar roll out into
9:46fingertips. So, what I'm focusing on
9:48here is the bars going all the way out
9:50into the fingertips almost like where
9:51it's going to drop onto my head and then
9:53I'm closing the hand and then taking the
9:55knuckle up towards the sky and then
9:57slowly working through this range.
9:59You'll see how what I'm focusing on
10:01doing here is keeping the arms locked
10:02nice and straight when I'm in this
10:04position so that I'm getting used to
10:06letting that wrist sit back with a
10:08completely straight arm. This is a great
10:11exercise to not only get the wrist used
10:13to sitting back into this position, but
10:15also strengthening it too, which a lot
10:17of people complain about having issues
10:19when it comes to wrists when they're
10:21overhead in the snatch. Okay, so for
10:23this next one, what I'm doing is I'm
10:24just taking a couple of little plates
10:26and I'm popping them on the bar once I'm
10:28set up. And this one is quite a
10:30challenging one to do, I guess, outside
10:32of the gym. But what I'm going to be
10:33doing from this same position that we
10:35were back in is I'm taking a wide grip.
10:38So, like my snatch grip onto the bar
10:40like so. Now, what I'm focusing on
10:42doing, and the reason why I put the
10:44plates on is so you'll see the bar will
10:46roll, but I'm focusing on keeping my
10:48elbows up off the floor like so. So, I'm
10:51working through that external rotation
10:53and then pressing up and overhead. This
10:56exercise feels absolutely lovely because
10:58you get to feel it all the way through
11:00external rotation, but also through the
11:02front side of the chest as well when
11:04you're moving through. And the reason
11:06why this is so good is it's mimicking
11:07the same position as we'd be working
11:09through when we're overhead on the
11:11snatch too. So again, another great
11:14exercise that we can be doing, like I
11:17said, is this one because it's specific
11:19to us being overhead in snatch grip.
11:22Now, the thing that then becomes a
11:24problem for a lot of people is when we
11:25combine lower body mobility with
11:28overhead mobility. And this is one thing
11:30that's really important to understand is
11:32that if you have poor range of motion in
11:34your ankles and your hips, which is then
11:37subsequently causing you to be in a poor
11:39position when you're in the bottom of
11:40the squat, the shoulders and the
11:42overhead mobility is getting exposed as
11:45the problem. But it isn't actually the
11:47problem. See, the problem comes from
11:49your lower body is not as good. And
11:51that's what we're going to be getting
11:52into a little bit later on in the video.
11:54So, what I'd like to do sometimes is
11:56isolate
11:57working necessarily just on that full
12:01movement and we'll break it down a
12:03little bit. So, what I'll do is sit in
12:06something like a teddy bear position
12:07like so and actually practice pushing
12:10into my overhead position just from a
12:13seated position and developing strength
12:16in the pressing motion like so into my
12:19overhead. Developing strength on this
12:22movement pattern, particularly on the
12:24eccentric phase, will start to get you
12:26used to feeling like what it's going to
12:28feel like when you're in the bottom of
12:29your squat, but without putting yourself
12:31in that much of a bad position. Even
12:33from here, a slight progression would be
12:35to bring the feet up. So, we're now
12:37sitting closer to where we would be when
12:39we're snatching. And practice pressing
12:41from this position. Once you start to
12:44master this, you're then in the point
12:47where this now doesn't seem so daunting.
12:50Whereas if I said to anyone, okay,
12:52master the s press, they'd be like,
12:54there's no way I can do it. That's a
12:56simple way where you can scale back a
12:58mobility exercise that's directly
13:00relatable to the snatch movement and
13:03improve it. Okay, so we're going to move
13:05on to our next exercise. Now, I want to
13:06focus a little bit more specifically on
13:08the lats. And a lot of these exercises
13:10that I'm going through for you now,
13:12they're not only going to help you from
13:14a snatch overhead position, but they're
13:16going to help you massively in the front
13:17rack, which is one of the areas that
13:18we're going to be covering in a minute.
13:20So, as part of this overhead mobility
13:22segment that we're going through now, we
13:24know that we need to have good range of
13:26motion here in ability to take the arms
13:28up back behind the head, but no further
13:30than kind of the crown. But one of the
13:32restricting areas will particularly be
13:33through the lats. Okay. Now, this is
13:36common particularly if you do CrossFit
13:37as your main sport because you're going
13:39to be doing gymnastic exercises and
13:40you'll be working heavily through the
13:42lats when you're doing them. They can
13:43get super tight and that can affect your
13:46posture massively or your ability to
13:47move through this range when you're in
13:49your overhead position. Okay. So,
13:52another great exercise that we're going
13:54to be doing now is we're going to be
13:55holding the palms up on a PVC pipe like
13:58so. And then what I'm doing, you see how
14:00this makes a square, is I'm bringing my
14:01elbows slightly inside the square like
14:04so. Now from here, what I'm then
14:07focusing on is resting my elbows on the
14:08corner of the box. And then I'm tucking
14:11my head down and reaching my PVC pipe
14:14down the back like so. I'll hold there
14:17for a split second. And then I'll return
14:19back into the bottom position. Drop the
14:22chest through
14:24and then come back over the top like so.
14:27So again, 10 to 15 reps on this
14:29movement, running through it sort of
14:31three to four times is perfect. Mobility
14:33isn't something that you're just going
14:34to all of a sudden fix. I'd normally say
14:37roughly 30 to 40 days of consistency.
14:39Three times a week is where you'll start
14:40to see that uplift when it comes to a
14:42mobility aspect. Okay? But again, this
14:45is another great exercise particularly
14:46for loosening off through here. Now, we
14:50talk about this time frame, right, that
14:52we're spending on mobility each day, 15
14:54to 20 minutes pre-training.
14:57you think outside of that 15 minutes,
14:59the other 23 and a half hours that we
15:01spend in our days, what we're doing with
15:04our bodies during that time is super
15:06super important as well. And a lot of
15:08the time, there's two key things or
15:10positions that people spend a lot of
15:11time in, right? One is like so at their
15:15desk working a lot of the time that
15:17naturally puts us in a really bad
15:18postural position for Olympic
15:20weightlifting. So subtle things that you
15:22can start to embed into your day if
15:24you're like, "Right, my mobility sucks.
15:25I need to improve my posture is just
15:28starting to build an awareness of how
15:29you spend your time sitting, how you
15:32spend your time walking. Okay, this is a
15:35great opportunity for you to start to
15:36program the body to hold better posture
15:39in your day-to-day, which is then going
15:40to in turn allow you to start to arrive
15:43at the gym in a better position to be
15:45able to snatch. Equally, in this
15:47position, I'm sitting like so. I'm going
15:50to get extremely tight in my hips. I'm
15:51tight in my hips. I know that's going to
15:53affect my squat. So, as and when you
15:55can, I know it sounds so simple, take
15:57some time to get up, stretch out, and
16:00start moving throughout the period of
16:01your day. So, you're actually preparing
16:02yourself before you get to the gym. Now,
16:06final movement that I want to just give
16:07you simply before we go to some of the
16:08more loaded exercises for you
16:10specifically for the snatch and the
16:11overhead position to start to build
16:13stability and awareness of what a good
16:15overhead position is, is I've just taken
16:17a really light band here, okay, which
16:19I've got hooked under my foot. And then
16:21from here, what I've done is place that
16:23band through the palm of my hand. From
16:25here, I'm going now into what almost
16:27will feel like a front rack position.
16:29From here, I'm now going to press into
16:31my overhead and control the eentric
16:34movement. Now, I want you to focus on
16:36the fact that you see how I'm keeping my
16:37elbow underneath the band or in front of
16:40the band here the whole way through. I
16:41press. This is encouraging that external
16:44rotation as I'm pressing through into
16:47the overhead. So again, working pressing
16:50movements into your lockout position
16:52from here will really start to develop
16:54the strength and stability when you're
16:56in your overhead position. Okay, so we
16:58started to cover some of the key parts
17:00of the overhead that you potentially
17:01struggle with. If there's any other ones
17:03particularly that you find difficult,
17:05then don't forget to just pop them in
17:06the comments because I can bore you to
17:08death with mobility exercises
17:10particularly for this. But there are
17:11some simple ones that will really start
17:13to move the lever. Now I want to
17:16progress onto the slightly more complex
17:17ones or the ones that sports specific to
17:19us is Olympic weight. For all of my
17:21athletes and clients that I work with,
17:23everyone has a bespoke mobility protocol
17:26for them that they do pre-training. This
17:28isn't just about getting them in good
17:30positions. It's about making sure we're
17:31reducing the likelihood of them getting
17:33injured when they're actually doing the
17:35Olympic weightlifting movements. A lot
17:36of the time people's injuries are coming
17:38as a byproduct of them being in
17:39substandard positions under load which
17:42over time results in either an acute
17:44injury or something that will happen
17:46more chronically over an extended period
17:48of time. Okay. So building this in the
17:51non sexy part of weightlifting will help
17:54prevent that. Okay. But then there's
17:56exercises that we go right I want to get
17:58good at snatch. What's going to be one
18:00of the biggest needle movers is spending
18:02time on exercises like socks press and
18:05overhead squat which are amazing
18:07exercises for improving mobility and
18:09strength and stability through them. So
18:11I touched very briefly on the socks
18:13press a minute ago and I showed you some
18:15progressions that you can do to get into
18:16it. But one of the best ways to start to
18:19progress to being able to do a socks
18:20press, right, is actually start off in
18:23the standing position and actually get
18:25super comfortable pressing into a good
18:27position here where you're over
18:29externally rotating the bars over the
18:31crown of the head. First of all, once
18:32you develop strength pressing into this
18:35position like so, without the lower
18:37without the lower body moving, over
18:39time, you're then able to squat down a
18:42little bit deeper, load the legs, and
18:44then continue to press. Once that
18:47becomes comfortable, we're going to try
18:48and sit a little bit deeper and perform
18:50the same movement. And then eventually
18:52what comes into the full lowest position
18:54of the squat and then pressing like so.
18:57Okay. But as I mentioned to you a moment
18:59ago, the thing that will become limiting
19:02is the lower body mobility once we
19:04progress past that 90° phase. And that's
19:07something that we're going to touch on
19:08in just a moment. Okay. But before I do
19:10that, I want to walk through the
19:11overhead squat. Now, the overhead squat
19:14is something that sits in every one of
19:15my clients programs at least once a week
19:17if they're snatching because it is a
19:18crucial exercise to build stability and
19:21strength and improve mobility in bottom
19:23position. Now, when I'm doing the
19:25overhead squat and if I had anyone come
19:26into the gym and go, "Right, Sunny, I'm
19:28going to start working with you. We need
19:30to learn to snatch. I'm going to right
19:32do an overhead squat." And based upon
19:34their movement, it could look like this.
19:36Could look like this. Or someone might
19:38just come straight off the bat and be
19:39able to get all the way down into the
19:41bottom position. Great. But whatever it
19:42may be, we need to get to that point
19:44where we've got a perfect bottom
19:45position first before we start loading
19:48up. So even if it's just with an empty
19:50bar, we're focusing on working through
19:51this range of motion, thinking about
19:53this exercise more from a mobility
19:55aspect than anything else. So what I'm
19:57doing here is I'm feeling the stretch in
19:59the bottom position. And then I'm using
20:00the legs to stand up. The key to
20:03mastering anything in the overhead is
20:05making sure that the lower body is doing
20:07the work when we're getting into the
20:08bottom as opposed to trying to wrestle
20:11the load when we're in the overhead.
20:13Okay, so we've unpacked some key
20:15exercises there of mobility. Start
20:17building them into your pre-warmup
20:19routine and they will 100% move the
20:22needle alongside improving your overhead
20:25position. If you don't know if you've
20:26got a good overhead position or not and
20:28you want me to take a look at it, then
20:29head to my Instagram and drop me a DM
20:32saying mobility and send me the video
20:34the thing you're struggling with. I'll
20:35be more than happy to help you out. Or
20:37you can just stick your Instagram handle
20:38in the comment section below and one of
20:40my team will reach out so we can do that
20:41with you. Okay, it's absolutely free.
20:43Let's move on now and have a look at
20:44lower body mobility. So, when it comes
20:46to lower body mobility for Olympic
20:48weightlifting, I said already with the
20:50overhead position makes a huge impact on
20:52whether you actually have a mobility
20:53problem or not. We're now going to go
20:55through the same sort of process to
20:57understand is it a mobility issue or is
20:59it a positional issue before we actually
21:01understand what are the right mobility
21:03exercises for us. So when we think about
21:05achieving a good depth position on a
21:07squat, we need to first of all
21:08understand where is optimal foot width
21:11width and this is one of the biggest
21:12mistakes that people make right they go
21:14either too narrow which causes the hips
21:16to tuck underneath when we're in the
21:18bottom position or they go too wide like
21:21so and then they try and squat and then
21:23their hips shoot back like so and they
21:25go oh my mobility but it's because
21:27their feet are too wide that they can't
21:28squat down. So you can see how that will
21:30play a huge part in it. Whenever I'm
21:32thinking about where is my optimal
21:34position when I'm squatting, I'm trying
21:36to make enough room for my hips to sit
21:38inside my ankles. So from my hipbone
21:40down, there needs to be enough space.
21:41Right? So that's where I'll set my feet
21:44first of all and then I'll go down into
21:45my squat position now. When I go down
21:47into my squat position, what I need to
21:50be able to do is let my knees track over
21:53my toes. So this is now referring to
21:55ankle dorsif flexion which is your
21:57ability to have the knee tracking like
21:59so in this position and this is where a
22:01lot of people will find it challenging.
22:03So what they do is they go and buy a
22:05pair of weightlifting shoes that
22:06falsifies you a little bit helps you out
22:08gives you a little bit of stability but
22:10it still doesn't negate the fact that
22:11potentially ankle dorsif flexion will be
22:13playing an issue. The next thing that we
22:15need to understand is we need to have
22:16good range of motion in the hips. Now,
22:19this is both internal and external
22:21rotation because when I think about
22:23increasing someone's uh mobility,
22:25particularly in the hips, I'm not only
22:26looking at the range that we're
22:27potentially working, which is external
22:30for um Olympic weightlifting or when
22:33we're squatting, but I'll also look at
22:34internal rotation to increase the
22:37overall articulation of the hip in the
22:39socket. Now, for every single person, we
22:42will have all different um hip socket
22:44depths, which will again change the way
22:46that we sit in our bottom position of
22:48our squats. Okay, you'll watch plenty of
22:50Chinese Olympic weightlifters and their
22:51ability to sit super deep is incredible
22:54and then you'll look at some more
22:55Western or Eastern European block
22:56weightlifters potentially won't be as
22:58good. We have to understand that no two
23:00people are the same and limb length is
23:02also going to play a part in this. So,
23:03it's finding what's optimal for us, but
23:05it doesn't overlook the fact that we
23:07still need good ankle dorsy flexion. So,
23:09when I think about good ankle dorsif
23:11flexion, there's a few things that I
23:12consider. So it's the ability to
23:14obviously let the toes retract back
23:16towards the shins when we're in this
23:17position. But things that will affect
23:19that also is the tightness of the calf
23:21muscles. So this is a place where soft
23:24tissue work can be extremely beneficial
23:26for Olympic weight of things
23:27particularly through the calves. So if
23:29you're someone who spends a lot of time
23:30running or on their feet, calves will
23:32tighten up. This will affect your ankle
23:34dorsif flexion. So spending time not
23:36only stretching off the calf but doing
23:38soft tissue work particularly on this is
23:40helpful. The other thing is the fascia.
23:42Okay. Now, loosening off the fascia we
23:45can do by simply rolling the foot on an
23:47empty barbell like this or on a mobility
23:50ball can super helpful to release the
23:52fascia. But we can also do this on the
23:55back of the calf all the way down to the
23:56ankle as part of our warm up flexing and
23:59extending the foot to release the fascia
24:02which will again help us from a mobility
24:04standpoint particularly in the ankle.
24:06But when we're thinking now, okay, I
24:08want to look at this from a
24:08weightlifting lens. We're going to be
24:10under load, right? And this is where we
24:12can utilize something like the barbell
24:14to work ankle dorsif flexion. So you can
24:17do this if you don't have a barbell with
24:19you or you have something heavy loaded
24:20at home. What we're going to do is we're
24:22going to place knee on barbell on top of
24:25knee like so. Now what I'm focusing on
24:27then is tracking knee over toe to the
24:29end of range. And when I hit my end of
24:31range, you'll see how my heel started to
24:33pop up a little bit. I will then apply
24:35pressure with the barbell at this end of
24:37range. What I'm then going to do is rock
24:39back and then go back into that
24:41position. Every time I'm rocking
24:43through, what I'm trying to do is keep
24:45that knee tracking above the toe, not
24:48inside it, not outside it when I'm in
24:50this bottom position so that the
24:51pressure is staying through the full mid
24:53foot when I'm there. And I'll go for 10
24:55to 15 reps again on each side. Applying
24:58a good amount of force on the top of the
25:00bar. The more time you spend loaded in
25:02this position, over time your ability to
25:04track knee over toe is going to become
25:06better, which in turn is going to put
25:08you in a much better position when we're
25:09in the bottom. So whilst this ankle
25:12dorsif flexion is important, if I put
25:14both my feet in here, now what we also
25:16need the ability to do is, like I said,
25:18stay externally rotated here. So the
25:21knee is staying above the foot when
25:23we're in the bottom of the squat. And
25:24that's where not only strength in the
25:26glutes becomes important, but our now
25:28ability to stay externally rotated
25:31through the hip. So, I've got a few
25:32great exercises for you here. So, one
25:35simple exercise that you can do which I
25:37really love. Okay? And this is one that
25:39you can do at home is laying back onto
25:41your back like so. Okay. Now, what I
25:44will do is have one leg down straight
25:46and bring one leg up to the side like
25:48so. So, what I'm doing here is I'm
25:50trying to force that knee down like so.
25:52I feel this stretching through the front
25:54side of the quad and then I'll open up
25:56here with the hip. So this is again
25:58encouraging that same movement pattern
26:00of what we just thought about when we're
26:01in our squat of knee being above the toe
26:04at the end of range and then dropping
26:05that back down. Okay. So again, this is
26:08a one that's really specific to our
26:09squat position for opening up the hip
26:12and getting used to moving through
26:14external rotation like so. So you can do
26:17this 10 to 15 reps each side. We're
26:19trying to keep this fit as close to the
26:21body as we can. Feeling a stretch in the
26:23hip flexor. And then we'll return up
26:26like so. So again, another great one,
26:28particularly if you struggle with
26:30keeping those knees out in the bottom
26:32position and you need to train that body
26:34to stay externally rotated or the hips
26:36to stay externally rotated when we're in
26:38the bottom position. Another great one
26:40that I always find will affect our
26:42ability to keep that knee out when we're
26:44in the bottom position is one called hip
26:46glides. Okay. So, what I'll do for this
26:49exercise in particular is I'll then put
26:51my foot back into that same position.
26:53So, I'm again trying to make this as
26:54sport specific as possible. And then
26:56I'll drop my knee down like so. From
26:58here, what I'll then do is take one foot
27:00out to the side. I'll then be front
27:02loaded with my barbell, keeping that hip
27:05through, and I'll just be rocking over
27:07to the side like so. So, I'm kind of
27:08doing double bubble here because I'm
27:10working ankle dorsif flexion on my left
27:12side whilst opening up the inside edge
27:15of the hip. And again, 10 to 15 reps
27:17each side. Making sure we're keeping
27:19those hips through is really going to
27:20open you up through the inside edge of
27:22the hip, which going to allow you to
27:24achieve that better position. Okay? So,
27:26that's another crucial one, particularly
27:28if you struggle with the hip mobility.
27:30Okay? And as I mentioned to you, this is
27:32something that we build into a training
27:34program because if we just spent solely
27:37time on mobility and then hope that it's
27:39going to make our weight of thing
27:40better, we're not get then the
27:42application of the improved mobility.
27:43we're not developing the strength and
27:45stability in the actual movement. So, it
27:47takes much much longer to get that
27:49carryover. Which is why when I look at
27:51creating a program for someone, I'm
27:53looking at the whole holistic side of
27:54things. So, we're looking at improving
27:56range of motion, mastering technique,
27:59and then building stability and strength
28:01through the range of motion with the
28:02accessory movements that we do. That's
28:04why we get absolutely obscene results
28:06with our clients in a very short period
28:08of time. Okay. Final exercise I'm going
28:10to show you is when it comes to hip
28:12mobility, one called the hip snapper
28:14hold. Now, this one's definitely a lot
28:15more challenging, but what you're going
28:16to do is you're going to lay down flat
28:18on the floor like so. You're going to
28:20bring one leg up as high as you can go.
28:22And then from there, we're doing a press
28:24up, keeping the back knee down. And what
28:26you'll see is I'm sitting back and down
28:28like so, working now the internal
28:30rotation of the hip on this side. And
28:32I'm sitting back towards this. Now, this
28:34can be a very challenging position for
28:35people to get into when they're here.
28:38But I'm going to show you a variation of
28:39this, which is equally helpful, which is
28:41called adductor rocks. So, for the
28:43adductor rock, what I'm doing is I'm
28:44scaling this back a little bit. So, I'm
28:46taking one leg out to the side, one knee
28:48like so, and I'm just slowly progressing
28:51myself into that position. We're still
28:52getting the same effect, right? We're
28:54working this hip to external rotation.
28:57But over time, what's going to happen is
28:58you're going to become comfortable going
29:00through this and then sitting back into
29:02your bottom position. So that's how you
29:04slowly scale into that bottom position.
29:07Okay. Now, when we look at our bottom
29:10squat position, a lot of the time people
29:11when they try to sit down here, it just
29:13isn't comfortable. So then they go,
29:15"Well, I can't get into that bottom
29:16squat position. What can I do, Sunny?"
29:19Okay. So, I'm going to show you a nice
29:20simple exercise which I give to so many
29:22people if they struggle to find depth.
29:24And I'm actually going to do this just
29:25on the wall here. Okay, this is a simple
29:28movement and it's called wall slides is
29:30I'm taking a foot width stance away from
29:33the wall like so. Okay, now for a lot of
29:35people when they go to squat down they
29:37get to here and then they struggle to
29:39get any deeper. What we're going to do
29:40is use the wall as our friend and we're
29:42going to try and squat down as much as
29:44we can instead of going back into the
29:47hips by bending at the knee. Now, what
29:49will happen for some people at this
29:51point is their heels will want to pick
29:53up. Instead, what you're going to do is
29:54you're going to go back towards the
29:56wall. So, this gets you used to being in
29:58the bottom of the squat position whilst
29:59the feet are staying flat. And then what
30:01you're going to do to stand up is you're
30:02going to push with the legs to stand up
30:05at the bottom whilst maintaining the
30:07back being against the wall. Now, this
30:10may not be seen as a mobility exercise,
30:12but what we're doing is we're training
30:14the body on how to load the right muscle
30:16groups to stand up from the deepest part
30:18of the squat. So, this is such a great
30:20movement pattern for you to practice at
30:21home if you struggle with squat depth.
30:23Thinking about breaking the knee, going
30:25down into the bottom position, leaning
30:27back, and then pushing with the legs to
30:29stand up at the bottom. So, you'll start
30:31to feel that sensation of what is the
30:34quads doing the work to stand up out of
30:37the bottom position. Okay? So, building
30:40that into your warm-up routine. Great,
30:42great exercise to start to be
30:44comfortable in the lowest range of the
30:45squat. And you need to really master the
30:48deepest phase of your squat first before
30:50you even think about worrying about
30:51doing a snatch. Because if you go to a
30:54substandard position, i.e. catching it
30:56high or doing a power snatch or a power
30:58clean, which everyone always does when
30:59they first start without first of all
31:02gaining that full range of motion and
31:04then building strength through it, it
31:05will always become an issue later down
31:08the line in your Olympic weightlifting.
31:10Okay? And this is one of the biggest
31:11problems that I face with a lot of
31:13people. They get into Olympic
31:14weightlifting. They go to class. They
31:16can do 20, 30, 40 kilos week upon week
31:19making a little bit of progress. Then
31:21the mimic the load gets to something
31:23substantial and they don't have the full
31:25range of motion. They've already built
31:27strength and confidence and repetition
31:30catching in this position. So that then
31:32when I need them to go down in order to
31:33access more load, they're like, well,
31:35I'm already doing 50 and I have to go,
31:38wait a minute, let's go back and learn
31:40the foundation bit that you missed at
31:42the start to get the strength, the full
31:44range of motion first and then build up.
31:46And then it allows you to actually
31:48unlock your true potential. But the
31:51problem is right now for a lot of people
31:52and this may be you in your gym a 90
31:55kilo snatch might seem super impressive
31:57but that will be nowhere near where your
31:59true potential is. So if you take the
32:02step back to master these movement
32:04patterns which is what I spend half my
32:06time doing with my clients build the
32:08foundation first you actually get a much
32:10better perception of what your true
32:11potential is based upon your strength.
32:14It's never your strength is the limiting
32:15factor or the thing that's actually
32:16holding you back. It'll be the fact that
32:18you don't get to utilize the strength
32:19you already have because you're in
32:20substandard positions, which is why
32:23mobility and positional work is so
32:25crucial for you to be able to unlock
32:27your true potential. So, we're going to
32:28dive into the final segment of this
32:30video, which is front rack mobility. And
32:32just like we've done with all the other
32:33key areas, I want to talk about what is
32:35good position first of all in front wrap
32:37because this plays a huge factor in you
32:39actually achieving a good front wrap
32:40position irrespective of mobility. So,
32:43I'm going to go down now into my front
32:44squat position. If I take my grip too
32:47wide, I outside of sort of shoulder
32:51width in terms of my grip, what you'll
32:52see is even for me who's got pretty
32:54outrageous mobility, it's difficult for
32:57me to keep my elbows up in this
32:58position. Whereas if I grip narrow, what
33:00you'll see straight away is all of a
33:02sudden my front rack's positioned has
33:04improved just purely by changing my grip
33:06width. And this is why I say like as
33:08part of analysis, which I do with every
33:10client when they enter my realm, I'm
33:13like before we think about mobility,
33:15it's like, are you in the right
33:16position? Because if someone comes into
33:18me and goes, "Sunny, I've been cleaning
33:19like this with a nice wide grip, but my
33:21front rack sucks." Like, well, your
33:23grip's too wide. So, let's first of all
33:25move that grip in like so, so that we
33:28can achieve a good front rack position.
33:31Once we're in that position, okay, what
33:32are the limiting factors? First of all,
33:34our ability to have good thoracic range
33:36of motion. So that's our ability to
33:39retract shoulder blades back and down,
33:42showing full range through here. This is
33:44where so many people get tight,
33:46particularly later in life. My over 40
33:48clients always struggle with this again
33:50because they're spending a lot of time
33:51pitched in this position. So we need to
33:53open up their thoracic mobility. And I'm
33:56going to show you some exercises that
33:57you can do specifically for that in a
33:58minute. But that's the first thing that
33:59we need to understand. The next thing
34:01that we need to understand for good um
34:03front rack position is again range of
34:06motion particularly through the shoulder
34:07but also flexibility through the lats.
34:09So that's where I was saying a minute
34:10ago a couple of the exercises that I
34:12already gave you will have a huge impact
34:14on your ability to achieve a good
34:16position. There's one other thing that I
34:17didn't touch on which is an absolute
34:19hack when it comes to front rack
34:21position and that's what I do when I'm
34:23in my front rack. So when I'm in my
34:25front rack, what I'm trying to always do
34:27is maintain a full grip on the bar like
34:29so. So you see where that bar is resting
34:31in the palm of my hands. Whenever I'm
34:33front loaded with the barbell, I'm
34:34trying to maintain a full grip on the
34:36bar here because this creates a much
34:38better platform for the bar to rest on.
34:40If I'm catching my fingertips here, this
34:41isn't a strong position. Although you
34:43can catch cleans like that over time,
34:45it's going to make it difficult for you
34:47to actually resist load when we come
34:48into the clean and stand straight up out
34:50the bottom. So whenever I'm front
34:52squatting, I try and maintain this full
34:54grip. Now, what I want you to notice
34:56when you come and look at me from dead
34:57on the front is you'll see between my
34:59elbows and my shoulders, I'm creating
35:01almost a square from here to shoulder
35:03over to the other shoulder and to the
35:05other elbow. Doing this helps you
35:07achieve a really solid base, we're in
35:09the bottom position. And you'll see if I
35:11look side on or you look side on like so
35:14to me
35:16because I've got good range of motion in
35:17my hips and my ankles, my torso is
35:19staying upright, which in turn makes it
35:21easier for me to achieve a good front
35:22wrap position. soon as I look down at
35:24the floor, okay, everything starts to
35:26fold. My back starts to lose posture.
35:29Then all of a sudden, I'm in a really
35:30weak position when I'm in the catch
35:32clean. Whereas, when I'm staying
35:35with my eyes looking up, my elbows high,
35:37it's much easier to achieve a good front
35:39rack position. So, again, like I said,
35:42looking at your position first before
35:43you address mobility issues for this
35:45particularly will be super super
35:47helpful. Nice simple one that I like to
35:49do particularly for external rotation is
35:52take a PVC pipe and tuck that behind the
35:54shoulder like so. So what I'm doing when
35:56I take that PVC pipe back behind the
35:58shoulders, I'm grabbing it with the
35:59other arm and then I'm bringing the the
36:02PVC pipe in line through the middle of
36:05my humorris whilst maintaining the grip.
36:07Now working this range of motion to get
36:09used to letting that hand sit back and
36:11the elbow come through like so makes it
36:13much easier for me to achieve a good
36:15front rack position. So you can do this
36:17with a PVC pipe or a broomstick and just
36:19work rep ranges here to open up that
36:22position when you're in your front rack.
36:24That's a great one. Second one that you
36:26can do super simply is hold the bar palm
36:30of the hands
36:32the backs of the hands down onto the mat
36:34like so. And then from here, what I'm
36:36doing, bit like a child's pose, is I'm
36:39dropping the chest down towards the
36:41floor, but using the bar to keep my hand
36:43through external rotation, feeling the
36:46stretch through my lats, and then just
36:48rocking side to side from this position.
36:52Again, this will be a great one if you
36:54struggle with achieving that good front
36:57wrap position. You can rock forward,
36:59then come back, feel the stretch, rock
37:01side to side to open up that. Now, the
37:04bar is a really important factor in that
37:06because it's keeping me through external
37:08rotation and keeping my shoulder set
37:09back and down into a good position when
37:11I'm in the front rack. The next one that
37:13we just touched on a moment ago and I'm
37:15going to grab the band for this so you
37:16can practice this at home. So, what I'm
37:17going to do here is I'm going to take my
37:18band and I'm going to hook this behind
37:20my shoulders like so. And then I'm going
37:22to drop my chest down. Now, what I'm
37:24doing is pushing back against the
37:26resistance of the band, hollowing the
37:28chest, and then dropping the chest back
37:30down, keeping the arms straight. So you
37:32see I'm pinching my scapulas together
37:35and then pushing them up overhead.
37:38Again, developing good range of motion
37:40through this movement pan makes it much
37:42easier for us to create good shelf for
37:44the cleans, but also a good shelf for
37:46the jerks, too. So again, you want to
37:48accumulate a little bit more reps,
37:50particularly on that exercise. Sort of
37:5120 to 30 reps with a light resistance
37:54band is fine. You can make it harder
37:56obviously by shortening the band so you
37:58get a little bit more resistance when
37:59you're working through this. But that is
38:02an amazing exercise for helping build
38:04that front rack position when we're
38:06loaded like so. Now, there's two final
38:09exercises that I want to give you which
38:10I think are absolute game changers
38:12specifically for Olympic weighting when
38:14it comes to achieving a good front rack
38:15mobility position. The first one that
38:17we're going to look at is the close grip
38:19overhead squat. Now, when I'm doing the
38:21close grip overhead squat, what I'm
38:22going to be doing is taking my barbell
38:24up like so and then overhead. Now, a lot
38:27of people go, "Sunny, there's no way I
38:28can do a close grip overhead squat."
38:30That's fine. I don't expect you to do it
38:32in its entirety, first of all. But what
38:34you're going to do is practice going
38:35down into the bottom position whilst
38:37maintaining external rotation. So, I'm
38:40bending at the knee, going down to a
38:42bottom position, and then standing up.
38:43The reason why this is so important is
38:45you can see it helps me get a good
38:47upright torso position. The mistake that
38:49a lot of people make when they go,
38:50"Sunny, I can't do an overhead squat,"
38:52is when they go down, if I move my hands
38:54a little bit, is they start to
38:56internally rotate and then that's not
38:58the exercise. So, you only want to be
39:00going down and working a range where you
39:02can stay externally rotated, even if
39:05it's short to begin with. And over time,
39:07your goal is to get lower and lower
39:09whilst loading the legs into the bottom
39:11position. Now, this has to be done
39:13slowly. Like, you'll feel almost like
39:16you have no strength when you start to
39:17do it. And you'll get to like kind of
39:19here and then you'll be like, and the
39:21bar will start to want to drift forward.
39:23That's fine. Just slow it down and just
39:25let the legs do the work. Even if the
39:27range of motion feels short, practicing
39:29that really helps front wrap mobility.
39:32In addition to this s press from the
39:34front rack position like this is an
39:36exercise I get all my clients to be able
39:37to do eventually but pressing through
39:40this range whilst maintaining a solid
39:42lower half position when we're pressing
39:45through here is a key exercise to
39:47improve front rack mobility. You'll
39:49notice here when I'm bringing the bar
39:50down and returning always to that front
39:52rack and then pressing from that front
39:54rack position to isolate the good
39:56platform that we want to have when we're
39:58in the catch position for the clean. I
39:59think by combining all of these things
40:01that I've kind of discussed in today's
40:03video, you can start to see how position
40:06becomes just as important as having the
40:09range of motion and the stability and
40:10strength in the received position.
40:13There's a very clear progress or
40:15process, should I say, to progressing in
40:17Olympic weightlifting. It all starts
40:19with analysis. Understand actually what
40:22is holding you back. And this is where
40:23people fall into a loop a lot of the
40:25time with Olympic weightlifting because
40:27they're getting the wrong information or
40:28being told that they're doing the wrong
40:30thing essentially and then they go in
40:32round and round and round in rabbit
40:34holes trying to fix the wrong thing and
40:36then ultimately come back to the
40:38position where they're still struggling.
40:39Whereas when you go through an actual
40:42proper analysis to understand am I in
40:44good positions first of all and get the
40:46right answers from the start. It allows
40:48you to build a clear plan and process
40:50from what is stopping me from doing the
40:52thing that I want to do right now. This
40:54is why it's a problem. This is exactly
40:56how we're going to correct it. And then
40:58you get clear road map in order to
40:59progress. Like the time and money wasted
41:02in that process to find the right
41:04information is what kills so much
41:06people's ability to achieve their true
41:08potential. Once you have the right
41:10information, you can work on the right
41:12things and then you can get a clear
41:13result. The only thing that then helps
41:15to fasttrack that process is
41:17accountability in the journey to ensure
41:18that when you are working on the the
41:20thing, you're doing it correctly. And
41:22that's the exact approach and process
41:24that we follow inside SWP when we're
41:27working with clients. No matter whether
41:28you're working with myself or with my
41:30team specifically starts with analysis,
41:33clear plan and strategy, then
41:34accountability to achieve a result.
41:36That's why we guarantee our clients
41:38results when they come to work with us.
41:40If you're watching this video, you're
41:41struggling to progress on your Olympic
41:42weight thing, then waste no more time.
41:44Do at least one of these next two things
41:46I'm going to tell you. Be like, "Yes,
41:48I'm ready to get your help and support,
41:49Sunny." Go ahead and book in a discovery
41:51call with me. We'll discuss exactly how
41:53we can make this approach apply to you.
41:55Or at the very least, hit a link to my
41:57snatch handbook, my clean master class
41:59below this video. I've got a 22step
42:02guide specifically on what you need to
42:04apply to start improving your Olympic
42:06weightlifting. Guys, without any further
42:07ado, thank you so much for watching this
42:09video. If you've enjoyed it, please
42:11like, share, subscribe. We're putting
42:13out so much more content, specifically
42:14on my YouTube channel. We get to unpack
42:16the things that you struggle with in so
42:18much more detail on Olympic
42:20weightlifting. So, make sure you do
42:22that. And if you've got questions,
42:23things you need to ask me, never be
42:24afraid to hit me up on Instagram. It's
42:26sunny GDB. Shoot me a DM starting with
42:29the keyword Olympic, and you can chat to
42:31myself and the team about how we can fix
42:33any of the things you're struggling
42:34with. Big love.

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