Freestyle Weightlifting

20
Feb

Freestyle Weightlifting

Top 10 Takeaways

Janelle and I had the chance to jump over to South Loop Strength & Conditioning this past weekend and attend Freestyle Weightlifting – a seminar put on by two amazing minds in the fitness industry – Carl Paoli and Diane Fu.

Quick background on the two:

Carl Paoli: If you’ve ever watched a video in an effort to get better at a gymnastics movement, chances are you’ve watched a few of Carl’s videos from gymnasticswod.com. Carl’s most recent movement – Freestyle Connection – “is dedicated to teaching and mastering human movement and performance.”

Diane Fu: Diane has been in the fitness industry since 1998 (that’s almost 20 years) and found her love for Olympic-style weightlifting after joining forces with Dr. Kelly Starrett at San Francisco CrossFit. Diane is also the head coach of the FuBarbell Club – “who’s mission is to spread the good word of Olympic-style weightlifting.”

There was A LOT of good things from this collaborative seminar, but I’ll do my best to narrow down!

Top 10 Takeaways (from both Carl & Diane) your mother would understand in no particular order.

Carl Paoli

  1. There are multiple recipes to reach your movement goals. Keep your mind open and explore the avenues that work for YOU.
  2. A good program realizes “universal prescriptions w/ individual application”.
  3. Positioning is all about your 1) start, 2) transition, and 3) finish. How we label/code movement depends mainly on the transition phase.
  4. In order for movement to be “functional” it must be safe, useful, and long-lasting.
  5. “Move like you care.”

Diane Fu

  1. 3 Characteristics of a Good Pull – 1) Close, 2) Smooth, 3) Powerful
  2. Develop technique that is useful/unique to YOUR MOVEMENT.
  3. Weightlifting is about “creating enough space to do your trick”. With enough momentum and power transfer, you’ll be able to get under the bar.
  4. Olympic-style weightlifting should be “centered”.
  5. Get acquainted with your quads & lats.