JOURNAL OF APPLIED BtOMECHANtCS, 19^(1, 12, 1996 by Humnti Kinelics Publishers, Inc,

Kinematic Analysis of the Barbell During the Snatch Movement of Elite Asian Weight Lifters
Tadao Isaka, Junichi Okada, and Kazuo Funato
The purpose of this study was to describe the kinematic characteristics of the snatch technique from the viewpoint of barbell trajectory. Subject.^ included 6 elite male Asian weight lifters who participated in the first Japan International Friendship Tournament in 1993, Trajectories of the barbell during snatch lifts in the competition were videotaped. Three vertical acceleration peaks of the barbell during ihe pull movement were observed and corresponded to the first pull, transition, and second pull pha.ses. The angle of the resultant acceleration (ARA) of the barbell averaged US" in the first pull and transition pull phases. Lithe second pull ph;ise. the ARA was almost 140. indicating that the barbell was accelerated anterioriy. away from the lifter. The results of this study suggest that during the firsi pull and transition pull phases, elite lifters pulled the barbell toward themselves to produce the needed vertical acceleration and that the resulting posterior movement of the barbell was controlled by the forward acceleration produced in the second pull phase.

Olympic-style weight lifting consists of two different lifts, the snatch and the cleanand-jerk. Weight lifting contests are judged on the total of the best weight lifted in each of the two lifts. These lifts are done very rapidly, with propulsion of the barbell again.st gravity occupying less than 1 s. Weight lifters arc required to generate a great deal of muscular power during each lift (Garhammer, 1985. 1993) and to effectively transfer this power to the barbell. Analysis of top performances during competition produces scientific knowledge about successful lifting techniques and yields information u.seful for coaching. The purpose of this study was to describe the kinematic characteristics of the snatch lift technique used by elite male Asian weight lifters from the viewpoint of barbell trajectory.

Methods
Top-level male Asian weight lifters were videotaped during the first Japan International Friendship Tournament in 1993 in Minakami, Japan. There were national team members from China, Korea, and Japan. The best weight lifter in each of six weight categories from 76 kg to +108 kg was chosen for analysis. The weight category, body mass, height, and tournament record of each subject are shown in Table 1. Lifts chosen for analysis were the

Tadao Isaka is with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusat.su. Shiga 525-77, Japan. Junichi Okada is with the Department of Sports Sciences. Waseda University. Tokorozawa, Saitama 359, Japan. Ka/uo Funato is with the Department of Life Sciences (Sports Sciences), University of Tokyo, Meguro. Tokyo 153. Japan. 508

Kinematic Analysis of Barbell Table 1 Weight Category and Best Weight Lifted in Competition Tor Each Subject

509

Class

Subject U NK KB NY CD PH

Mass (kg) 74.05 79.25 90.10 97.85 104.80 122.95

Height (cm) I6I.5 161.1 174.5 178.5 182.9 181.5

Snatch (kg) 142.5 137.5 155.0 160.0 160.0 160.0

Jerk (kg) 180.0 175.0 195.0 207.5 210.5 200.0

Total (kg) 322.5 312.5 350.0 367.5 370.0 360.0

76
83 91 99 108 + 108

heaviest successful snatch lift of each subject, which occurred on the third attempt for all subjects except LJ (76-kg class) and KB (91 -kg cla.ss). who lifted Iheir heaviest weights on their first lift. The apparatus used for data collection in this experiment was a Video-Tracker Sy.stem (OKK Inc., Tokyo) capable of automatically measuring the trajectories of the illuminated points through a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. The information obtained with the video-tracker system was subsequently sent to a host computer through a genera I-purpose interface bus for calculation of displacement, velocity, and acceleration in the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) directions. Raw data were transformed to real distance units using the calibration scale placed in the field of view. A calibration scale was taken during an intermission in the competition. Barbell trajectories during snatch trials in the competition were videotaped at right angles to the sagittal plane of the lifters. The distance between the CCD camera and the lifter was 10 m. with the camera height adjusted to the middle level of the movement. Barbell trajectories of these weight lifters were sampled at 60 fields per second, A second-order Butterworth filter was utilized with a cutoff frequency of 3,6 Hz to smooth the position-time data for the barbell. The filtered displacement-time data were differentiated by the finite difference method (Winter, 1990) to determine the velocitytime curve. Barbell acceleration information was obtained by taking a derivative of the velocity-time data. The angle between the direction of the resultant acceleration vector of barbell and horizontal line was defined as the angle of the resultant acceleration (ARA). ARA was calculated from the horizontal and vertical acceleration of the barbell. Correlation analysis among the obtained data was used, and p < .05 was taken to indicate statistical significance.

Results Barbell Trajectory

Barbell trajectories for the heaviest successful snatch lifts of each weight lifter are shown in Figure I, together with the corresponding weight categories. Vertical reference lines were drawn through the center of the barbell disks just prior to lift-off. The subjects were standing to the right of the vertical reference lines in Figure 1. The snatch lift requires a barbell to be lifted from the floor to straight arm's length overhead in one continuous motion. The snatch movement is divided into the following

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tsaka, Okada, and Funato

1

Vertical
76kg

1 ^

4 ^

50aii

Horizontal
SOcm

Figure 1 The harhell trajectories of suhjects during their heaviest successful snatch. Vertical reference liucs were drawn through the barhell just prior to lift-olT.

phases; start position just prior to lift-off, first pull, transition, second pull, catch position, and finish. The barbell trajectories shown in Figure 1 were all similar in one respect: At the beginning of the first pull phase, the barbell moved toward the lifter, followed by movement away from the lifter, and finally toward the lifter again as the bar descended with the lifter moving under the bar into catch position. In every case, except for the 76-kg class, ihe path of the barbell remained to the right ol' the vertical reference line projected upward from the start position nf Ihe barbell. In the case of the 76-kg class, the bar trajectory remained to the lett after the first pull.

Barbell Displacement and Velocity

Vertical displacements from the start position to the highest pull position ranged from 1.52 to 1.63 ni in this study, and vertical displacements from start to catch were 0.96 to 1.15 m. When the vertical displacement to catch was calculated as a percentage of displacement to highest pull position. LJ (76-kg class) had the lowest value. 62.1%, and CD (108-kg class) had the highest value, 70.8%. Lifting the resting barbell effectively requires minimizing each of the horizontal and vertical displacements, the maximum height during Ihe second pull to the catch phase height, and the vertical drop displacement from maximum height to catch position. Movement range of the barbell was defined as the horizontal traveling distance in the pull phase plus the vertical dropping distance from maximum height to catch position (Figure 2). The minimum horizontal travel distance for the barbell wa.s 8.4 cm, seen in KB (91-kg) and PH {+IO8-kg). The vertical travel distance of the barbell in all 6 lifters ranged from 10.1 cm (76-kg class) to 24.3 cm (108-kg). The total travel distance, calculated as horizontal plus vertical values, was less than 30 cm in all subjects except CD, the tallest athlete (108-kg class), whose travel distance was 34.9 cm.

Kinematic Analysis of Barbell

511

40

20

t
76 83 91
200

0 fl
CQ

10

1 i 1 1 1 1

I
99

hoHzontal vertical total

108

+108

100

so

X-displacement (cm)

0 50 X-displacemcnt (cm)

horizontal

vertical

Figure 2 TVavel range of harbell calculated from the harbell trajectory.

The time-velocity relationship of the barbell, particularly the maximum vertical velocity, is considered an important parameter in performance evaiuation by coaches and athletes. Figure 3 shows a representative barbell velocity curve from the start to catch position in NK.The vertical velocity of the barbell increased steadily to a maximum value during the second pull phase. The other lifters had velocity-time curves similar to NK's. except for PH, who clearly had two peaks of barbell veiocity because of a decreasing velocity during the transition phase. The horizontal velocity increased posteriorly until the transition phase and then moved sharply in the anterior and posterior directions during the second pull phase.

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Isaka, Okada, and Funato

\ -

200

E o .t: o ^

100 50 0

to

-100
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5
horizontal vertical

time (sec)
Figurt' 3 Ueprescntative barheil vclocit.v-tinie curve Kf' catch position (Subject NK).

from the start p4>sition to the

In this study, the maximum vertical velocity appeared during the second pull phase and averaged 186 cm/s. The highest value (195 cni/s) was observed in NY in the 99-kg class. There was a significant relationship between the horizontal travel distance and the maximum vertical velocity (/ = .916. p < .05).

Angle of Resultant Acceleration of the Barbell

The barbell, from a resting position on the platform, was lifted against gravity with the vertical acceleration provided by the lifter. During the pull movement (Figure 4). there were three peaks in the vertical acceleration of the barbell. The observed peaks correspemded to the first pull, transition, and second pull phases of the lift. The lifter in the 108kg cla.ss produced a poorly defined second peak of vertical acceleration, while in the other classes three peaks of vertical acceleration were clearly seen. Figure 5 shows the angles of the resultant acceleration (ARAs) of the barbell at peak vertical accelerations 1. 2. and 3 as calculated according tu the data in Figure 4b. ARA at Peak 1 of vertical acceleration in ail subjects was vertical or slightly toward the lifter; similarly, ARA at Peak 2 of vertical acceleration was almost vertical. !n the second

Kinematic Analysis of Barbell

513

I
cm/sec +957.7
Ap1 Ap3

1
2
V

A/

r
time

1105.0
200 r

100

0 50 X-displacement (cm) Figure 4 (a) Typical sample of vertical acceleration of barbell and fb) calculation of the angle of resultant accekralion at peak vertical acceleration 1, 2. and 3, (The peak vertical accelerations Apl, Ap2, and Ap3 corresponded to the first puEl, transition, and second pull phases, respectively.)

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Isaka, Okada, and Funato

n
76 83 91 99 108 +108

Apl

ApJ

Figure 5 The angles of resultant acceleration at peak vertical accelerations 1, 2, and 3.

pull phase. ARA averaged about 1.37 (16) with a range of 110 to 158", indicating that the barbell In all cases was accelerated atiteriorly away from the lifters.

Discussion
The medal awards in weight-lifting contests depend on how much total weight is lifted with two lifting styles. Movement ofthe barbell is determined by the forces applied by the weight lifter. The relationships between displacement and time, or velocity and time, are often used at a practical level as the most important indices for as.sessing lifting technique (Baumann, Gross. Quade. Galbierz. & Schwirtz. 1988). In this study, barbell trajectories, except for one subject, did not cross the vertical reference line projected upward from the start position. Rather, the barbell was pulled toward the lifter during the snatch movement, especially from the first pull to transition phase. This technique used during the first pull and transititm phase most likely requires the body to be inclined away from vertical, and the resulting barbell trajectory follows the inclination ofthe body. Garhammer (1983) reported a similar pattern of barbell trajectory, but his data showed the trajectory to cross the vertical reference line. He suggested that the obtained trajectory may be considered optimal by some experts. The obtained pattems of barbell trajectory in this study are similar to those of world-class weight lifters at the 1985 World Weight Lifting Championship, as analyzed by Baumann et al. (1988), who indicated that pulling the barbell toward the lifter was widely used as a new technique, and that usually this movement ended with a jump backw;u-d in the drop pha.se under the barbell, which was previously considered an undesirable technique. From a mechanical standpoint, it is thought that for effective lifting technique, the barbel! should move along the vertical reference line in tirder to reduce the horizontal work and the vertical drop displacement from maximum height to catch position. Many coaches have advised lifter.'i to pull the barbell straight up and to minimize drop displacement from maximum height to catch position. In this sttjdy. there was little difference

Kinematic Analysis of Barbell

515

between the horizontal travel range of the barbell in the various lifters, with a range of approximately 10 cm. On the other hand, the vertical travel range of barbell of the lifters varied widely from K) to 24 cm. Two typical barbell veloeily curves have been reported (Baumann et ai., 1988; Garhammer, 1985). One type of velocity curve has two velocity peaks, and another one steadily increases to a single maximum velocity. Top elite lifters have been characterized lo have the latter type of velocity pattern and seldom show any notable dip in vertical veloeity. This meatis that skillful lifters could pull the barbell more smoothly during the transition pha.se without a marked deceleratioti of the barbell. Maximum vertical velocities during the snatch movement were approximately 1.8 m/s, similar to those of top world-class lifters (Baumann et al.. 1988). Interestingly, in this study there was a significant relationship between the horizontal travel range of the barbell and maximum vertical velocity. Linear movement, regardless of direction, results from a combination of several joint rotations. In lifting, the extensor muscles about the ankle, knee, and hip joints contribute to the control of antagonistic muscles in a sequence progressing from the hip to the ankle. This sequence is related to the sequence of the three pha.ses of the pull during this lifting task. When these extensor muscles are maximally activated for a brief period of time, the lifter's body is pulled backward close to full extension because of the larger contribution of hip extensors. These muscle activities induce not only greater vertical velocity but also a small amount of horizontal travel of the barbell. The horizontal movement of the barbell during the pull phase should be considered an effective application of muscle power and a reasonable estimate of movemetit iti elite lifters who utilize hip extensor resources to contribute to the movement. Therefore, a small amount of horizontal movement is necessary for good lifting technique provided the proximal to distal sequence of joint action is followed (Isaka, Mitsushima, & Funato, 1995). During the pull phase, the elite lifter utilizes the double knee-bend technique, which requires considerable practice and demands substantial control of knee joint motion (Burdett. 1982; Enoka. 1979, 1988: Kauhanen, Hakkinen. & Komi. 1984). The double knee-bend technique involves a rebending of the knee during the transition phase after the barbell has been lifted tojust above knee level (Garhammer, 1989). This technique, which is unique to weight lifting and which has similar effects as observed iti the countermovement in vertical jumping (Garhammer, 1992), permits reemployment of powerful knee exten,wr muscles through their strongest range of motion and may utilize stored elastic energy and stretch-reflex facilitation of final knee extension to develop the explosive muscle power required during the lift (Boseo, Tarkka, & Komi, 1982: Etioka, 1979; Komi & Bosco, 1978), Acceleration of the barbell can provide interesting information for evaluation, such as the timing and direction of the applied force. However, information concerning barbell acceleration has not been published and utilized to the fullest extent. There were obviously three peaks in the venicai acceleration that corresponded to the three phases of the pull movement. Such a pattern is unlikely in a novice lifter, especially the seeotid peak in venicai acceleration during the transition phase. Appearance of the second peak in vertical acceleration could be used as a criterion of lifting skill. If there were no horizontal acceleration during the peaks in vertical acceleration, then the forces produced by the lifter would be completely transmitted in the vertical direction without any loss of energy. But, if horizontal acceleration occurs, the force transmitted to the barbell is away from the desired venicai direction. The angles of the resultant acceleration of the barbell averaged 85 in the flrst pull and transition phases. In the sec-

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Isaka, Okada. and Funato

otid pull phase, the angle of the resultant acceleration averaged about 140, with a range of 110 lo 160'^, indicating that in all ca.scs the barbell was accelerated anteriorly, away from the lifters. The results of this s(udy suggest that during the first pull and transition phases, elite lifters pull the barbell toward themselves to produce effective vertical acceleration. On the other hand, this posterior movement of the barbell is controlled by the anterior acceleration produced in the second pull phase.

References
Baumann, W., Gross, V., Quade, K., Gaibierz. P., & Schwirtz, A. (1988), The snatch technique of world class weightlifters at ihe 1985 world championships. International Joumal of Sport Biomechanics, 4. 68-89. Bosco, C T a r k k a , !.,& Komi. P.V. (1982). Effectof elastic energy and myoeleclrical polenliation of triceps surae during si retch-shortening cycle exercise, huemational Journal of Sports Medicine, X 137-140, Burdett, R.G. (1982). Biomechanics of the snatch technique of highly skilled and skilled weightlifters. Research Quarterly, 5i. 193-197. Enoka, R.M. (1979). The pull in Olympic weightlifting. Medicine and Science in Sports. I I . 131137. Enoka. R.M. (1988). Load- and skill-relaled changes in segmental conlributions to a weightlifling movement. Medicine und Science in Sports and Exercise, 20. 178-187. Garhammer, J. (1985). Biomechanical proiDes of Olympic weightlifters. Intemational Joumal of Sport Biomechanics, I, 122-130. Garhammer, J. (1989). Weightliliing and training. In C.L.Vaughn (Ed.), Biomechanics of sport {pp. 169-211). Boca Raton. FL: CRC Press. Garhammer, J. (1992). A comparison of propulsive forces for weightlifting and vertical jumping. Journal of Applied Sport Science Research. 6, 129-134. Garhammer. J. (1993). A review of power output studies of Olympic and poweriifting: Methodology, performance prediction, and evaluation tests. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Re.wm-h. 7. 76-89. Isaka, T., Mitsushima. R., & Funato, K. (1995). Kinematic analysis on the snatch technique of world records in elite female weightlifters (Abstract). \nXVtli Congress ctf ihe Intemational Society of Biomechanics (pp. 422-423). Jyvaskyla. Finland: Gummeru.s Priming. Kauhanen. H., Hakkinen. K.. & Komi. P.V. (1984). A biomechanical analysis of the snatch and clean and jerk techniques of Finnish elite and di.*itrict level weightlifters. Scandinavian Joumal of Sports Science, 6. 47-56. Komi. P.V., & Bosco, C. (1978). Utilizationof stored elastic energy in leg extensor muscles by men and women. Medicine and Science in Sports, 10. 261-265. Winter, D.A. (1990). Biomechunics and motor control of human movement (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.