Correct Grip for Snatch, Clean, and Jerk | Olympic Weightlifting Technique

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Gripping the bar for the Olympic lifts shouldn't be complicated, but there are a few simple things you must do to ensure you're getting the most out of your lifts. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 10/10/22)

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Fix Your Press - Part 2: Your Hideous Wrists

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/03/23)

This is the second article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct positioning of the wrists. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to this issue.

You’ve read the book, you’ve watched the videos, and you’re ready to press. You walk up to the bar and take a nice narrow grip - you’ve even pronated your hands slightly to make sure that the barbell is being supported on the base of the palms (i.e., over the bones of the forearm). On top of this, you’ve got relatively neutral wrists - roughly 10-15 degrees of extension - which is great.

And then it happens. You rotate your elbows forward and under the bar, and somehow, you end up with your wrists bent backward in extreme extension or, on the opposite end of things, you try unracking the bar with your wrists flexed over the top of the bar (watch the “Fix your Weak Wrists…” video to see examples of each error). Both are inefficient positions from which to press, and the latter position makes it practically impossible to even support the bar.

Let’s fix this.

The first solution is to remember that once you’ve grabbed the bar with neutral wrists, you must make your wrists behave as if they’re in a cast. Don’t let them change shape after this point - treat them as if they don’t exist anymore - that joint has been permanently fused into its current shape, and you’re going to hold that shape as you unrack the bar and while you press.

The second solution is to allow the bar to rotate when you bring your elbows forward and under the bar. You’re rotating your elbows forward, so be sure to let the bar rotate in the rack as well - the bar should rotate with you as you prepare to unrack it. Dip down with your legs as low as you need to so that you’ve got room to rotate your elbows forward and under the bar while maintaining those “frozen” wrists (again, watch the video above to see these solutions in action).

If you notice that you’ve still allowed your wrists to change shape, don’t unrack the bar. Fix the wrist position now - before you’ve unracked it - because fixing it while supporting a heavy bar in your hands is much tougher to accomplish. Once the wrists are correctly positioned, you can then stand the bar up and back out from the rack to begin pressing.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

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A Simple Daily Habit May Explain Your Struggling Deadlift

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

If you're making this common deadlift mistake, a simple daily habit might be the key to solving your problem. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains with demonstrations.

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The Testify Globe - February 3, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video The FOUR Most Dangerous Deadlift Mistakes Lifters Make (click the title to watch):

GraSSman 86
Good info. Do you prefer regular wraps or figure 8's? To me the fig. 8 wraps dig into my wrists more

Phil
Thanks very much, and I prefer regular straps to figure 8s, but to be fair, I do know some people who really love the figure 8s.

My pair is the same pair that I made about seven or eight years ago (I’ve lost track at this point), and it’s the type that we make for all our members:

DIY Lifting Straps in 1 Minute!
https://youtu.be/vfqbS4CJx4s

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Interested in getting stronger working one-on-one remotely with us? Click here to book your free strategy session.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start Today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

The FOUR Most Dangerous Deadlift Mistakes Lifters Make
These four errors ruin deadlifts all the time. Phil covers each one as well as how to quickly fix it. Click here to watch.

 

Easy Fix for a Slanted Lifting Platform (cheap & fast)
Got a barbell that rolls due to your slanted lifting platform? Here’s a solution that just might be easier than you think. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: FIX Your Bench Press in Under 2 Minutes: Shoulder Position
Are your terrible shoulders ruining your bench press? In this video - our third in a series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the bench - we quickly discuss and demonstrate how to correct your shoulder positioning. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: Fix Your Press - Part 1: The Awful Timing of Your Hips
“In other words, the hips should bounce first, and then we press, but the mistake we often see is that of…” Click here to read.

TESTIFY BEANIES ARE AVAILABLE!

Represent your favorite gym - even when it's cold outside!

And, it gets better - you can choose your beanie from EIGHT different colors!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

Below is one of our upcoming events, and you can find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.

Testify Strengthlifting Challenge

  • April 12, 2025

  • The annual Testify Strengthlifting Challenge is back, and we invite you to be a part of it! This is a strengthlifting meet, which means the contested lifts will be the squat, press, and deadlift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2024.12.02.

Option 2
Bike/row:
5 min on
4 min off
4 min on
3 min off
3 min on
2 min off
2 min on
1 min off
1 min on

Record distance for each interval and add for total distance.

Compare to 2024.11.11.

Option 3
Outdoors:
8 rounds:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
8 rounds:
4 tire flips
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2024.10.14.

Option 4
5 rounds:
4 tire flips
8 sledgehammer strikes
6 pull-ups
10 push-ups

Pull-ups and push-ups can be modified – talk to the coaches for options.

Compare to 2024.10.14.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

Easy Fix for a Slanted Lifting Platform (cheap & fast)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

If you’ve got a slightly sloped platform, and if it causes the barbell to roll a bit when setting up for pulls from the floor (e.g., deadlifts, rows, snatches, cleans, etc.), this problem needs to be addressed. There are a few ways to fix the issue, so let’s cover them quickly.

Solution #1: Shim the Platform
If the slope is significant, the best solution is to shim your platform. My wife and I often train in our garage gym, and the garage floor has a pretty decent slope to it (as most garage floors do for drainage reasons). We shimmed our platform when we built it, and as a result, the platform is level and works wonderfully for training.

Although very effective, shimming a platform is a pretty involved project and a topic for another article or video as we’re talking about a relatively small slope today. With this in mind, let’s move on to . . .

figure 1: got a bar that rolls away from you? just stand on the other side of the bar.

Solution #2: Lift From the Other Side of the Barbell
If the barbell wants to roll away from you when you set up to deadlift, simply step over the barbell, turn around, and set up facing the opposite direction (Figure 1). The bar will still want to roll, but now it will roll toward you, and your shins will serve as a good barrier for the bar’s unruly behavior.

The drawback here is small but worth noting - we want to set up with the bar over the middle of the foot, and since the bar will roll toward your shins, you’ll need to actually roll the bar forward just a bit when setting up. In summary, it’s not ideal, but it works. Better yet, go with . . .

Solution #3: Use Your Wrist Wraps
The easiest way to solve the problem is to take your wrist wraps, lay one of them flat on the ground immediately in front of the plate(s) on the right side of the barbell, and lay the other wrap flat on the ground immediately in front of the plate(s) on the left side of the barbell (Figure 2). Of course, you can use socks, sponges, lifting straps, etc. - the key is to use something soft and relatively thin (i.e., just thick enough to keep the bar from rolling)

figure 2: Phil & Loren have put wrist wraps on the ground in front of the plates, and this solution stops the bar from rolling.

This solution will arrest the bar’s roll, so you can set up according to a stationary barbell, which is what you’d have if you were lifting on a level platform.

I do not recommend using a small metal weight plate (e.g., a 2.5 lb plate) for two reasons. The first reason is that if you set the bar down slightly forward of where you picked it up - thus landing on the edge of the plate - the bar may come careening back toward your shins, and shins and rolling barbells do not get along well (hint: the barbell wins every time). The wrist wrap solution is much better in this regard since you can set the bar down directly on the wrist wrap with no adverse effects - it has enough “squish” not to pose a problem.

The second reason to avoid using a small plate is that - again - if you set the bar down slightly forward of its original position, you may chip either the small plate or the larger plates on the barbell. Since you obviously don’t want to damage your equipment, just grab your wrist wraps, and you’ll be good to go.

Finally, if a wrist wrap won’t stop the barbell from rolling, your platform probably has enough of a slope that you need to shim it. More on that another day.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

FIX Your Bench Press in Under 2 Minutes: Shoulder Position

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Are your terrible shoulders ruining your bench press? In this video - our third in a series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the bench - Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers quickly discusses and demonstrates how to correct your shoulder positioning.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 10/08/22)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?