As I practice the one arm axle snatch I can’t help but think about the accounts I’ve heard of old time strongman, vaudeville shows. It’s the natural place for one’s mind to drift while doing such lifts.
I still have not hit 135 in any manner of one handed snatch be it axle or regular bar, although it’s quite easy on a clean.
Now narcissistic extra video link aside (I want the views) back to the one arm axle snatch. I’ve written before on timed holds for extra time under tension, and am in a phase right now of where my body wants to get bigger, stronger, and leaner so I’m purposefully hitting my core hard expecting to get strongman abs.
The above link is what I was doing yesterday. Snatch into holds, and after an easy 105 with long hold (gym staff pretends they’re not staring) I ended up failing 115 twice. I want 135 short term, and actually lost sleep visualizing 205 on the one arm axle snatch.
Think about that for a second. The wrist strength to support that over head is diesel with only one arm. The squeezing grip is quite high, and the oblique strength is stupid. Never mind the fact that outside of weightlifters who even could come close to snatching that one arm or two?
I have not been training olys at all lately as the labor and tendonitis combined made it a stupid idea, but the tendonitis is gone, and so is the labor job.
As you know I’ve been attacking partials and front squats, and it makes sense to readd olympics, both in the form of the power clean and jerk, and the one arm axle snatches. I like both, and both do good things. The jerk held aloft is hard as hell on a core unused to jerking weight, in addition to being metabolically demanding as all hell. The clean and jerk will raise your core temperature.
This all seems to have been one hell of an aside based on the title. I was thinking “Why couldn’t I get stupid good at old time odd lifts and make a career out of vaudeville performance?” I always did want to be a pro athlete. What one man can do so can another.
This was fun to write and all over the place.
Time to partial front squat and weight lift.
One last thing: I’ve heard of Glenn Pendlay at Cal Strength letting his lifters bench up to a max and stopping them at 405-455 as he didn’t want them to get hurt. Lifters that don’t train the bench. Let that sink in for a moment.
If you can clean and jerk it don’t you think you could at least bench that shit with a bounce? (Now what do you think is in my head?)
-J