Thread: Big Boy Basics
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Old 02-23-2010, 08:08 AM
EricT EricT is offline
Rank: Heavyweight
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,314
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Rant time.

You can go to any number of thousands of websites and get exercise techniques. Including mine (better ).

Most of these exercise we do are not complicated like a snatch or a clean and jerk or any of that. They are simple and when you coach them in person, man it is 10 minutes work to get the basic idea across. It takes longer for the person to really learn and hone in the movement but just explaining it, correcting they're body position and have them do some good reps isn't hard unless they have some really bad fundamental movement flaws.

There is nothing magical or secretive that some bigshot knows that is going to turn these simple movements on their head and revo-friggen-lutionalize them. They are what they are and all you introduce with a lot of fancy "cues" is...a lot of fancy cues.

When you are explaining something in written form it is MUCH harder. You can't show them you have to tell them. You can try to show them with words but even that can be confusing if the image brought to mind is the wrong image.

But you have two choices. You can say:

1) Here it is in all it's inglorious reality. I hope that my explanation is maybe a bit more thourough and clearer than others and will help you learn and use this exercise effectively. That is about impressing the movement on someone. The information.

2) You can try to appear like you know some big friggen secret about this simple ass shit that they can't get from anyone but you. You can't be seen as just giving the same old basic explanations that any old person can give. You have to be putting in some fancy clues so you can have something to say that appears to put you above the fold.

The first one is about impressing your ideas on people. The second is about impressing yourself on people. I do not accuse anyone of doing these things on purpose. I believe that it is a unconscious need that is manifested when people write about this stuff (and there is of course all those products to sell).

Remember that for most movments, even the slow ones, there is actually no time, or no way to make concious changes in a movement. Either you can do it or you can't.

In the case of the fast lifts, there is LITERALLY not enough time. The various adjustments needed are ACTUALLY FASTER THAN CONCIOUS THOUGHT. For instance, the only time you can actually make a concious adjustment on the clean and jerk is during the transition from the catch to the jerk/press. You have a bit of time to maybe adjust the grip and elbow position.

For the slower lifts when they are heavy it's the shear weight that makes thinking about it too late. Even if you end up hitching up a heavy deadlift you are not standing they're thinking, now I'll bend my knees and now I'll pull back on the barbell and then shift it up an inch on my thighs. You've too busy trying to hitch up a heavy ass weight, lol.

So, watch out for the "big secrets" and watch out for verbal cues that are meant to be done "purposely" during a movement.

It's different when an exercise is misunderstood, mis-executed, and mis-taught on a widespread basis. Then, if you can clear things up everything you say is special But trying to take an exercise that is generally well understood and make it new is just a "look at me" moment.
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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.
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