Emma Asks: Hi Greg, I am a massive fan of weightlifting, I LOVE to lift. I was wondering if you have any tips on overcoming the fear of catching the snatch overhead when it gets heavier, I've been stuck on the same weight for months. I know I need to man up but its really holding me back. Any tips or advice I would love. Thank you.

Greg Says: The first and most important step, and I know you’re going to love to hear this, is to snatch heavy more often. There is absolutely no substitute for gaining more experience with heavy snatches when it comes to building confidence with heavy snatches. The trick is to work right at the threshold where your problem occurs. Let’s say you typically freak out at 55kg—spend as much time snatching between 50-55kg as you can. Don’t bang your head against the wall attempting 55+ and missing over and over and over—all that does is reinforce your fear of that weight. Every time you attempt it, you’re going to be thinking of how many times you’ve missed it and how impossible it is.

Find that threshold and accumulate volume right below it; over time, that threshold will creep up, and as it does, you accordingly creep up that zone in which you hammer the volume. Make those weights routine.

The other method is using ascending waves to approach and pass that threshold. Rather than working up directly to that 55 or beyond, you sneak up on it with progressively heavier sequences. For example, you might do something like 48-50-52-50-52-54-52-54-56. Not only does this give you a lot of work right near that threshold, but it allows you to more gradually approach it so it’s not some giant black cloud hovering over you that you’re so focused on.

Next, strengthen your overhead position and bottom position, and improve your stability in those two positions. This starts with basic exercises like overhead squats and snatch push presses. Three-second holds overhead and in the bottom of the squat will help improve the effectiveness.

Improving aggression in the turnover and overhead position will also help bolster your confidence. For the overhead position, use exercises like snatch balances and drop snatches to allow you to train an aggressive punch under the bar, as well as stability overhead (keep that 3-second hold in there). Aggression in the turnover can be trained w-th exercises like the tall snatch, dip snatch, high-hang snatch, power snatch, and snatch from high blocks.

Finally, make sure you’re working on improving your lift technique. If your snatches get sketchier as the weight gets heavier, your fear is going to increase commensurately. The more accurate and consistent your snatches in general, the more confident you’ll remain as you attempt heavier snatches.

Erika Asks: Hi Coach, I've just started Olympic Lifting a couple months ago and I'm having issues with my catch position in the clean. I can easily power clean 115#s but I'm unable to do a full clean with more than 110#s and I can't figure out what the issue is since I can also front squat up to 125#s. I'm also having the opposite problem with my OHS. I can't OHS more than 65#s but my PR snatch is 95#s. Since OHS are part of program I'm wanting to start I feel like I can't make proper gains without being able to train with a heavier OHS weight. Any ideas on why I'm so much weaker with the OHS?

Greg Says: With regard to the clean, I would actually suggest you do push your front squat up. Having a bigger margin between your front squat and clean will certainly not hurt.

However, more immediately, you need to start cleaning like you power clean. I’d be willing to bet that you change the way you pull and turn the bar over when you clean relative to when you power clean, and that’s the basic source of the problem. More than likely, you’re not following through with the extension in the pull adequately and getting enough elevation and speed on the bar, and you’re taking too long to turn it over and get it secured in the rack position.

You should be pulling and turning over your cleans with the same speed and aggression, and receiving them at the same approximate height, as your power cleans. The difference is simply that in your cleans, you will be sitting fluidly into the squat as the bar meets your shoulders rather than putting on the brakes. Eventually the weight will exceed what you can actually power clean, but the way you lift it shouldn’t change—the intent should remain to pull the bar up and turn it over the same way.

A good exercise to work on this is the complex power clean + clean or power clean + hang clean (and optionally followed by another clean from the floor). Your goal is to secure the bar in the rack position at the same approximate height in the clean that you did in the preceding power clean to learn to match the mechanics, effort and timing.

Another complex is front squat + clean. You read that right. Take the bar out of a rack, front squat it, drop it, and clean it. This gives you some confidence with the weight by squatting it first, as well as lets you practice the proper mechanics of that movement to help ensure a better receipt of the bar.

For the overhead squat, it’s not absolutely necessary to be able to overhead squat as much or more than you snatch, although it can certainly be helpful. Usually the limiter for women is the ability to get the bar overhead in the first place. The best way to do this is with a snatch power jerk or split jerk—jerk the weight up with your snatch grip from behind the neck.

The mechanics and tempo of the eccentric movement are also critical for a successful overhead squat. Bend your knees and hips together—don’t break the hips first and sit back. Control the speed down rather than rushing. These two things together will ensure you achieve a better position and maintain the proper balance in the bottom to allow you a successful recovery.

Finally, you can work with doubles and triples in the overhead squat, and add slow eccentrics and pauses in the bottom to improve strength in the movement without requiring maximal singles. This may make it easier for you to develop the strength in the overhead squat by making the training more accessible.