There has been quite a bit of talk about the fact that USADA showed up during one of the Lu Xiaojun, Liao Hui & Coach Yu Jie Ma Strength Seminars.
But what about the actual seminar itself (not the USADA thing)?
Much like with the Klokov, Ilyin, Polovnikov Seminars it would be interesting to know what you have learned?
Leave your reviews in the comments.
First one from James:
I attended the Sunday workshop here in Brooklyn. Format consisted of participants coming up one by one and being critiqued by the athletes and both coaches. One of the things I learned about their method of technique was the internal rotation of the shoulders in combination with a strong retraction when overhead. This was one of the main corrections for everyone that went up. Like I’m sure most of you have heard, they say it is a lot more stable.
That advice personally gave me some reassurance because I was always trying to excessively externally rotate my shoulders overhead when I would just naturally be internally and in a much more solid position. Mind you that I am flexible and am fairly mobile so hearing this made me realize that I should just go with the natural flow of my body which felt much more comfortable to begin with. It was noticeably present when Liao demonstrated as well.
Another thing that they pointed out was the fact that people were bending their wrists throughout the Snatch and C&J. Coach Ma mentioned how Americans do this to keep the bar closer, but it is the wrong idea because they should be relaxed along with the arms. The Chinese keep the bar almost in contact throughout the whole pull and do not bend their wrists in order to do this.
One of the things that I found very interesting that coach Ma said during the seminar about early arm pull was that “if you use 10% of your arm going up into the second pull, you will only be using 90% during the third pull” or something along those lines. He said that you want to keep the arms and wrists relaxed so that you don’t take away from the third pull and so you can pull maximally.
I personally asked how the athletes stay in such shape and how they are so muscular and they responded that athletes do free workouts after their regular training and don’t necessarily follow any routine but just work on their “weak points”.
One thing that was also mentioned in the seminar was about the weight distribution in the foot during the first pull. They taught the participants that 60% or so was on the front of the foot and did not emphasize all the weight being on the back. If i remember correctly, that was done in order to ensure maximal quad and overall leg drive on the extension.
I noticed about the Clean that Liao Hui catches his Clean and rises up with his Jerk grip. They mentioned how you must develop your back in order to maintain your integrity on the recovery and not have yourself collapse from the bar. Keeping an upright torso was especially emphasized and back strength must be developed extensively to maintain it.
All in all it was really enjoyable and very hands on. I personally am an avid online follower of coach Ma, Lu and Liao and have previously heard all of the things gone over at the seminar through my personal research on Chinese technique from this site, Diane Fu and other sources.
None the less, it was an experience that I had to jump on. Never do such high caliber athletes and coaches from other nations come to NYC like they did and run 2 days of seminars. It was surreal seeing them in person and not on YouTube.
Thanks for reading!
-James Chung
Update: Here is another review
well, this is surprising. Isn’t the USADA overstepping their jurisdiction with this stunt? riiight “Random” testing haha. Is the USADA an annex of the WADA?
Since I don’t want to have this post mutate into a pendlay forum thread I would prefer to focus the discussion on the seminar itself. Thank you 🙂
I apologize for rushing to comment about the testing thing, was really surprised by it. I really want to hear more about the seminar too since here in the philippines most of the priority athletes go for a training camp in china and i want to compare notes about the training methods.
USADA will have juristiction to test any lifter under WADA code as soon as they land on their turf. Same for ADN here in Norway, we can test foreign athletes here.
its still hyper douchey.
i ve read that in sweden or norway if youre too muscular and big you can be adressed by police with the “pee in a cup” demand) is that true?
As far as i know that happend in Sweden, but i can only remember once it happend, it was big in the media, people said you cant be tested just for looking trained.
Technically correct, however the police did get criticism for there behavior from the autorythy that monitor the police. But if you agree to take the test…..you can’t get evidence thrown out in the swedish court as in the us. The court are free to use the evidence put fort as they see fit.
Certain sources have reported it wasn’t USADA but in fact WADA. Not 100%, just the latest report. We will be hosting them at humble beast barbell club this wednesday 12/10, I’ll be sure to write a review!
hmmm well if it was in fact the WADA then i guess it was a good run for lu and liao. Sadly this would mean less foreign lifters would be more willing to hold seminars in the future.
If these foreign lifters are not clean then it is good that they are not giving any seminars! They don’t deserve it. It is already very bad that they take medals away from the clean athletes. And don’t tell me that all international lifters are on dope. It is possible to compete on world level without. I’m not sure gold is possible, but competing in B-groups is certainly possible and when all cheats are gone then groups would be A-groups! It is important that young athletes know this, otherwise it will never change. And I know what I am talking about..
yeah it will be so intresting to see people snatching 160 and CJ 200 in 105 category.
I don’t really buy this argument. The important thing is the competition itself in my opinion. Coming from team sports (handball), I think the most exciting thing even in weightlifting is a competition where several athletes perform on the same level, and you have the drama of athletic competition. The exact weight lifted is secondary to the competition itself.
This would be no different from today if all were clean, but that’s probably never going to happen. If PEDs should be banned or allowed is an open question if you ask me. The important thing is that it’s a level playing field, and I don’t think that’s the situation today. Some nations/teams/lifters probably have a better chance of beating tests and staying ahead pharmaceutically, and that’s the real problem in my book.
– signed dan bell
You clearly don’t. Wake up.
Looking forward to the review!
Going on sunday. Will be back with comments
Nice, see you around!
Forgot this part: Im not sure if you heard, but WADA/USADA showed up at the Brooklyn seminar to do a blood and urine test for Lu and Liao. This was a complete surprise to the host, ourselves, and the delegation. They went through the test but it significantly delayed the first seminar as it caused a long and intense discussion with the team manager.
Just got this email about the seminar: Coach Ma suggested that we cover technique and bring everyone up 1 by 1 to do some snatches and CJs while applying the Chinese approach. Coach Yu stepped in to compromise that the athletes can do some light demonstration but also assist participants (along with himself) to work with the participants. So basically, the participants get to lift and be corrected by Lu, Liao, Ma, and Yu. Additionally, we still had a Q&A with the athletes and Coach Yu that ranged from programming to personal.
Pardon me for asking, as I’m not familiar with PED cycles. But it seems that at this time, when the next competition that either Lu or Liao will have to worry about is nearly a year away in Houston (as both seem to be able to skip nationals freely), wouldn’t there be no reason for either to be actively on PEDs even if they do use them when training intensifies? In my highly limited knowledge, you would probably only take PEDs in very controlled amounts when you’re really into the meat of training for a competition since PEDs allow you to train harder than your body would normally tolerate. It seems that at this time, both Lu and Liao should be winding down and lifting very light weights with no need for “pharmaceutical aid” regardless of what they do in say, August.
This is not a thread about PED that wil get nowhere anyway. Please respect the topic of this post.
I attended the Sunday workshop here in Brooklyn. Format consisted of participants coming up one by one and being critiqued by the athletes and both coaches. One of the things I learned about their method of technique was the internal rotation of the shoulders in combination with a strong retraction when overhead. This was one of the main corrections for everyone that went up. Like i’m sure most of you have heard, they say it is a lot more stable.
That advice personally gave me some reassurance because I was always trying to excessively externally rotate my shoulders overhead when I would just naturally be internally and in a much more solid position. Mind you that I am flexible and am fairly mobile so hearing this made me realize that I should just go with the natural flow of my body which felt much more comfortable to begin with. It was noticeably present when Liao demonstrated as well.
Another thing that they pointed out was the fact that people were bending their wrists throughout the snatch and C&J. Coach Ma mentioned how Americans do this to keep the bar closer but it is the wrong idea because they should be relaxed along with the arms. The Chinese keep the bar almost in contact throughout the whole pull and do not bend their wrists in order to do this. One of the things that I found very interesting that coach Ma said during the seminar about early arm pull was that “if you use 10% of your arm going up into the second pull, you will only be using 90% during the third pull” or something along those lines. He said that you want to keep the arms and wrists relaxed so that you don’t take away from the third pull and so you can pull maximally.
I personally asked how the athletes stay in such shape and how they are so muscular and they responded that athletes do free workouts after their regular training and don’t necessarily follow any routine but just work on their “weak points”.
One thing that was also mentioned in the seminar was about the weight distribution in the food during the first pull. They taught the participants that 60% or so was on the front of the foot and did not emphasize all the weight being on the back. If i remember correctly, that was done in order to ensure maximal quad and overall leg drive on the extension.
I noticed about the clean that Liao Hui catches his clean and rises up with his jerk grip. They mentioned how you must develop your back in order to maintain your integrity on the recovery and not have yourself collapse from the bar. Keeping an upright torso was especially emphasized and back strength must be developed extensively to maintain it.
All in all it was really enjoyable and very hands on. I personally am an avid online follower of coach Ma, Lu and Liao and have previously heard all of the things gone over at the seminar through my personal research on Chinese technique from this site, Diane Fu and other sources. None the less, it was an experience that I had to jump on. Never do such high caliber athletes and coaches from other nations come to NYC like they did and run 2 days of seminars. It was surreal seeing them in person and not on YouTube.
Thanks for reading!
-James Chung
Very good review. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Cheers for the insight!
Did they say anything about the weight distribution of the foot in the receiving positions or during squats?
They mentioned the weight should be evenly distributed throughout the foot. Not all on heals, and not all on the ball of foot.
where is there info on signing up for one?! I want in!
just signed up! Wednesday!
How much was the price and how long? To me it seems like the Russian seminars are the most bang for your buck.
More of a brush
on the thigh or closer to the hip crease?
What did I learn from this post? More people care about PEDs and doping rather than training…smh
Is there any video record of this seminar?
I hear that for whatever reason people are not even allowed to take photos… which of course is stupid from a marketing standpoint.
Are there anymore reviews other than the first two; especially after a few more seminars have occured? 😀