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Back with another Free Program and this is all for the people who can’t reliably put a bar over their heads to save their lives.

Don’t worry, it’s common enough that I’ve used a version of this program with dozens of athletes.

I’ve received this question dozens if not 100’s of times since Instagram recently debuted their “questions” feature. 

“What is the best way to get my squat up?”

I’m of the mind that power is the number one physical characteristic that an athlete and a weightlifter must chase, but strength isn’t too far behind. However, developing a bigger engine to create power can be a game changer, strength is that engine. 

If you coach the Olympic lifts you should listen to this episode. Mike and I go over the 5 (maybe 6) most important things for weightlifting technique. We  tried to distill technique down to the simplest items possible including:

Why balance is the most important “guiding light” in weightlifting.

What it’s like to actually “sweep” the bar back.

Why you have to PUSH not pull the bar.

8 Weeks | 6 days per week

Don’t let the name fool you, this program will help in both the classical lifts.

Progress through 8 weeks to improve your lifts by utilizing complexes and positional work to improve technique.

I once spent over 24 straight hours in a car with my former fiancee (not Ashley, this was a girl before Ashley). Anyways, as the word former might indicate, that road trip was a make or break experience in our relationship.

I’d say during that car ride we made about 1000 bad decisions, not including stopping in Vegas on the way home (which, now that I think of it could have ended up really bad, but didn’t).

Before you dive in this is not an article about technique, or programming, but these might be 2 of the easiest fixes you can make if you want to be better at weightlifting. Hell they might be 2 of the easiest things you can do to be better at life.

These are 2 mental approaches that can help your weightlifting.

The best lifts happen when the mind is calmest, uncluttered and free of distraction. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to help you lift more all centered about your mental approach.

Here I am teaching a course on weightlifting looking across the room at a giant poster on the wall with depictions of how the athlete should snatch and clean and jerk. Nothing overtly wrong with it, until I look at the little diagram on the poster of with an infographic of how the athlete should balance their weight during the pull.

Much to my utter horror, this giant poster teaches the athlete to rock back and forth from their heels to their toes throughout the movement. If you asked me to explain it to you, I couldn’t, because it didn’t make any sense.

When I talk about weightlifting or teach weightlifting there are a couple guiding light principles that make everything else function more smoothly.