Level Up!

Chad Vaughn explains what lifters and coaches will learn at the CrossFit Weightlifting Advanced Trainer Course.

Weightlifting is described as ballet with a barbell, poetry in motion and a beautiful work of art. As the best weightlifters in the world train to put the greatest weight overhead, they also develop athletic attributes such as strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy. These attributes are finely honed through training, giving Olympic lifters relative degrees of the strength of powerlifters, the flexibility of gymnasts and so on.

Because the lifts have such dramatic effects on so many aspects of fitness and athleticism, top athletes in other sports employ the snatch and clean and jerk to help them succeed in their sports of choice. This is also why the snatch and clean and jerk are a huge part of the CrossFit program. It’s no coincidence that the eight attributes listed above are all found on CrossFit’s list of 10 fitness domains. And when you add in the task of completing a larger number of reps with these movements at lower weights, you have a very uncomfortable yet very effective method of developing cardiovascular/respiratory endurance and stamina, completing the CrossFit list.

But how do athletes find the ballet, the poetry and the art within their snatches and clean and jerks? How do they find proper execution that further develops and demonstrates the dynamism, explosiveness and grace of the Olympic lifts? To answer those questions, let’s break down the goal of the CrossFit Weightlifting Advanced Trainer Course and explain who should attend.