Tip For The Hip

Photo Courtesy of Mike Bing and Fittest Games

Today’s post is a quick reminder of what should be happening when lifts are performed from the power position. When I prescribe lifting complexes that involve a snatch or clean from the hip there are a multitude of ways to do that lift wrong. Often lifters will take that opportunity to perform the movement how they best feel is right despite the bad habits it creates. Lifts from the hip are designed mostly for creating technical proficiency from the power position. Snatching from the hip helps fix bar track issues and hip contact inefficiencies. Cleaning from the hip allows for the lifter to really focus on rebounding out of the bottom of the clean as well as keeping the bar close during the turnover. Both of these lifts allow the lifter to focus on footwork.

However, there is a right way to do these lifts from the hip and there is a wrong way. The wrong way is to allow the shoulders to get in front of the bar in order to initiate the movement. As I talked about on Monday and Tuesday, with your shoulders well in front of the bar the hips must move too far horizontally into the bar creating a terrible bar track and ultimately hurting your opportunity to fix bad habits. The proper way to lift from the hip is to remember three things. First, always dip to a place where your shoulders are even with the barbell. When you lift from the hip your shoulders should not be behind the barbell or in front of the barbell at the bottom of your dip. Second, make sure your bodyweight is distributed in the middle of your foot. Having too much weight in the heels or in the toes will also prevent you from maintaining a proper bar track as well as allowing for the most explosive finish of the second pull. Third, make sure your shoulders are back and your chest is up. Often times lifters will either dip too far and let the bar move off of their hip which can be seen by the chest angling downward. Furthermore, lifters may allow the weight of the barbell to roll their shoulders into internal rotation opening their scapulas and ultimately rounding the thoracic spine just a bit.

Below is a picture of what I typically see when lifters move from the hip. You can see in this picture my shoulders are way in front of the bar and from this position all I can do is rotate backwards and swing the bar out in front of me. This is typically the bad habit that happens during these lifts.

The picture below here is what it should look like. I often tell clients and athletes to dip like they would dip for doing a push press. When you perform a push press you don’t dip and allow your torso to tilt forward or shoulders and upper back to cave. Some of the same mentality should be brought into moving the bar from the hip.

Remember those three things when performing lifts from the hip. Shoulders even with the barbell. Chest and shoulders up when the barbell is on the hip. Bodyweight distributed right in the middle of the foot when you get.