Monday 130204- Hook Grip

10 Minutes to find 1RM Power Clean and Push Jerk

For time:
40 Burpee Over the Box Jumps, 24"
30 Clean and Jerk, 95#
20 Hand Release Push Ups

Post results to StrengthDiary.

Watch this video.
EVERY TIME we review and instruct the Olympic Lifts (Clean and Snatch) we ask you to use the hook grip. The hook grip is achieved by wrapping your thumb as far around the bar as possible and then grabbing your thumb with your other fingers. Some of you ignore us, say its uncomfortable, or just forget after one rep. We did not invent this grip as a way to punish you or make your workouts more difficult. Weight lifters use this grip because it is STRONGER, MORE SECURE, AND MORE RELIABLE. It also keeps the muscles in the forearm more relaxed, and speeds up the turnover (the part of the lift when your elbows come around and the bar is received on the shoulders in the clean, or fixed overhead in the snatch).
I am not picking on Romina, who did great this weekend at the NLI (despite having Bronchitis or something like that), I just happen to get this on video and it worked perfectly for this post. MANY athletes saw the bar fly out of their hands during a workout that had 4 rounds of 6 Burpee Deadlifts, 6 Hang Power Cleans, and 6 Push Jerks.
The hook grip was uncomfortable for me when I started CrossFit, but I used it anyway, and guess what? My hands adapted (just like the rest of my body)! The webbing between my thumb and pointer finger stretched and all the nerves in my thumb died (just kidding), and now I don't even think about whether or not to hook when I pick up a bar to clean or snatch, it just happens automatically. As a result, I can't remember the last time a bar flew out of my hands, and instead of my grip limiting my performance in a workout, the amount of Ben & Jerry's I consumed the night before does!
Coach Burgener hands out Burpees as punishment for Hook Grip Violations during his Olympic Lifting Seminars... Don't make us do the same!