The Top 5 Olympic Weightlifting Mistakes CrossFitter's Make

“Good Enough For CrossFit” used to be a common term I’d hear about weightlifting technique whenever it was god-awful. 

Luckily, things have improved a lot since the early days. Many crossfitters can hold their own in a weightlifting competition AND run a 5k after without throwing up, and for that I commend you. 

But there are still some things that CrossFitters can fix in their olympic lifts that will make a huge difference in your confidence on max out day! 

P.S. I dive deeper on this topic on my podcast, so if you prefer learning while listening, check it out here. 

Mistake #1: Power More

The most common mistake CrossFitters make in their technique isn’t even inherent to CrossFit, it’s a struggle all beginners in weightlifting face!

To fix this, first we need to address the two most common causes - Mobility, and Bar Path. 

Mobility

When you first start, you’ll probably find that your mobility in the bottom of the snatch or clean is challenging to get to. If you can’t get there normally, you won’t get there fast. That’s why you’ll feel more stable and confident catching your snatches and cleans high instead of riding them down. Now, everyone’s mobility issues are unique to them, so I recommend checking out this free Mobility101: Guide for Weightlifters if you want to get more specific advice. 

However, the two most common mobility issues for the snatch and clean are either front rack mobility for the clean, or t-spine mobility for the snatch. 

To fix your front rack mobility, I’ve found a simple and effective tool is the Underhand Dead Hang. This will improve your lat flexibility and more importantly, shoulder external rotation. Try 2-3 sets of :15-:30 sec hangs in between your light barbell warm up reps. 

To fix your T-Spine Mobility, I’ve found the Anchored T-Spine Foam Roll Drill to be incredibly effective for getting more extension of your upper back, and using an anchor to keep your hands down takes to the extreme. Try 2-3 sets of :30-:60 sec before getting your empty barbell warm ups. 

Bar Path

While many people think Mobility is the main cause of being better at powers, this is often only the case with new lifters. 

The real culprit, especially in more intermediate and advanced crossfitters, is found in the barpath of the lift. When snatching or cleaning, we want to use the technique that makes it as easy as possible to catch in a full squat. This means we need to keep the bar close in the second and third pull, rather than pushing the bar forward with your hips. 

When the bar gets too far away from you in the third pull, you’ll have to fight the bar back into position, and likely need to jump forward or backward to even be in the right place to catch low. That’s a lot of moving parts to have happen in a lift that often takes less than 2 seconds to complete. 

For more info on this, check out this live lecture from our training camp breaking down bar path and the factors that influence it!

Takeaways

It’s important to remember that the nature of crossfit programming will probably have you doing a lot more reps of powers than fulls. If you want to get better at fulls, you’ll have to make up the reps you haven’t been getting in. And, ideally you’ll also take a few months to commit to not doing any powers if you can avoid it. 

Focus on your mobility, focus on your bar path, and you’ll see improvements fast!

Mistake #2: One Speed Pulls

Another common weightlifting mistake you’ll see in a crossfit gym is the dreaded one-speed pull. 

The biggest difference between a weightlifter and a crossfitter (besides how much better shape crossfitters are in) is the speed of the lift. 

Weightlifters are INCREDIBLY fast, not just to get the bar high, but noticeable they are very fast under the bar too. Part of that comes with the mobility and technique discussed in section one. The key factor that makes weightlifters fast is actually because they start the lift slower

While the olympic lifts are fast, they are not fast the whole time. 

Rather than ripping the bar off the floor as fast as possible, try using the cue “Slow→ Faster → Fastest”. 

In the first pull, you want to go slower, with more control, and focus on holding your positions from the floor to above the knee. After you pass the knee, you want to starting picking up speed until you reach the hips/upper thighs, and then finally once you reach the power position, you want the fastest part of the lift to be the extension into the bottom of the catch. 

This works well because it allows you to hold positions better, which then creates more speed, and when you start slow, you can get faster throughout the pull, but if you start too fast, you’ll end up slowing down later in the lift. Never get slow!

Takeaways

CrossFit metcons include lots of barbell cycling, and to do barbell cycling well without spiking your heartrate through the roof, you end up moving one speed throughout the lift. While this works for metcons, it won;t work for your max effort lifts. 

Make a conscious effort to differentiate the technique between these two and you’ll see your max lifts go through the roof with practice!

Mistake #3: Heels

If you’ve ever been in a CrossFit gym, you’ve probably heard a coach shouting a cue like “HEELS” or “KNEES OUT”. 

It’s important to remember that these cues are often given to correct from going too far in the other direction.

Your coach doesn’t want you to be on your heels, they want you to not be on your toes. They don’t want you to push your knees out, they want you to not let your knees cave in excessively. 

Focusing on the heels topic especially, this will cause a few problems. 

In the Snatch and Clean, setting up with your balance back towards your heels will lead to an overcompensation later in the lift that pushes the bar forward away from you. Being on your heels during the pull is also not as powerful of a position to create speed. Try this out, standing wherever you are, lift your toes up, then try to jump as high as you can. 

Not very high right?

That’s because a lot of our jumping/explosive power comes from the midfoot/ball of the foot!

Takeaways

Set up with your balance slightly forward towards the ball of your foot. Aim to stay midfoot throughout the majority pull and see if it improves the power and bar path of your lifts!

P.S. Using variations like the Tempo Snatch can be a game changer for feeling this out. 

Mistake #4: Hip Drive

Speaking of overused cues, “HIPS” has got to be the worst offender. 

Like the others, it started with good intentions. Lifters weren’t making contact with the bar and using their arms to do everything. But we want to make sure we’re specific with the cues we use to get the best effect. 

We don’t want to overemphasize hip drive, which pushes your hips forward into the bar, and while you do make contact with the bar, the bar is now being sent a mile away from you. Good luck getting under it fast, and is probably the reason you jump forward so much! Instead we want to emphasize leg drive. Hip drive comes from using your glutes to hip thrust the bar forward, while leg drive comes from using your quads to extend the knees and hips at the same time to launch the bar vertically, not horizontally. 

Early in my weightlifting coaching journey, a mentor told me that he teaches lifters the snatch and clean without contact first to ensure they have good bar path and direction, and then when they add contact later on, they are better able to use it correctly. This has been helpful for me, so if you’re a coach reading this, give it a try!

My favorite way to fix this is by using a partial version of the snatch/clean done from the High Hang or Power Position. This allows you to dial in the root cause of hitting the bar away. Once you are familiar with this variation, then try using it in a variation complex. 

Ex. Hip Snatch + Snatch, or Hip Clean + Slow Pull Clean so that you can use the partial lift to drill your technique, and follow that up with a normal lift so you can apply the technique you drilled. 

Mistake #5: Incorrect First Pull

The final technique mistake CrossFitters make in their olympic lifts is almost always in the first pull. 

Because many CrossFitters do more olympic lifts in metcons with barbell cycling, the efficient thing to do in this context is to leave your hips high and hinge over to touch the ground with the bar each rep of a snatch or clean. 

This often leads to lifters starting with their hips too high when performing olympic lifts, or letting their hips rise too early in the pull. 

You’ve probably been told that you want the shoulders and hips to rise at the same time, but why is that actually important? 

Well, when the shoulders and hips rise together, the barbell also rises at the same rate. However, if the hips rise before the shoulders do, the bar isn’t actually going anywhere. This means you’re wasting a ton of effort and not getting any benefits! 

It also causes you to be in a weaker position as you pass the knees, causing your lower back to do more work AND eventually leads to the only option for power being the dreaded hip drive we discussed in Mistake #4. 

Takeaways

Make sure you’re treating your metcon, barbell cycling lifts and your olympic lifts for strength differently. Take the time to set up correctly, slow your first pull down, and focus on quality here. Don’t further build bad weightlifting habits outside of your metcons!
Try using a Tempo Snatch or Tempo Clean as as Movement Primer during your first three warm up weights on any given workout and see how it goes!

If you found this helpful, you can watch the full episode below!

Interested in learning the olympic lifts but not sure where to start? Check out our free WL101: Beginner Guide + 6-Week Program here.

Want to get better at the olympic lifts? Check out all of our programs here.