Olympic lifting is highly technical, of that we can be sure.  We can also be sure that Olympic lifting is one of the most beneficial things that you can do to become more athletic and powerful.

The problem with Olympic lifting for most individuals is that it is extremely coaching intensive. Typically you need an eccentric, track suit wearing fellow in the

background, watching each lift, diagnosing your technique and providing you with your next weight on the bar.

But what if you don’t live in a training hall, in Europe, with a plethora of Bulgarian experts? Then what can you do?

Heck what if you don’t even have a guy with any knowledge at all about the Olympic lifts within an hours’ drive?

Can you even still Olympic lift safely, let alone well?

I say you can, but you have to have a plan, and here is the plan that you can use to Olympic lift without the benefit of everyday coaching.

Front Load Your Coaching

 While attending seminars does not make one an expert, it can get you a tremendous amount of exposure to good coaching. There is much you can learn from just sitting in the room and listening to good coaches talking about training.  This is certainly one way to front load your coaching

More than that though, spend some serious time in the gym of a good coach. Watch them train, watch them coach, have them coach you. One to two days with a great coach working individually with you can have an outstanding impact on how you perform movements.  Having a great Olympic lifting coach diagnose your problems and tell you where you can improve them can give you months of work to do.

In my own case, I do not get a lot of coaching anymore (not that my team of coaches are not capable, I just train at odd hours), but every couple of months I invite my friend Rufus down to take a look at my lifts. He gives me a couple things to think about, and then I spend the next couple months trying to hone in on perfection in that area.

Video Everything

I am not talking documentary style “video everything” but rather video your lifts all the time. It’s how I stay in touch with a guy like Rufus when he isn’t around to coach me.

In fact I recently had an 8 week coaching group of people for Olympic weightlifting, and it was how we communicated the entire time.  Video after video, on a daily basis we worked through their technique, and everyone in the entire group hit a PR by the end of the time.

We even spent time in one on one live google hangouts to diagnose their technique in real time.

The internet is a powerful drug.

Get down with the basics

I say this all the time, but “just because it is called Olympic weightlifting, does not mean you are going to the Olympics.” What that means is that you and your athletes likely need a different level of coaching than athletes who make their living competing in Olympic lifting.

Confusing yourself with every single change possible, spending time dissecting the number of millimeters your hands should be spaced on the bar, and over-thinking things isn’t necessary.

Ask yourself these questions:

•  Do you have a strategy for progressing your Olympic lifts?
•  Do you have a strategy for getting your hands on the bar when doing a power clean/snatch/full clean/snatch?
•  Do you know where the bar should be to get full hip extension?

These are some basic ideas that you need to get down with, when you don’t have a strategy for each of these things, then worrying about the density in the heel of your weightlifting shoe shouldn’t be a big concern.

So there they are, 3 ways to Olympic lift without a full time coach. Use all three to get yourself better at lifting and coaching the lifts. Obviously, you need some interaction with a coach, but you don’t have to have a European expert following you around at all times, to get some serious benefits out of the Olympic lifts.

If you don’t have an answer to any of the questions on the basics, do me a favor and check out COMPLETE OLYMPIC LIFTING.

It is my brand new DVD and manual with my breakdown of everything you need to know to make Olympic lifts work for you and your athletes.

You can check it out HERE.

And last thing, because I know how important coaching is, I will personally coach you on your Olympic lifts if you buy COMPLETE OLYMPIC LIFTING

All you have to do is follow these steps.

1. Buy the DVD before Friday at midnight.
2. Send me your receipt at wtflemin@gmail.com
3. Email me one video of your clean or snatch, and post it to facebook with my name tagged and a link to Complete Olympic lifting with the video.
4. I break it down and tell you what you need to know.