Is Poor Mobility Holding You Back?
Improve Your Snatch & Power Clean
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People often think strength and technique are the limiting factors whenever they hit a wall with Olympic lifts or specific gymnastics exercises. When you have the mobility of a rock, lifts such as the power clean or the snatch can be your worst nightmare!
How Lack of Mobility Hinders Your Workouts
I see people work countless hours trying to perfect the timing and technique of Olympic lifts – and yet they still can’t execute the movements properly. There could be a lot of different reasons for this problem, however one issue in particular occurs time and time again: lack of mobility.
Most people either don’t know what’s causing their mobility issues or do know but only spend 10 minutes a week trying to fix it. When compared to the 5+ hours per week of training they’re doing, it’s no surprise they’re struggling.
So, what’s the solution?
Olympic Lifting and Mobility: Work Smarter, Not Harder
No, I'm not expecting you to do five hours of mobility a week. This advice is for beginner to intermediate level Crossfitters, as well as anyone that’s hit a fitness plateau with specific movements.
Related: 5 Tips for CrossFit Beginners
I’m going to take a simplistic, relatable approach to improving your mobility using two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the power clean.
Let’s start with what you’re actually trying to achieve: to move a weighted bar up the body and try to keep the bar path as close to your body as possible, finishing in either a full-depth front squat or an overhead squat.
I know that’s a very simplified explanation and, in case any of them are reading this, I mean no offense to the Olympic lifting gods that walk amongst us!
You may be thinking “surely problems with bar path is an issue of technique and not mobility?” It’s true, technique could be the problem. In my experience, I’ve seen countless people struggle with these lifts because they physically cannot get into the correct position.
Some coaches will simply try and put you in the proper position and hope that fixes the problem. You’ll feel uncomfortable as if you’re going to fall over but go along with the lift anyway.
Then what happens? Your body immediately reverts back to where your body has the ability to go and everyone’s time is wasted. The coach suggests you work on your mobility so they can scale the exercise down and make it easier for you to move.
You end the session doing part of the movement and leave feeling unfulfilled. When you show up to the next class, you’re right back where you started with the coach trying to manually get your body into the correct position.
Using the Overhead Squat to Uncover Mobility Issues
The overhead squat is a staple CrossFit exercise that you must be proficient in to do a full snatch. It requires an adequate range of motion joint by joint to do one properly & shows people's lack of mobility when they can't perform one, especially with no weight.
Some people despise this exercise because it causes considerable shoulder or upper back pain. Others simply can't do it at all. While going down to a squat is a big no-no when holding something overhead, those same people can back squat 100kg plus.
If you're different from the above, you could be the below. You have to come up onto your toes & buckle your knees so badly; yes, it's technically an overhead squat, but if I put any weight on the bar, your knees would collapse in on each other.
Overhead Squat Mobility Requirement Breakdown
Stability and activation could be factors, but let's break down what mobility you need to perform an effortless overhead squat. Let's start from the bottom up; I'll keep it simple and go for the top four things. You will need an adequate range of motion to perform an overhead squat.
#1 – Ankle Dorsiflexion
Why do we need this? We need the knee not only to track the middle to outer toes, but we need them to be able to stack the weight above the ankle. Our knees can go past our toes because of Dorsiflexion, which keeps the center mass over the midfoot.
Lacking this often causes a lack of balance & the inability to squat deep. People leave this to last to check, but it could be the first thing limiting your overhead ability.
#2 – Hip Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Hip mobility external and internal rotation: We need adequate ranges of motion to sit deep into the squat. A lack of this could cause a knee cave. As mentioned above, the squat stacked over the center of the midfoot keeps everything in alignment.
#3 Thoracic Extension, Flexion and Rotation
This tends to be one of the most significant limiting factors; upper back rounding causes the scapular to travel a longer distance around the upper spine. This, in turn, creates instability when you try holding your shoulders in your pocket, leading to poor shoulder mobility.
If you can't stack the upper spine in line, this will cause some grief with keeping the bar stacked over the mid foot. People tend to fall forward when they lack in this with both the front & overhead squats.
#4 Shoulder Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Internal and external rotation are needed to get the bar path tracking upwards and keep it close. Mobility limitations are usually linked with the thoracic and lack of flexibility with the lat and pec muscles, causing the inability to reach overhead.
Usually, lacking here will cause weak rotator cuff muscles and the inability to stack or press a weight properly above the head.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to see how a seemingly insignificant mobility issue can have much larger knock-on effects with your Olympic lifts. Consider your own technique - now that you know what mobility is required, do you lack in any of the areas above?
If so, send me an email or DM on Instagram, and let's set up an assessment!
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
.jpg)
ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
Track Tuesday
This week we return to another classic session, running 400’s that build from 10km pace down to 1km pace. The perfect way to build
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This week's ride is 2 building threshold efforts finished with some hard sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
This run starts with 2 fartlek blocks that will build fatigue that then goes into a 20-minute tempo block, as we run on fatigue at tempo we will improve our ability to judge pace and focus on form.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we’ll ride out from the bottom of the stick and taking in the lovely rolling Jurrasic hills and working as a team to get the distance done.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Sunday Duathlon
Preparations continue for our triathletes as we use the rolling hills of Al Qudra to tackle race paces for both ride and run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Here
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
.jpg)
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
People often think strength and technique are the limiting factors whenever they hit a wall with Olympic lifts or specific gymnastics exercises. When you have the mobility of a rock, lifts such as the power clean or the snatch can be your worst nightmare!
How Lack of Mobility Hinders Your Workouts
I see people work countless hours trying to perfect the timing and technique of Olympic lifts – and yet they still can’t execute the movements properly. There could be a lot of different reasons for this problem, however one issue in particular occurs time and time again: lack of mobility.
Most people either don’t know what’s causing their mobility issues or do know but only spend 10 minutes a week trying to fix it. When compared to the 5+ hours per week of training they’re doing, it’s no surprise they’re struggling.
So, what’s the solution?
Olympic Lifting and Mobility: Work Smarter, Not Harder
No, I'm not expecting you to do five hours of mobility a week. This advice is for beginner to intermediate level Crossfitters, as well as anyone that’s hit a fitness plateau with specific movements.
Related: 5 Tips for CrossFit Beginners
I’m going to take a simplistic, relatable approach to improving your mobility using two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the power clean.
Let’s start with what you’re actually trying to achieve: to move a weighted bar up the body and try to keep the bar path as close to your body as possible, finishing in either a full-depth front squat or an overhead squat.
I know that’s a very simplified explanation and, in case any of them are reading this, I mean no offense to the Olympic lifting gods that walk amongst us!
You may be thinking “surely problems with bar path is an issue of technique and not mobility?” It’s true, technique could be the problem. In my experience, I’ve seen countless people struggle with these lifts because they physically cannot get into the correct position.
Some coaches will simply try and put you in the proper position and hope that fixes the problem. You’ll feel uncomfortable as if you’re going to fall over but go along with the lift anyway.
Then what happens? Your body immediately reverts back to where your body has the ability to go and everyone’s time is wasted. The coach suggests you work on your mobility so they can scale the exercise down and make it easier for you to move.
You end the session doing part of the movement and leave feeling unfulfilled. When you show up to the next class, you’re right back where you started with the coach trying to manually get your body into the correct position.
Using the Overhead Squat to Uncover Mobility Issues
The overhead squat is a staple CrossFit exercise that you must be proficient in to do a full snatch. It requires an adequate range of motion joint by joint to do one properly & shows people's lack of mobility when they can't perform one, especially with no weight.
Some people despise this exercise because it causes considerable shoulder or upper back pain. Others simply can't do it at all. While going down to a squat is a big no-no when holding something overhead, those same people can back squat 100kg plus.
If you're different from the above, you could be the below. You have to come up onto your toes & buckle your knees so badly; yes, it's technically an overhead squat, but if I put any weight on the bar, your knees would collapse in on each other.
Overhead Squat Mobility Requirement Breakdown
Stability and activation could be factors, but let's break down what mobility you need to perform an effortless overhead squat. Let's start from the bottom up; I'll keep it simple and go for the top four things. You will need an adequate range of motion to perform an overhead squat.
#1 – Ankle Dorsiflexion
Why do we need this? We need the knee not only to track the middle to outer toes, but we need them to be able to stack the weight above the ankle. Our knees can go past our toes because of Dorsiflexion, which keeps the center mass over the midfoot.
Lacking this often causes a lack of balance & the inability to squat deep. People leave this to last to check, but it could be the first thing limiting your overhead ability.
#2 – Hip Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Hip mobility external and internal rotation: We need adequate ranges of motion to sit deep into the squat. A lack of this could cause a knee cave. As mentioned above, the squat stacked over the center of the midfoot keeps everything in alignment.
#3 Thoracic Extension, Flexion and Rotation
This tends to be one of the most significant limiting factors; upper back rounding causes the scapular to travel a longer distance around the upper spine. This, in turn, creates instability when you try holding your shoulders in your pocket, leading to poor shoulder mobility.
If you can't stack the upper spine in line, this will cause some grief with keeping the bar stacked over the mid foot. People tend to fall forward when they lack in this with both the front & overhead squats.
#4 Shoulder Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Internal and external rotation are needed to get the bar path tracking upwards and keep it close. Mobility limitations are usually linked with the thoracic and lack of flexibility with the lat and pec muscles, causing the inability to reach overhead.
Usually, lacking here will cause weak rotator cuff muscles and the inability to stack or press a weight properly above the head.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to see how a seemingly insignificant mobility issue can have much larger knock-on effects with your Olympic lifts. Consider your own technique - now that you know what mobility is required, do you lack in any of the areas above?
If so, send me an email or DM on Instagram, and let's set up an assessment!
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Track Tuesday
This week we return to another classic session, running 400’s that build from 10km pace down to 1km pace. The perfect way to build
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This week's ride is 2 building threshold efforts finished with some hard sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
This run starts with 2 fartlek blocks that will build fatigue that then goes into a 20-minute tempo block, as we run on fatigue at tempo we will improve our ability to judge pace and focus on form.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we’ll ride out from the bottom of the stick and taking in the lovely rolling Jurrasic hills and working as a team to get the distance done.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Sunday Duathlon
Preparations continue for our triathletes as we use the rolling hills of Al Qudra to tackle race paces for both ride and run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Here
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
People often think strength and technique are the limiting factors whenever they hit a wall with Olympic lifts or specific gymnastics exercises. When you have the mobility of a rock, lifts such as the power clean or the snatch can be your worst nightmare!
How Lack of Mobility Hinders Your Workouts
I see people work countless hours trying to perfect the timing and technique of Olympic lifts – and yet they still can’t execute the movements properly. There could be a lot of different reasons for this problem, however one issue in particular occurs time and time again: lack of mobility.
Most people either don’t know what’s causing their mobility issues or do know but only spend 10 minutes a week trying to fix it. When compared to the 5+ hours per week of training they’re doing, it’s no surprise they’re struggling.
So, what’s the solution?
Olympic Lifting and Mobility: Work Smarter, Not Harder
No, I'm not expecting you to do five hours of mobility a week. This advice is for beginner to intermediate level Crossfitters, as well as anyone that’s hit a fitness plateau with specific movements.
Related: 5 Tips for CrossFit Beginners
I’m going to take a simplistic, relatable approach to improving your mobility using two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the power clean.
Let’s start with what you’re actually trying to achieve: to move a weighted bar up the body and try to keep the bar path as close to your body as possible, finishing in either a full-depth front squat or an overhead squat.
I know that’s a very simplified explanation and, in case any of them are reading this, I mean no offense to the Olympic lifting gods that walk amongst us!
You may be thinking “surely problems with bar path is an issue of technique and not mobility?” It’s true, technique could be the problem. In my experience, I’ve seen countless people struggle with these lifts because they physically cannot get into the correct position.
Some coaches will simply try and put you in the proper position and hope that fixes the problem. You’ll feel uncomfortable as if you’re going to fall over but go along with the lift anyway.
Then what happens? Your body immediately reverts back to where your body has the ability to go and everyone’s time is wasted. The coach suggests you work on your mobility so they can scale the exercise down and make it easier for you to move.
You end the session doing part of the movement and leave feeling unfulfilled. When you show up to the next class, you’re right back where you started with the coach trying to manually get your body into the correct position.
Using the Overhead Squat to Uncover Mobility Issues
The overhead squat is a staple CrossFit exercise that you must be proficient in to do a full snatch. It requires an adequate range of motion joint by joint to do one properly & shows people's lack of mobility when they can't perform one, especially with no weight.
Some people despise this exercise because it causes considerable shoulder or upper back pain. Others simply can't do it at all. While going down to a squat is a big no-no when holding something overhead, those same people can back squat 100kg plus.
If you're different from the above, you could be the below. You have to come up onto your toes & buckle your knees so badly; yes, it's technically an overhead squat, but if I put any weight on the bar, your knees would collapse in on each other.
Overhead Squat Mobility Requirement Breakdown
Stability and activation could be factors, but let's break down what mobility you need to perform an effortless overhead squat. Let's start from the bottom up; I'll keep it simple and go for the top four things. You will need an adequate range of motion to perform an overhead squat.
#1 – Ankle Dorsiflexion
Why do we need this? We need the knee not only to track the middle to outer toes, but we need them to be able to stack the weight above the ankle. Our knees can go past our toes because of Dorsiflexion, which keeps the center mass over the midfoot.
Lacking this often causes a lack of balance & the inability to squat deep. People leave this to last to check, but it could be the first thing limiting your overhead ability.
#2 – Hip Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Hip mobility external and internal rotation: We need adequate ranges of motion to sit deep into the squat. A lack of this could cause a knee cave. As mentioned above, the squat stacked over the center of the midfoot keeps everything in alignment.
#3 Thoracic Extension, Flexion and Rotation
This tends to be one of the most significant limiting factors; upper back rounding causes the scapular to travel a longer distance around the upper spine. This, in turn, creates instability when you try holding your shoulders in your pocket, leading to poor shoulder mobility.
If you can't stack the upper spine in line, this will cause some grief with keeping the bar stacked over the mid foot. People tend to fall forward when they lack in this with both the front & overhead squats.
#4 Shoulder Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Internal and external rotation are needed to get the bar path tracking upwards and keep it close. Mobility limitations are usually linked with the thoracic and lack of flexibility with the lat and pec muscles, causing the inability to reach overhead.
Usually, lacking here will cause weak rotator cuff muscles and the inability to stack or press a weight properly above the head.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to see how a seemingly insignificant mobility issue can have much larger knock-on effects with your Olympic lifts. Consider your own technique - now that you know what mobility is required, do you lack in any of the areas above?
If so, send me an email or DM on Instagram, and let's set up an assessment!
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
Track Tuesday
This week we return to another classic session, running 400’s that build from 10km pace down to 1km pace. The perfect way to build
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This week's ride is 2 building threshold efforts finished with some hard sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
This run starts with 2 fartlek blocks that will build fatigue that then goes into a 20-minute tempo block, as we run on fatigue at tempo we will improve our ability to judge pace and focus on form.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we’ll ride out from the bottom of the stick and taking in the lovely rolling Jurrasic hills and working as a team to get the distance done.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Sunday Duathlon
Preparations continue for our triathletes as we use the rolling hills of Al Qudra to tackle race paces for both ride and run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Here
People often think strength and technique are the limiting factors whenever they hit a wall with Olympic lifts or specific gymnastics exercises. When you have the mobility of a rock, lifts such as the power clean or the snatch can be your worst nightmare!
How Lack of Mobility Hinders Your Workouts
I see people work countless hours trying to perfect the timing and technique of Olympic lifts – and yet they still can’t execute the movements properly. There could be a lot of different reasons for this problem, however one issue in particular occurs time and time again: lack of mobility.
Most people either don’t know what’s causing their mobility issues or do know but only spend 10 minutes a week trying to fix it. When compared to the 5+ hours per week of training they’re doing, it’s no surprise they’re struggling.
So, what’s the solution?
Olympic Lifting and Mobility: Work Smarter, Not Harder
No, I'm not expecting you to do five hours of mobility a week. This advice is for beginner to intermediate level Crossfitters, as well as anyone that’s hit a fitness plateau with specific movements.
Related: 5 Tips for CrossFit Beginners
I’m going to take a simplistic, relatable approach to improving your mobility using two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the power clean.
Let’s start with what you’re actually trying to achieve: to move a weighted bar up the body and try to keep the bar path as close to your body as possible, finishing in either a full-depth front squat or an overhead squat.
I know that’s a very simplified explanation and, in case any of them are reading this, I mean no offense to the Olympic lifting gods that walk amongst us!
You may be thinking “surely problems with bar path is an issue of technique and not mobility?” It’s true, technique could be the problem. In my experience, I’ve seen countless people struggle with these lifts because they physically cannot get into the correct position.
Some coaches will simply try and put you in the proper position and hope that fixes the problem. You’ll feel uncomfortable as if you’re going to fall over but go along with the lift anyway.
Then what happens? Your body immediately reverts back to where your body has the ability to go and everyone’s time is wasted. The coach suggests you work on your mobility so they can scale the exercise down and make it easier for you to move.
You end the session doing part of the movement and leave feeling unfulfilled. When you show up to the next class, you’re right back where you started with the coach trying to manually get your body into the correct position.
Using the Overhead Squat to Uncover Mobility Issues
The overhead squat is a staple CrossFit exercise that you must be proficient in to do a full snatch. It requires an adequate range of motion joint by joint to do one properly & shows people's lack of mobility when they can't perform one, especially with no weight.
Some people despise this exercise because it causes considerable shoulder or upper back pain. Others simply can't do it at all. While going down to a squat is a big no-no when holding something overhead, those same people can back squat 100kg plus.
If you're different from the above, you could be the below. You have to come up onto your toes & buckle your knees so badly; yes, it's technically an overhead squat, but if I put any weight on the bar, your knees would collapse in on each other.
Overhead Squat Mobility Requirement Breakdown
Stability and activation could be factors, but let's break down what mobility you need to perform an effortless overhead squat. Let's start from the bottom up; I'll keep it simple and go for the top four things. You will need an adequate range of motion to perform an overhead squat.
#1 – Ankle Dorsiflexion
Why do we need this? We need the knee not only to track the middle to outer toes, but we need them to be able to stack the weight above the ankle. Our knees can go past our toes because of Dorsiflexion, which keeps the center mass over the midfoot.
Lacking this often causes a lack of balance & the inability to squat deep. People leave this to last to check, but it could be the first thing limiting your overhead ability.
#2 – Hip Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Hip mobility external and internal rotation: We need adequate ranges of motion to sit deep into the squat. A lack of this could cause a knee cave. As mentioned above, the squat stacked over the center of the midfoot keeps everything in alignment.
#3 Thoracic Extension, Flexion and Rotation
This tends to be one of the most significant limiting factors; upper back rounding causes the scapular to travel a longer distance around the upper spine. This, in turn, creates instability when you try holding your shoulders in your pocket, leading to poor shoulder mobility.
If you can't stack the upper spine in line, this will cause some grief with keeping the bar stacked over the mid foot. People tend to fall forward when they lack in this with both the front & overhead squats.
#4 Shoulder Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Internal and external rotation are needed to get the bar path tracking upwards and keep it close. Mobility limitations are usually linked with the thoracic and lack of flexibility with the lat and pec muscles, causing the inability to reach overhead.
Usually, lacking here will cause weak rotator cuff muscles and the inability to stack or press a weight properly above the head.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to see how a seemingly insignificant mobility issue can have much larger knock-on effects with your Olympic lifts. Consider your own technique - now that you know what mobility is required, do you lack in any of the areas above?
If so, send me an email or DM on Instagram, and let's set up an assessment!
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
People often think strength and technique are the limiting factors whenever they hit a wall with Olympic lifts or specific gymnastics exercises. When you have the mobility of a rock, lifts such as the power clean or the snatch can be your worst nightmare!
How Lack of Mobility Hinders Your Workouts
I see people work countless hours trying to perfect the timing and technique of Olympic lifts – and yet they still can’t execute the movements properly. There could be a lot of different reasons for this problem, however one issue in particular occurs time and time again: lack of mobility.
Most people either don’t know what’s causing their mobility issues or do know but only spend 10 minutes a week trying to fix it. When compared to the 5+ hours per week of training they’re doing, it’s no surprise they’re struggling.
So, what’s the solution?
Olympic Lifting and Mobility: Work Smarter, Not Harder
No, I'm not expecting you to do five hours of mobility a week. This advice is for beginner to intermediate level Crossfitters, as well as anyone that’s hit a fitness plateau with specific movements.
Related: 5 Tips for CrossFit Beginners
I’m going to take a simplistic, relatable approach to improving your mobility using two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the power clean.
Let’s start with what you’re actually trying to achieve: to move a weighted bar up the body and try to keep the bar path as close to your body as possible, finishing in either a full-depth front squat or an overhead squat.
I know that’s a very simplified explanation and, in case any of them are reading this, I mean no offense to the Olympic lifting gods that walk amongst us!
You may be thinking “surely problems with bar path is an issue of technique and not mobility?” It’s true, technique could be the problem. In my experience, I’ve seen countless people struggle with these lifts because they physically cannot get into the correct position.
Some coaches will simply try and put you in the proper position and hope that fixes the problem. You’ll feel uncomfortable as if you’re going to fall over but go along with the lift anyway.
Then what happens? Your body immediately reverts back to where your body has the ability to go and everyone’s time is wasted. The coach suggests you work on your mobility so they can scale the exercise down and make it easier for you to move.
You end the session doing part of the movement and leave feeling unfulfilled. When you show up to the next class, you’re right back where you started with the coach trying to manually get your body into the correct position.
Using the Overhead Squat to Uncover Mobility Issues
The overhead squat is a staple CrossFit exercise that you must be proficient in to do a full snatch. It requires an adequate range of motion joint by joint to do one properly & shows people's lack of mobility when they can't perform one, especially with no weight.
Some people despise this exercise because it causes considerable shoulder or upper back pain. Others simply can't do it at all. While going down to a squat is a big no-no when holding something overhead, those same people can back squat 100kg plus.
If you're different from the above, you could be the below. You have to come up onto your toes & buckle your knees so badly; yes, it's technically an overhead squat, but if I put any weight on the bar, your knees would collapse in on each other.
Overhead Squat Mobility Requirement Breakdown
Stability and activation could be factors, but let's break down what mobility you need to perform an effortless overhead squat. Let's start from the bottom up; I'll keep it simple and go for the top four things. You will need an adequate range of motion to perform an overhead squat.
#1 – Ankle Dorsiflexion
Why do we need this? We need the knee not only to track the middle to outer toes, but we need them to be able to stack the weight above the ankle. Our knees can go past our toes because of Dorsiflexion, which keeps the center mass over the midfoot.
Lacking this often causes a lack of balance & the inability to squat deep. People leave this to last to check, but it could be the first thing limiting your overhead ability.
#2 – Hip Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Hip mobility external and internal rotation: We need adequate ranges of motion to sit deep into the squat. A lack of this could cause a knee cave. As mentioned above, the squat stacked over the center of the midfoot keeps everything in alignment.
#3 Thoracic Extension, Flexion and Rotation
This tends to be one of the most significant limiting factors; upper back rounding causes the scapular to travel a longer distance around the upper spine. This, in turn, creates instability when you try holding your shoulders in your pocket, leading to poor shoulder mobility.
If you can't stack the upper spine in line, this will cause some grief with keeping the bar stacked over the mid foot. People tend to fall forward when they lack in this with both the front & overhead squats.
#4 Shoulder Mobility (Internal and External Rotation)
Internal and external rotation are needed to get the bar path tracking upwards and keep it close. Mobility limitations are usually linked with the thoracic and lack of flexibility with the lat and pec muscles, causing the inability to reach overhead.
Usually, lacking here will cause weak rotator cuff muscles and the inability to stack or press a weight properly above the head.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to see how a seemingly insignificant mobility issue can have much larger knock-on effects with your Olympic lifts. Consider your own technique - now that you know what mobility is required, do you lack in any of the areas above?
If so, send me an email or DM on Instagram, and let's set up an assessment!
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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