CrossFit Oakland

(Editorial Note: I'll apologize upfront: for ease of reading I've had to repost the specific frames I want you to look at. I'll learn how to put numbers on the pictures--without degrading the quality of the pictures--the next time I post such a sequence in order to avoid double-posting the pictures.)

What I'm about to do may come across as nitpicking, but by making a few small changes in her technique, Nicole can easily increase her clean poundage. Small changes changes in technique can have a huge impact on results.

Frame 8

This frame is critical. In it we see that Nicole has fully extended her legs (they're straight) but has not extended her hip completely (there's still a bend in her hip--it's not vertical). This has caused her to initiate an early arm pull (it's early because she's pulling ahead of her hip extending) and results in the bar moving away from her body (horizontal displacement of the bar).

Frames 9-12

This sequence of frames shows Nicole continuing to pull the bar up with her arms, rather than just pulling herself under the bar (it's important to note that she is pulling herself under the bar; it's just that there's a lot of arm pull going on, too). You can see this if you look at the height of the red plate against the black mat that we've stacked against the wall. It continues to move up as each frame in this sequence goes along.

Frame 18

This is the frame in which Nicole finally catches the bar. The good news is that she's in a beautiful, deep front squat. The bad news is that the bar has dropped significantly from its max height, resulting in a power clean being ridden down to a front squat. Fortunately, Nicole is able to control the bar on the way down and avoids having the bar crash down on her (she won't have this luxury as the weight she is cleaning goes up).

Thanks to Nicole for being a good sport and allowing us to pick apart her clean. She already has good technique; with a few slight changes she'll be crushing her current PRs in no time flat.

CFO Members: We're more than happy to perform this type of analysis for you (video + frame-by-frame). If you'd like us to perform such an analysis for you, please say so in our "Comments" section so that we can set aside some time for you. And don't worry, we won't post anything to the blog without your consent. Our intention is to improve your lifting technique, not add to our collection of online videos (of course, we'll be happy to post it to the blog if you want us to!).

Look for Part 2 of this analysis coming soon!