Went to a Klokov seminar over the weekend. Here's review (x-post from /r/weightlifting)

Beginning of this year, I heard of Beachside CrossFit hosting a weightlifting seminar with with former Russian weightlifter Dmitry Klokov and I jumped on the opportunity with the zero money I had. Being a college student rules!

For those who have been under a rock and don’t know who Dmitry Klokov is: Here’s a little history of him. Consider these numbers for a frame of reference. As of now, current world records in the 105 kg class are:

Snatch: 200 kg set by Andrei Aramnau in 2008 Beijing
Clean & Jerk: 242 kg set by Ilya Ilyan in 2014 Almaty
Total: 436 kg set by Andrei Aramnau in 2008 Beijing

He’s been a professional weightlifter since 2004. At his first (non-junior) international competition in 2005 Weightlifting Championships in Doha, he won gold in the 105 kg class with a (sn. 192/c&j. 227) 419 kg total. His best performance came in the 2011 Weightlifting Championships in Paris with a (sn. 196/c&j. 232) 428 kg total. His only Olympic performance came in 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won silver with a (sn. 193/c&j. 230) 423 kg total.

Being the “weightlifting nerd” that I am, as told by my coach, I was curious to see what the Klokov would speak upon at a one-day seminar. Never meeting him prior, I was giddy to simply sit in the same room and here the man speak. He’s genuinely personable and has the same, great sense of humor that most professional athletes and coaches have. With that being said, I didn’t learn anything new or spectacular.

The Russian weightlifting system is by no means a secret. Everything from coaching, to programming, to technique has been published throughout the years in studies, journals, and books. Despite all this, I don’t believe that Klokov said or done anything that blew me away as new or different. However, he did reiterate several foundations that I’ve learned from my prior coaches and used different coaching cues. I feel that some of the different coaching cues, when appropriate, can be utilized for specific athletes, but they’re definitely not a one size fits all type of cues.

As a side note, I don’t know what it is, but some CrossFitters and CrossFit coaches shouldn’t be allowed to snatch, clean and jerk or coach. I have heard some of the most uneducated things being asked or said at this seminar. One in particular: “My coach has us snatch grip deficit deadlifting with power bands to teach us how to use out lats and we stop in this ‘power position..'” Power position referring to the place where the barbell makes contact with the hip.

Will I spend another $200 to attend a one-day seminar with a Russian weightlifter? Probably not. It felt more like a clinic than a seminar. But I had tons of fun watching and conversing with Klokov.
 
@nychristian15 I attended Klokovs 3 day seminar a few years ago when he came to Waxmans Gym with Polovnikon and Ilya. While I appreciated the theory and conceptual stuff they spoke of, the best stuff was actually watching them coach individuals and put them in the proper positions. As a coach, watching these experts at work was invaluable and I took a lot of knowledge back to the gym.
 
@whatsthissong Klokov mentioned that his grasp of coaching has drastically changed since then. He said, when he was at Waxman's, he was just an athlete coaching an athlete and would get easily frustrated while now, he's learned to have more of a coach's mentality.
 
@nychristian15 As a coach, yes.

Not that I didn't take anything away from his seminar, but I think his seminars are suited for CrossFitters who are unfamiliar with the Russian system.

I'm looking to be a strength & conditioning and weightlifting expert as I've been working in the field for 4 years now as a college student. My understanding on the sport of weightlifting is outside the scope of his seminar.
 
@carpetcleaninginutah Depending on the context, there is nothing wrong with this:

Code:
I have heard some of the most uneducated things being asked or said at this seminar. One in particular: “My coach has us snatch grip deficit deadlifting with power bands to teach us how to use out lats and we stop in this ‘power position..'” Power position referring to the place where the barbell makes contact with the hip.

I have used a similar drill, without the deficit, to teach lifters how to sweep the bar into their pocket on both the Snatch and Clean. Here is an example of one of my athletes.

Snatch variant

330 pound Clean

Maybe you overheard something different, but this lift variation has helped my teach numerous lifters to hit better positions. And has also built up back strength. In the past, I found just building the back wasn't always practical as the movement pattern itself didn't necessarily improve.
 
@jolson In all the years that I've talked to weightlifters and weightlifting coaches, I've never seen or heard any of them use a band to teach their athletes. Even Klokov himself said (paraphrasing) "I've never seen or used these bands in training ever."

Bands and barbells should be reserved for the sport of powerlifting, not weightlifting. Would you snatch, clean or jerk with chains? No, you wouldn't.
 
@carpetcleaninginutah Did you read what I wrote? It's an accessory exercise designed for pattern correction. Most people learn the lifts incorrectly. This is something I - and many others - have found works to correct a poorly ingrained movement pattern.

Ideally, an athlete would have no use for sweeping deadlift variants. However, this is anything but an ideal world.
 
@carpetcleaninginutah The other poster explained how and why the technique is utilized; perhaps you should address why you disagree with the technique rather than "I've never seen it before and the Russians/Eastern Europeans don't use it so it is stupid"
 
@dawn16 Hey, maybe I'm wrong. I'm by no means an expert at weightlifting (yet). But even my (recognized) coach, sitting next to me in the seminar, said it was stupid. I'm going to go with what my coach and mentor says.

But I reiterate, I have a library of Russian and Bulgarian texts, NONE have bands in their exercise lists.
 
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