London Olympic Weightlifting Academy

How To Squat More Like Tian Tao
Check out our latest blog, leading up to Februarys squat masterclass we will be posting more content to help you perfect your squat!
This blog is an short and easy read on why lifters like Tian squat like they do and how you can use the same principles to make your squat that much better!

LOWA Open Series 2019 Round 1 | Entries Open | February 23rd . . . Our first LOWA Series Round of 2019 will be running on the 23rd, if you wish to compete get your entry ticket here :
... https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/ma in_shop.asp… . . .
The LOWA series is a meet that runs every quarter where we welcome all levels of athlete to compete.
. . It gives beginners in their first meet a chance to lift in their first competition in a more informal and guided fashion to get you used to competing. . . No BWL membership or singlet required, show up and so your best on the platform! . : . Spots went fast for our last one so make sure you get your ticket early if you want to compete!
Purchase your entry ticket here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/ma in_shop.asp…
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[Strengthen The Adductors and Glutes And Mid Back With This Side Lunge] . . . The Cossack squat/ side lunge is a good one for opening up the hips and strengthening the adductors which are often tight because of weakness. ... . . . This long dumbbell placement makes you work a bit harder to brace through both the mid back and abs, two areas you need to be stronger in for performance and for health! . . . 🏋️‍♂️ 🎥: @richymunro working hard on his mobility to improve his lifts.
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Struggling to “Finish Your Pull”? Try this combination of pause muscle snatches and snatch doubles to fix it. . . . The term finishing your pull simply means finish extending upwards aggressively so your legs are locked toes are pointed, chest is up and shoulder blades are pull back and up.... . . The pause muscle snatch does two things : 1️⃣The pause both promotes you to create a better position/posture as you pull and it removes momentum so that extending upwards becomes even more important. 2️⃣the muscle snatch makes you have to actively stay in extension for a bit longer than s normal snatch, so not only do you strengthen that position, you hold it for long enough to feel what that position is like. . . . Try doing 50% of your snatch max for 5-4-3-2-1 on the pause muscle snatch. . . . Then do 70-75% snatch for 6 sets of 2 reps so you can practice finishing that pull in the normal snatch!
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[Improve Your Squat In Pinch : Plate Squats] . . . If you’re struggling to perform the Olympic style squat, try this drill we have our beginners do, it reinforces proper posture and mechanics in the hips, knees and ankles.... . . . It’s a simple drill that simplified the squat, giving you nothing to think about except - press the plate out, sit down and stand up! . . Try 3-4 sets of 10 reps before your next time squatting and see how you feel!!
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[#mondaymotivation Killer Clean & Jerk Complex] our members are attacking a gritty complex, it’s simple and very effective for making the clean and jerk that little bit smoother and more confident. . . . We set our members a goal of not stopping before they hit the front squat after the clean and taking one deep breath before the jerked.... . . . The idea of this complex is to fatigue ourselves so the jerk is harder, at the same time you subconsciously make an extra effort to pull the bar straighter in the clean, because the front squat will be a lot harder of the bar crashes and you have to pause and re-adjust. . . . If you need to build some leg strength for the clean and jerk whilst working on your positions and confidence going into a heavy jerk try out the Clean+Squat+Jerk complex. . . We went to 80% for 4 sets of 1, give it a go!
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Today is London Olympic Weightlifting Academy's 5th Birthday... What a journey it has been so far! We first opened our doors January 6th 2014!
I would like to thank everyone that has played apart of the club and everything that we have achieved so far.. We are very proud of our community.
We opened with the ambition of giving people the very best introduction to weightlifting and provide a facility and coaching that is suitable to all levels of lifters from beginner to elit...e. At the end of this month our coaching team will be looking after 14 athletes at the English Championships. We have won several medals at British, European & World Masters Championships and still love to get people started in the sport and help them realise their potential..
I feel that we are still a young club and will continue to grow and develop. Thank you so much for being a part of this and we look forward to the next 5 years!!
We would like you to save the date. February 1st (Friday evening) this will be for a club celebration..
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A few photos from over the last 5 years...

>>>Start Your Weightlifting Journey This Tuesday<<< . . . We want to give you the best possible start to your weightlifting journey, this is why we run our beginners course and our next one is starting this coming Tuesday, good news is we still have a few spaces left!... . . . Click the link in our bio to sign up. We look forward to see you on Tuesday.
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This Months Beginners Course : We Still Have A Few Spaces Left
Our beginners course is coming up soon, this Tuesday we will take a new group of beginners in and teach them how to snatch, clean and jerk and squat correctly.
The aim of this course is to give people the best possible start to their Olympic lifting journeys possible.
... If you want to be a part of this group and get your weightlifting journey started there’s still time!
Click the link and sign up, we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
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Our Courses are a fantastic way to get into the sport, or get some intensive improvement in your skills. You will develop excellent mobility, learn activation and conditioning techniques to use anytime, you will go away with confidence in both lifts, and know how to continue your development after the course too.
Our vision is to make weightlifting accessible to anyone who wants to learn, by providing a friendly and inclusive club, with expert coaching for everyone. Our Begi...nners Courses have been very popular with both those who are brand new to the movements, and those who want to learn some new skills and approaches, have a look...
What do I need to bring? You don't need to bring any special gear - just a bottle for water, loose-fitting clothing you can move freely in and any gym shoes, if you have weightlifting shoes you're welcome to bring them but it's by no means required. We have some snacks and drinks on sale at the club.
How many people are on each course? We deliberately keep the numbers small so we can offer plenty of feedback and individual coaching to everyone, there is a maximum of 12 on each course.
What content is covered? We start with a mobility warm-up, then we take you through a range of drills to improve your posture, mobility, stability and strength in the Squat, then we look at developing Overhead positions, before teaching you to Snatch and Clean and Jerk. You will leave with confidence in both movements. ​ What happens after the course? We will support you with some resources you can use to keep up with your movement, as well as giving you some options to carry on training with us, or remote training if you can't make it to the club regularly. This will include special offers just for our course graduates..
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[Low Back Cranky ? Struggling To Get Glutes Firing When You Lift ?] Here’s a nicely movement one of the #teamlowa lifters Magda used after a team session. . . Kneeling Squats/Hip Hinges ... . . . There’s a few key points that make this work . 1️⃣The band is directly resisting the hips horizontally, so it’s emphasise the need or Glute recruitment,. . 2️⃣Kneeling disables your legs, you can’t use the quads and hamstrings really to move the body from a kneeling position, further emphasising Glute activation. 3️⃣The tucked chin and rounded upper back helps to create more abdominal tension and a more neutral lower back position. Meaning there’s less chance of irritating the low back or accidentally using back extension instead of hip extension to create movement. . . A few sets of 20 should be enough to make your glutes fire and take pressure off the low back! @magx70
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[Loosen Up The Back and Humps and Free Up Those Slumped Shoulders : Shin Box Mobility Flow] . . . This is a good one that addresses all the problems we run into working in jobs that make us incredibly immobile app day.... . . Make sure you hold each position - the shin box, the crab reach, the table top bridge for 3-5 seconds each, make sure you do around 3-5 reps of the whole flow. . . . Do as many sets as you feel are needed prior to your workout and see how you feel!
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[Heres How to Use The Jerk Blocks To Develop Your Power and Positions In The Olympic Lifts and Squats] . . . The blocks are one of our favourite and most versatile tools for focusing on really developing power and speed as well as eliminating specific positional weaknesses. ... . . . For Snatches and Cleans : You can pick a block height that focuses on the position you tend to not do so well from, you can see @paulb_training Khrys Speed and @richymunro all focusing just above or below the knee as that’s here they’ve identified they have weak spots in their lifts. . . The blocks also shorten the bar path so in order to create enough momentum you really have to accelerate harder than you would off the floor! . . For squats and deadlifts : You can see @mcauser82 putting the blocks at a height that puts just above full front squat depth, this helps him develop starting power and practice getting through his sticking point where he might normally get pinned by a clean. . . . .
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Make 2019 The Year You Learn to Olympic Lift! . . . Our beginners courses are a great way to get into Olympic lifting.... . . We started our beginners courses for a few reasons, do any of these seem familiar to you? 1️⃣The barrier for entry sometimes seems way too high for us to hop when we’re first starting lifting. . . 2️⃣The technical aspect is quite intimidating, the lifts seem super technical and that’s often off putting. . . . 3️⃣Theres often no where for a complete beginner to start, the choice always seems to be to fend for yourself, or jump straight into a group of seasoned lifters who are much more advanced. . . This is why we do our beginners courses, so you this obstacles are no longer blocking your entry into the world of weightlifting 🏋️‍♀️. . . . If you or anyone you know needs to start weightlifting click the link to book one of our courses : https://www.teamlowa.com/book-beginners-c ourse.html
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[Back and Hip Mobility Superset] . . . One thing that can really hold back your progress in the oly lifts is if your hips are tight and your back tries to take over the movement, here’s two movements that not only open up and strengthen the hips, but they teach your body how to co-ordinate the hips creating the movement and your back and abs simply bracing to support that movement, rather than the spine flexing and extending when it shouldn’t be. .... . . 1️⃣Laying Hip Circles : hug the non moving leg in tight to the chest so you feel your back start to round over slightly, make sure you try to actively stretch the toes as far away from the body as you can the whole time you’re circling, just letting the leg “fall” will reduce the effectiveness of this. 2️⃣Zercher Shin Box to Stand Getting the hips to work through a greater range of motion that’s similar to our squats whilst using the bar to create a slightly rounded position in the upper back and a neutral position at the lower back is the key to this one. The zercher hold means you can’t really hyperextend (or extend much at all) through the spine so now your hips have to create the movement. . . Try 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per side before your training session, or do 5-6 sets as a stand-alone mobility WOD . . . Drop into a squat between sets to gauge how it’s effecting your mobility, it should produce an immediate change if your hips are tight.
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[Straight As An Arrow : Bar Path] . . . Whilst the aim is to have the bar travel in a perfectly straight line, there will usually be some deviation, some curve to the path. ... . . . We need the bar to stay within a “range”. Check out Marks bar path, the squat stand is his “Range” it’s lined up over the middle of his foot, if you check the bars path it never goes beyond the line of the squat stand, whilst a straight bar path is ideal, one that simply stays over our mid foot is great. Mark does a great job of keeping the bar in that line. . . FYI this was on a set of 5 @70%, he did a great job of staying sharp during a challenging set!
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[How to use spotters to get some extra kick out of your squats] head coach @mcauser82 being push through a heavy squat set by Khrys Speed and @d_hp11 . . . We’ve found that it helps in your heavier sets to get a “spotter” in not necessarily for safety (although that’s important), but to shout those key words to you that will help you find that extra gear, that extra KICK to push through your squats.... . . . This was supposed to be a set of 1 to top off a squat workout or 7 triples at 70%+, to get 6 required a bit of extra KICK!
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