Starting Strength

barbell movement in a gravitational framework. Starting positions that place the bar forward of mid-foot or that involve vertical arms will either cause the bar to be pulled in a non-vertical path or cause a shift in back angle, both of which are costly in terms of unnecessary energy expended on the lifter’s body or the barbell. Not only is a bar that is farther away from the hips harder to pull because of the longer moment arm between bar and hips, but movements that do not contribute to the vertical displacement of the load also represent wasted work capacity. Although some very good lifters may excel at performing the lifts inefficiently, this does not mean that their method is efficient. The most efficient way to pull a barbell off the floor will be the way that produces the most straight vertical bar path, because that’s the way that comports with the fact that the actual work to be done against gravity in a deadlift is the energy spent vertically displacing the weight as close to the hips as possible.

    Figure 4-23. Bar path tracings of a typical heavy, snatch, clean and deadlift.

    Furthermore, the center-of-mass considerations described earlier explain many aspects of this curved bar path. Think of the two ways the bar can move: vertically and horizontally. In a very general sense, vertical movement is accomplished by muscular force generated along the rigid segments of the body interacting with the load, and horizontal movement is accomplished by manipulating the body’s mass in relation to the barbell. So pulling force comes from the muscles that extend the knees and hips, and from the muscles that keep the back rigid and keep the bar in the hands and correctly positioned under the spine. Horizontal movement, made necessary by the incorrect positioning of the body/barbell system over the balance point, results from movement of the body’s mass in an attempt to influence the position of the bar.
    Some coaches teach that the hips should be dropped, the shoulders should be positioned behind the bar, and the back should be as vertical as possible. This start position will always create a lot of movement in both lifter and barbell before the weight actually leaves the floor, because this position places the bar forward of the mid-foot as the hips drop and the knees drop forward, pushing the shins and the bar forward, away from both the mid-foot and the hips. It also places the lifter’s COM behind the bar. At heavy weights, the bar out-masses the lifter by perhaps more than 300% in strong lifters. The lifter can move the bar horizontally by manipulating the mass of his body relative to the bar, as evidenced by the layback at the top of a clean or snatch, where the bar is forward of the balance point. Since the barbell is much heavier than the part of the lifter’s body behind it, the reaction between the bar and body positions will be proportionate to the differences in the mass. If the bar is forward of the balance point by 3 inches as it passes the hips in a clean, the layback will have to be much greater than that since the body is lighter than the bar. And if the layback does not sufficiently dampen the forward displacement, the lifter will have to jump forward to make the catch.

    Figure 4-24. Use of the body’s mass is necessary to produce a horizontal bar path component. The body’s pulling machinery can efficiently move the bar upward, but the vertical orientation of the lifter/barbell system cannot effectively move the bar horizontally. For that, we make the mass of the body move horizontally to react against the mass of the barbell. Since the heavy barbell out-masses the lifter, his body must move further horizontally to effectively react against the barbell.

    The same thing happens when the bar is on the floor: if you shove a heavy bar forward, your body mass behind it reacts against the bar’s forward displacement by acting as a cantilever for the horizontal motion necessary to bring the bar back into balance over the mid-foot and closer to the hips. The feet are pinned to the ground by the load, so as the pull starts, the mass of body behind the bar reacts against the mass of the bar which is forward of the balance point. The bar rolls back and leaves the ground in a curve as the body swings forward around the hands and positions itself in equilibrium, with the shoulders forward of the bar. As this position settles in, the bar path becomes vertical. This movement is, of course,