Supertraining

Here's a video analysis of Casey Burgener executing the snatch and the clean & 
jerk at the '06 Pan Am Games. This will answer a lot of questions in regard to 
the importance of the OH squat in Weightlifting training:

http://www.wlinfo.com/

W.G. Johnson
Ubermensch Sports Consultancy 
San Diego, CA

todd langer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:                             Hi Bill,
 
 I have two questions for you and/or other senior trainers. 
 
 Have you ever experimented with a wider base stance in lieu of raising the
 heals? If my memory serves me correctly Mel Siff was a proponent of this
 strategy as a way to learn the correct movement pattern without a prop. I'm
 curious if anyone has a lot of success with this method. 
 
 Next, I've personally had a lot of success "prepping" the posterior lower
 leg prior to and during the actual squatting and it often removes the need
 for a wider stance and/or heel lift. It's more intensive, but I've gotten
 incredible results using some manual therapy to help clear up the neural
 confusion (some folks use a foam roller, but I think hands on works a lot
 better), joint tracking to engage talar glide, and targeted dynamic
 flexibility for the muscles directly responsible for the proper motion. This
 type of interdisciplinary approach isn't for the average gym rat, but has a
 lot of applicability for the high level trainers of this group. 
 
 I'm looking for insights, experiences, and/or general thoughts on the topic.
 
 Thanks,
 Todd Langer, MSc, CES, Rolfer,
 Boulder, CO
 
 ================================
   _____  
 
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 On Behalf Of W.G. 'Bill' Johnson
 Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 5:01 PM
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: [Supertraining] Re: Overhead Squat Progress
 
 We all know what happens when one "assumes". 
 
 The original post by Dan Partelly introducing the idea of raised
 heels, "Once you realize a "perfect" position with heels raised, you
 remove it. You dont stay with it forever.", is unfortunate, because it
 does not say how or why the heels are raised. This is also unfortunate
 because the heels should never be raised when doing squats or overhead
 squats for flexibility training, unless the trainee has ankle
 flexibility issues. 
 Dan did not make his position clear. In his defense, he is Romanian,
 so English is his second language. Regardless, his position is vague
 and could have led to misunderstanding except that no addressed the
 issue in subsequent posts, until Dan's post of 05 05.
 
 Dan first mentioned a board on 05 05, "Use a 2x4 under your heels to
 help with flexibility initially, but dont forget about it. When you
 develop enough flexibility, remove it."
 It is my position that this advice is incorrect unless ankle
 flexibility is an issue. Dan does not make it clear what flexibility
 issues he is attempting to address by raising the heels with a board.
 
 The original post asking for assistance was from Matt Tentis. On 05 05
 in response to a very smart query as to what Matt's actual flexibility
 problem was, Matt responded, "As far as I can tell the problem is a
 lack of shoulder flexibility. As I sqaut I am unable to keep the bar
 over my center of gravity, bringing me forward and off balance. I am
 strong with back squat, front squat, and cleans, so I do not think a
 lack of lower body strength is an issue." Matt could not be more
 clear. His problem was/is adaptive shortening and internal rotation of
 the AC joint. 
 
 Several subsequent posts address Matt's efforts to increase his
 shoulder flexibility. Then John Cowell correctly states that raising
 the heels is primarily to address a lack of ankle flexion. 
 Dan Partelly's position on the use of a 2x4 to raise the heels is only
 wrong if the trainee does not have ankle flexibility issues. We need
 Dan to clarify his position, but if it is the case that Dan is using
 the board to address a lack of ankle flexion, they are both right.
 
 Then Bill Ryan, you incorrectly attack that position with this terse
 line, "Placing a board under your heels has nothing to do with ankle
 flexibility.' Standing alone as it does this statement could not be
 more wrong. In context, out of context, it's wrong.
 
 A complete read of the posts on the subject of OH squat training will
 show that I have provided an accurate description of what was written.
 I can not find a way to explain your terse rejection of Cowell's
 position, that the use of a board under the heels is primarily to
 address ankle flexion issues. 
 
 This is another example of a chronic lack of linguistic precision in
 many posts. In order to avoid these sorts of problems in future, forum
 members need to pay more attention to their use or lack of use of the
 language. If things can get this fouled up over such a simple issue,
 imagine how confusing complex issues may become if we are not
 attentive to explicating the details of our respective positions.
 
 W.G. Johnson
 Ubermensch Sports Consultancy
 San Deigo, CA
 
 --- In Supertraining@ <mailto:Supertraining%40yahoogroups.com>
 yahoogroups.com, Bill Ryan
 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
 >
 > The original post made no mention of previous or current injuries to
 his ankles so assuming that he had normal ankle function I disagreed
 with John Cowell's utterly wrong statement. You added to the post that
 you had two reconstructive surgeries so I added that for you it would
 be an issue of ankle flexion but not for the original post or anyone
 with normal ankle fuction. 
 > 
 > Bill Ryan
 > Havertown, Pa
 > 
 > "W.G. 'Bill' Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 
 > Bill.
 > Go back and read your previous posts. I can't find any post where you
 > previously stated this qualifier:
 > "If a person with normal ankle function...", or anything like it.
 > That's why there was more than one post disagreeing with you. Your
 > posts all read as though you were in complete disagreement with the
 > obvious purpose of using a board, to compensate for the lack of ankle
 > flexion necessary to get into a deep squat. Further, when I made it
 > very clear that the purpose of a board and the raised heels of
 > weightlifting shoes was to overcome and/or assist in compensating for
 > a lack of ankle range of motion, you never said anything that
 > clarified your position until now. And your position stated below is
 > obvious to anyone with any familiarity with biomechanics,
 > Weightlifting or Weightlifting experience, which further confused
 > matters. 
 > A quick review of your other posts on the subject of ankle flexion
 > only shows complete disagreement with my and others position that
 > deep squats require ankle flexion. You stated:
 > "I said it has nothing to do with ankle flexibility. It could be
 > numerous issues including flexibility in the hips or hamstrings, the
 > length of the femur in relation to the torso, stance width, foot
 > position and bar placement."
 > This sure sounds like you reject the lack of ankle flexibility as the
 > primary cause of not being able to get into a deep squat; you this
 > wrote in response to another post saying the use of a board was to
 > compensate for a lack of ankle flexion. Again you appear to be in
 > opposition.
 > And on May 8 you posted this:
 > "Placing a board under your heels has nothing to do with ankle
 > flexibility." This again sounds like you reject ankle flexion as a
 > primary reason for not achieving a proper deep squat position.
 > This was in response to Johns Cowell's utterly correct statement: 
 > "In my opinion, if you need boards under your heels to get adequately
 > deep in the overhead squat, you likely have ankle flexibility issues."
 > So I asked you to clarify because your previous posts obviously did
 > not maintain the position you're now taking in this latest post. 
 > All your posts until this one sound like you are attempting to
 > attribute problems with getting into a deep squat with anything but
 > ankle flexion. 
 > So unless there's a post I and everyone else has missed, you either
 > never properly explicated your position or you realized you were
 > mistaken and reversed it.
 > Which is it?
 > 
 > W.G. Johnson
 > Ubermensch Sports Consultancy
 > San Diego, CA.
 > 
 > =============================