If I shared a weightlifting technique that could significantly increase your clients’ or athletes’ performance over the long-term would you consider it?

I learned my weightlifting technique from some solid strength coaches in the profession including Coach Istavan Javorek, Coach Tommy Moffitt, and Coach Charles Stephenson who are all veterans in their own right.  In our interactions I can remember only a handful of times that the Double Knee Bend (DKB) technique was discussed.

In this blog I’m going to describe the DKB, examine some evidence for its consideration, and offer some ways coaches and trainers can apply the DKB to their gym bag of training tools.

As I begin I want to express that this is a technique I’m working on learning and mastering in my personal workouts and exploring ways to implement it with some of my high school students.  I’ve learned it can be a challenge to teach but I also see the benefit it can provide for practitioners.

Do you have an opinion on implementing this technique and if so could I get your feedback on this blog?

A few years ago I was refreshing my knowledge of weightlifting technique so I retook the USAW Sports Performance Course by Harvey Newton.  During the presentation our class discussed the benefits of the DKB.  There were about 30 personal trainers, cross-fit professionals, and coaches in this certification and at one point we were all struggling to understand if this DKB technique should be implemented and exactly how to do it.  It was then when I realized how unprepared I was to teach and defend either side of the DKB technique for weightlifting and sport performance.

A combination of mentor conversations plus certification experiences have lead me to deduct there are still many coaches and trainers that don’t understand the DKB, whether this technique is beneficial, and if it can provide an advantage in sport performance.

In the last blog #42 on Power Clean Technique, Coach Blaser noted the transition from the 1^st pull to the 2^nd pull that: “From here, we have a minor ‘transitional phase’ that settles the weight onto the mid-foot and heel, so that the athlete does not feel like they are going to topple forward.”  This is the precise moment I’d like to freeze frame the lifting technique and ask some experts where they stand.

1. In a NSCA classic paper by my first strength and conditioning coach, Javorek talks about teaching the technique in the snatch and clean and jerk exercises:

https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/teaching-of-technique-in-the-snatch-and-clean-and-jerk/

Coach Javorek states after the correct set-up position and 1^st Pull there is a Position #3. The second knee bent and shrug (the hitting phase). Still flat footed, toes free, elbows turned out, shoulders turned in, the head in a fixed position in your neck and back.”

2. More recently in 2013 I attended the coaches college at ETSU where Mike Stone presented on Weightlifting Technique: the pulling movements and on slides 13-18 he discussed the advantages:

DKB seen in (pictures 3-4):

• Reduced load on the torso extensor muscles
• Re-utilization of the hip & knee musculature through the strongest part of their range of motion
• Force enhancement (eccentric) elastic energy storage and stretch reflex for enhancement of the 2nd pull

(pictures 4-5) thrust force:

Modified from Garhammer 2009

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

So at this point you could be thinking why all this fuss about bending the knees a second time when doing the clean or snatch exercise for sports performance?  Now that we have established this technique as an advantage for weightlifters I’d like to suggest how this could be a real game changer in its transfer over to sports performance.

This past summer I saw a presentation (slide share link below) on the DKB at the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning  Coaches Association (CSCCa) by Coach Josh Robertson titled “Precise Speed & Agility Training and How to teach the DKB.”  This highlighted some ways that Appalachian State University saw the transfer over to football performance.  He defines the DKB as: “a technique that requires the re-bending of the knees as the barbell passes across the knee joint. Thus applying an eccentric stretch, which stores elastic energy in the series elastic components of the muscle before a rapid explosive extension of both the knees and hips. The DKB technique is essential to the transfer-ability of weightlifting movements to football playing ability.”

https://www.slideshare.net/secret/gs4xFHF4p897xV

The power of the mid-thigh pull is necessary for both horizontal and vertical movements in running, jumping, and throwing.  I documented my approach to this with an overview of my methodology in a previous blog:

https://morlandstrength.com/2015/01/24/educational-series-by-gs-coaches-topic-2-methodology/

All trainers and coaches recognize the benefit of triple extension in athletic performance (see picture below).  The question remains, do others see the coordination between power-athletes and the DKB that Coach Robertson makes in his presentation?

I teach two classes of strength and conditioning and coach many teams at my high school.  Since I arrived three years ago I’ve seen how most of my students and athletes struggle through the second pull of the power clean.  Recently in taking physics and a certification by Totten Training Systems, and having some conversations with a sharp young strength coach Rob Duncan, it’s occurred to me that the center of mass of the bar and the lifter is causing the problem.  Most of my athletes don’t get a good “knee pass” and the bar gets so far out in front of them they can’t chase it down.  This creates a real problem with novice lifters.

What I have begun doing in my 1^st pulls technique is slowing my lifters down and emphasizing the bar position below and above the knees with deadlifts, clean pulls, and even with roman deadlifts.  This is helping them become more aware of the barbells and creates the potential for them to keep the bar closer to the body.  As a result I’m finding that the knees tend to rebend into the second pull without much cueing.

In sports performance, in jumping, accelerating, and running it can be observed that the neuro-muscular coordination is also present in these movements.  A strong mid-thigh pull transfers directly to how much power the athlete can transfer to the push motion on the ground and thus makes this technique worth considering.  At Morland STRENGTH we desire to dialog about these types of topics and educate others for champion moments in the classroom, on the field, and in the community.  Thanks for reading and send us your comments!

References:

1. Teaching of Technique in the Snatch and Clean and Jerk by Javorek, I. NSCA Journal 8 (5): 56-62, 1986.
2. Weightlifting Technique: the Pulling movements. Coaches College on December 12^th, 2013 by Michael H. Stone
3. Percise Speed & Agility Training and How to Teach the DKB by Robertson at the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association May 2016

Chris Morland, MS, CSCS
Director of Strength and Conditioning/Teacher
Educator and Coach | Visionary in High School Strength and Conditioning

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