The USA Weightlifting Podcast

Today we are talking about that uneasy sensation that comes with lack of oxygen or energy, that most of us have felt after a heavy clean. Maybe you see spots or darkness begins to close in, and you’re not quite sure whether to try and save your lift or just dump the weight forward. If this is a regular occurrence for you, it’s worth considering possible roots to the issue, as well as trying out an...

Today we are attempting to explore the consideration of what it feels like to snatch and clean and jerk heavy. Ultimately each athlete will have their own perception on the concept and what it feels like to them, so through the thoughts that we both share, we hope to inspire you to first think about what it feels like to you. Additionally, is there anything you can take from what we’re saying that...

Today we are zoning in on the lift off of the snatch and clean, which is the segment between your start position where the weights on the ground, up to the bar reaching the level of above the knees. Tune in to hear our perspectives on this critical piece of your lifting, and our suggestions on how to see it and execute it with the action of squatting in mind. Enjoy the show!

Today we are considering the idea of there being no such thing as a bad training day. Of course we all have days where we are more tired than others, weights feel heavier than usual, we are having a harder time focusing, or we just can’t seem to make our lifts. But, does that mean we have to fall into those circumstances and allow all the negativity that comes with labeling a day, or training sess...

Today we are bringing you another episode in our weightlifting pet peeves series, and with this one we are talking about those that might be over-prioritizing prep work or any other aspect of the process that de-emphasizes or belittles the core working portion of your training. In other words, the sets, reps, and time with the key loaded barbell movements that you have actually set your highest go...

In this episode, we are covering the “hip snatch”, which is also known as the “high hang snatch”. Specifically, we will discuss how to appropriately snatch from the hip in general, as well as on an individual bases, to get the best transfer into your regular snatch and to help increase your overall Olympic lifting ability. Enjoy the show!

Today we are considering ways that you can improve your overall coordination as an athlete, and optimize your timing with the Olympic lifts. Coordination being the way all of your muscles through your body are working together, and the amounts each are contributing, to perform certain actions within the movement at the optimal times. If you are having trouble with your timing within your Olympic l...

In this episode we are talking about the how and why of snatch pulls and clean pulls. “Pulls” are essentially an assistant exercise to the snatch and clean that work on varying portions of those lifts, anywhere from the floor up through full extension of the body. The lifter might execute a shrug of the shoulders and extension of the ankles to come up on the toes to mimic full extension; and pulli...

Today we are joined by Edward Baker of Voodoo Weightlifting to talk about the life and passing of Coach John Coffee. A pioneer in the sport of weightlifting, John Coffee died on Jan. 22, 2023, at the age of 76. Coffee dedicated more than a half-century to advancing Olympic-style lifting, running the storied Coffee’s Gym from 1980 to 2017 out of Marietta, Georgia. The USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame...

Today we are discussing how to create back tension and the correct angle in your start position, and how to maintain both from the floor to the knee. It is common to see athletes lose one or both of these through this range in the lift, and left uncorrected can leave kilos on the table. Keep in mind that some athletes let the hips rise purposefully and we’ll cover the why of this in this recording...

Today we’re talking with Shane Rothlisberger of Versalifts about how elevating your heels can improve your lifting. This of course happens when we wear our weightlifting shoes, but additional elevation can be added with plates or any other elevated surface for warm up and drilling purposes, or with heel inserts to help you get into more efficient and effective positions. Keep in mind that this is...

In this episode we’re talking about distractions and how if we let them, they can have varying extents of control over our training and competitions. We share stories of how we ourselves have let distraction take us over in the past, and how we have navigated around it. We hope these examples and our suggestions can help shed some light on the things that might be distracting you and taking away f...

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re taking this time to reminisce on the few key lessons we’ve learned over the past 12 months. It’s been an honor to have your continued support of the USA Weightlifting Podcast and we’re even more excited for the year to come. Tune in for another episode of technique talk and some of our yearly recaps! Enjoy the show.

This episode will help you better understand deload weeks and how to read your body throughout to optimize your training. We are joined by Hannah Tatro of TrueCoach to help us cover this topic. TrueCoach is the official coaching app of USA Weightlifting, and is an innovative, all-in-one platform built for both coaches and athletes alike. Don’t let using metrics and tracking your workouts be a miss...

Weightlifting straps are a great accessory for weightlifters when it comes to lifting heavier weights, or even training for hypertrophy – but you shouldn't be relying on your straps for all your attempts. In this episode of the USAW Podcast we’re going over the do’s and don’ts for weightlifting straps. Tune in to learn more about when you should use them, when you shouldn’t, and why it matters. En...

This week on the USA Weightlifting Podcast, Coach Danny Camargo joins the crew to talk about analyzing your lifting videos. Recording and analyzing your lifts is a great way to tweak and improve your lifting technique but at what point does it become a hindrance? In this episode we’ll be looking at when you should and shouldn’t be recording your lifts.

This week on the USA Weightlifting Podcast we’re taking a quick dive into what it means to take the “slack out of the bar”. In this episode we’ll be explaining how taking the slack out can help initiate weight from the ground more effectively and the steps required to eliminate it. Enjoy the show!

WodProof is the leading community driven mobile app for athletes looking to record workouts, review training, and compete with athletes all over the world. In this episode we’re talking about mobility. WODProof allows you to test and improve your mobility like nothing else before. Tune in to learn more about mobility specific to olympic lifters and how you can start using WODProof today. Enjoy the...

This week on the USA Weightlifting Podcast, we are joined by Coach Danny Camargo. In this episode we are taking on a special listener request, on how to use lifting blocks. Lifting blocks allow the barbell to be placed at a variety of heights enabling you to hone in on specific segments of your snatch, clean, or pulls. Tune in to learn more on when you should introduce blocks into your training, h...

Vitargo is a revolutionary life source of energy used by Olympians and elite athletes. In today’s episode we’re joined by Vitargo CEO, Bernie Wooster, to discuss the fastest body fuel supplement on the market. Tune in to learn more about the importance of nutrition, why feuling is important, and how you should be refueling for training vs. competition. Enjoy the show!

Calicure is a hand file that allows you to safely remove your calluses without removing too much while preventing ripping and tearing of your hands to ensure that you’re always ready and healthy to compete. In this episode of the USA Weightlifting Podcast Chris Vignaud joins us to discuss why hand care is so important especially in the sport of weightlifting and how you should be treating your han...

Welcome back to part 3 of our Coaching Etiquette series with Coach Danny Camargo. In this episode we’ll be covering the topic of content creation from both the athlete perspective and the coaching perspective. What do you do when your athlete starts making changes to their program based on content they’re seeing online and how can we as coaches be more cognizant of the content we’re putting out? W...

Coach Danny Camargo joins the USA Weightlifting Podcast once again for part 2 of the Coaching Etiquette series. This week we’re continuing the conversation from the perspective of coaches’ code of conduct and clubs within the given area. Enjoy the show!

Joining the USA Weightlifting Podcast this week is none other than Danny Camargo. Danny is a Senior International Weightlifting Coach with USAW and definitely one of our favorite guests on the show. This week we’re talking about coaching etiquette and some interesting scenarios both athletes and coaches can find themselves in during competition including sharing warm up platforms, composure, commu...

This week on the USA Weightlifting Podcast we’re diving into another assistance lift, the no-foot-snatch, also known as, the no-jump-snatch. The no-jump-snatch is a technique-oriented movement that can be used to improve certain elements of the snatch. In this episode we’ll be going over exactly when, where, and how to use it in your programming. Enjoy the show!