No place to do Olympic lifting

[sbhikes]

I managed to take a class to (try to) learn how to do Olympic lifts. Unfortunately, that will be the end of my career in Olympic lifting. There does not seem to be a place to do Olympic lifting where I live without also having to do Cross-fit or spend way too much money. The gym I go to does not allow overhead lifting outside a power rack and I don't think I feel comfortable doing this inside a cage. I haven't actually been able to successfully do a complete snatch or clean and jerk anyway.

So now what should I do? I like the bits and pieces of these lifts. Overhead squats seem beneficial. I like high pulls. I suppose if I ever get coordinated enough to do full cleans well I will like those. I might be comfortable doing clean and jerks inside a cage but I have not tried it yet. Should I continue to do any of these?

Any suggestions on what of the various bits and pieces of these lifts are beneficial for me? All I want is to continue the feeling of having a bounce in my step that this class has seemed to provide and also it seems since I started doing these that I have lost a little flab. I'm 48 years old and female if that makes any difference.

[Dastardly]

Better to try and excel at something than spread yourself so thinly. Sure oly lifts are fun, but maybe you should just focus on the powerlifts, and cleans and presses just like in SS.

[Jarret Noll]

I suppose you could just do power cleans...that way you still get the explosive work in but don't have to jerk it overhead. Power cleans have certainly been sufficient to give me a "bounce" in my step.

If I were you, I would cancel the gym membership and use that money to build a home gym. Get a platform, a bar, and some bumpers. It won't be cheap, but it would be the best alternative to having a good gym to frequent.

[Dastardly]

The push press is a lot of fun if you dont do it already, that may fill your void of wanting to stick a bigger weight than your press, overhead.

[sbhikes]

I suppose you could just do power cleans...that way you still get the explosive work in but don't have to jerk it overhead. Power cleans have certainly been sufficient to give me a "bounce" in my step.

If I were you, I would cancel the gym membership and use that money to build a home gym. Get a platform, a bar, and some bumpers. It won't be cheap, but it would be the best alternative to having a good gym to frequent.

I considered the home gym idea but honestly there is no place to do this at home.

And yes, I found these oly lifts to be pure fun. I don't even care if I can ever do them heavy.

[Burnsie]

You could consider buying an decent bar and a couple pairs of bumper plates. I think this is what I'm going to do in order to do some technique work at home. I don't quite have enough room for a full home gym, but I can clear some space for a bar. It might work for you.

[PFerrari]

Have you tried to talking to the CrossFit gym owners about doing your own thing at certain time? When I travel for work I often do this and contact about 5 CF gyms in the area explaining my situation and usually 1 or 2 of them are able to accomodate me. They're usually really friendly and welcoming and I much prefer the CF gyms to the other globo-gyms that have drop in policies. If you develop a relationship with the CF owners, they may be happy to have you with them.

[Karl Schudt]

Olympic lifts don't require near the space that powerlifting does. You could even just do them in your driveway, then roll the stuff back in the garage when you are done.

If you love it, you need to keep doing it, I think.

[veryhrm]

Have you checked out UCSB? They might have bumpers and they list a membership for "Community" members (as distinct from staff, students and their spouses) http://recreation.sa.ucsb.edu/recrea...mberships.aspx

(The driveway option sounds good too. Since it's all off the floor it doesn't need that much stuff. And if you want to practice just jerks or other partials you can do that in the rack at the gym)

[yellowmamba]

Better to try and excel at something than spread yourself so thinly. Sure oly lifts are fun, but maybe you should just focus on the powerlifts, and cleans and presses just like in SS.

BOOOOORINGGGGGGG. Honestly as the only lifter at my gym doing the Olympic lifts, I often wonder why the fuck that is. Nothing is more fun than doing clean and jerks. It gives you motivation to squat, deadlift, push press, press and row more because they in turn will help to increase your clean and jerk. If you just squat and deadlift with the aim of "getting strong" it all becomes rather meaningless in the end once you hit an arbitrary checkpoint like 3 or 4 plates.

Let me reiterate. Oly lifts are so fucking fun that it literally bubbles over into every other lift that you do.