Hi, everyone, it's me again I was kind of unsure if I'd be able to keep this up. Still, I have actually really been enjoying editing these videos and putting them out there, so these are my top 5 favourite accessory exercises after every single training session it's so important to do some extra work doing the main weightlifting session is most definitely not enough. Still, there's one of the movements that I actually adapted from the Italian national team and also another exercise that I learned while I was at my training camp in Romania in away.

I guess I'll be giving you guys an insight into what they do for their accessory work, so the first exercise I do quite often is the hyperextension. I will actually show you three different variations of doing this movement the first variation is usually more of a beginner's version so what I will do is put my hands on my shoulders this will just ensure that you're keeping your upper back tight what you really need to focus on during this exercise is that you move in a controlled way as you descend and then go up a bit faster you do not collapse your shoulders inwards as you slide downwards in the movement.

you also do not want to swing your body up and down always keep the movement controlled as you come down you even don't over exaggerate the extension when I come up in the hyperextension I almost want my back to reach the level of the rest of my body so that my entire body is in a line throughout my weightlifting accessories of thinker ear I've always been a quad-dominant update and a bit of a weaker posterior chain, so I really made sure to work on it super hard in the past few years this is basically a super exercise because it really does focus on lower back glutes and hamstrings at the same time if you want to make the training a bit harder

that's where you take it onto step two you will grab a plate always making sure you keep the same technique we did in the first variation when you do catch the plate try to hug it as close to your chest as possible same as before controlled movement downwards and a bit faster up if you want to take it to the next level what I will do is grab a barbell and do the hyperextensions with the barbell behind my head what I do suggest is if you've never tried this before always try it out with an empty bar and if you do have light bars available at your gym

so lighter than fifteen kilos go ahead and try it out with the lighter bars first eventually build your way slowly up to the heavier barbers and also load weights onto those barbells I think in this movement specifically you really need to be careful as to how to bring the barbell onto your shoulders behind the head and also how you let it go once you're ready from the movement so what I would do is roll the barbell as close to me as possible when I'm in the bottom position tuck my head in and pull the barbell up then lift my head up, and that's when I start the movement when I'm ready from my repetitions I will then do the same thing

I go down tuck my head in and drop the bar with this last variation I usually do around five sets of five reps not much more especially if I'm doing weights that are like thirty-five or forty kilos. The reason I don't do too many repetitions is that it's actually quite a tough exercise and I never want to risk doing a wrong repeat just focus on keeping my back super tight and doing the movement correctly, so the second movement I like to do is something I actually use a lot during my training camp in Romania basically while I was there the coach I was training with immediately realised that my overhead position in the snatch was not the absolute best.

I would do is not activate my upper back, and because of that reason, my shoulder would always be likely forwards, and then, of course, I used to get a lot of movement in the joints. It was the main reason I missed more massive lift he really made me focus on always activating the upper back as I hold a barbell overhead now I always make sure to punch out the weight in that exact position tightening my upper back. I have seen considerable improvements in my snatch, so this movement is actually a strict press and a snatch grip from behind the neck the first variation of this movement is actually doing it standing up you want to really punch out the weight in its place. Every time you reach that final position, you want to activate your upper back.

I used to only focus on pushing up my shoulders and pushing through my elbows however I have used to always neglect my upper back muscles after you've done the first variation if you want to make the exercise a bit harder you can actually sit in a squat position this way it's a lot more relatable to what you're actually doing in the snatch the final catch position is of course in the squat this exercise is definitely one of the main activities that helped fix my snatch I've actually been a lot more consistent in my snatches so thanks Romania next training.

I love to do is it does I guess in a way resemble a type of deadlift what you really need to focus on is not rebending the knees any further and only changing the angle of your back [Applause], so it should feel like you're only pivoting at the hip bringing the chest forwards but still keeping the chest open and chin up in this video I'm showing you the movement with lighter weights, but I do go up to quite heavy loads up to 110 per cent of my snatch or clean it definitely strengthened the that type of movement I think before I used to try to dip my knees through under the bar a bit too much and this exercise really helped with not allowing myself to do that it has helped me a lot with the second pole in both the snatch and clean and jerk and it works really well so next exercise

I will show you guys is an essential exercise and specific to myself if you know me at all you know that I suffer quite a bit with the jerk this particular exercise has really helped with me focusing on that end position what I will do is keep the barbell behind the neck I will place my feet in the split position or do a jerk so that my feet go in the split position push press the barbell overhead while still maintaining that divided position.

I do usually do this with heavy-ish weights, and I'll also sometimes do the same exercise in a front rack instead of keeping the barbell behind the head while doing this exercise try to be super steady as soon as you punch up the weight overhead and don't allow any like small movements in that position also you want to punch up directly above your head again when you're doing this exercise you want to feel like your upper back is super tight in that end position as well okay so I told you guys what I learned from Romania.

Now I'm gonna tell you what I to come from the Italians there's the time it's an exercise that works on your entire backside all the way from the traps down to the hamstrings the first time I saw them do it looked kind of ridiculous. I just thought what on earth are they even doing, but when I tried that I woke up the next day, and I swear my entire back was so sore I could really feel how much it worked on my back muscles so what you want to do is grab 225-kilo plates or 320 plates.

I did in this video you want to stand on the plates holding the bar in a grip that's between the snatch and the clean squeeze so somewhere in between doesn't really matter exactly where you will then start off by tucking your chin in bringing your head down rolling your shoulders inwards and then almost feeling like you're going into your own body as you just send downwards spin your knees slightly.

Bend but never rebounding you would then bring yourself up in the exact same way and make sure to open up in that end position bring the shoulders back upper back tight and chin up you don't want to do it way too fast a common mistake in this movement is making it easier by shifting your weight backwards as you descend so bringing your bum back as you bring the barbell down it's almost the entire point of the exercise that you feel like the barbell is trying to pull you forward onto your toes and using your hamstrings glutes and back you kind of hold yourself into place.

you also don't you re-bend your knees any further and really focus on the rolling of the shoulders into your body and even as you roll out of that position I would really recommend for you guys to try that is especially if you haven't tried it before if you do suffer from not being able to maintain a tight position in the start position as you're pulling the barbell up if you tend to make the mistake of collapsing inwards as you pick up a barbell off the floor this is an excellent exercise to just tighten up your back muscles.