Olympic Weightlifting Warm Up

An Olympic weightlifting warm-up to increase mobility of the knees, hips, ankles, and shoulders. Fluid mobility allows deeper squats and enhanced technique capabilities for lifts.

Execution

Bar on knees: Use about 50% of your maximum snatch on a barbell and sit at the bottom of a squat. Maintain the bar over the balls of the feet and push knees forward with an upright torso. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute.

Elbow Stretch: In the rack position, keep the bar on the rack. Push one elbow as far as it can go up while maintaining a full grip on the bar.

Front Squat Stretch: Line the bar up at the bottom of your full squat and load it up with at least 70% of your max front squat. In the front squat position, push the upper body into the bar vertically while pushing the heels through the ground.

Deadlift Stretch: Begin in a Romanian Deadlift position. Slowly lower the bar towards the ground with a 10 second descend while keeping the lats packed.  

Purpose

Olympic Weightlifting is a sport that requires lifters to be strong as well as flexible. The warm up is designed to increase range of motion across the joints needed for successful lifting and improve muscle length. A lack of mobility in either the hips, knees, ankles, or shoulders can lead to injury in weightlifting.

Programming

Warm up should be completed prior to an Olympic weightlifting session and can also be used post training session.

Bar on Knees: Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. Elbow Stretch: 20 repetitions. Front Squat Stretch: Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. Deadlift Stretch: 5 repetitions with a 10 second descend on each.

See Also