Bumper Plates - Vulcan Alpha Series Check out our latest informational video on Vulcan Alpha Bumper Plates .

Olympic Barbells - Thus Spoke the Barbell A Definitive Guide and Review of Vulcan Olympic Barbells, Barbell Care, Manufacturing Methods, and Recommendations for Use. Whip...Is it all just hype? The IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) has a long established and specific rule that forbids intentionally oscillating the barbell to create advantage: Incorrect movements for the Jerk: 2.5.4.2 Any deliberate oscillation of the barbell to gain advantage. The athlete must be

Vulcan Bumper Plates Care and Maintenance Vulcan Bumper Plates are a high quality and durable product. We have included some information below that will help you to prolong the life of your equipment so that you receive years of service and high performance. Vulcan Bumper plates are made from a process called Vulcanization. No, seriously they are, we didn't make that up. Vulcanization is a chemical process of converting natural rubber or related polymers into more durable ma

What CrossFitters Do Better Than Weightlifters By Coach Dan Bell Lauren Fisher, CrossFit Games athlete and USAW Junior National Champion...

Keep Your Hands on the Bar by Coach Dan Bell Anatoli Pisarenko (photo credit unknown) A detail of weightlifting technique not often...

Use Straps for Weightlifting Use Straps By Coach Dan Bell “I don’t like straps. I’m not used to them.” “My CrossFit coach says I’ll get dependent on them.” “I don’t want my grip to get weak.” “Straps are cheating, because you can lift more with straps than without.” “Only wussies use straps.” I’ve heard every reason not to use straps when training the Olympic lifts. None are valid. (Well, one is, but we’ll get to that) There will be times and circumstances in every lifter’s c

Lifting: Faster is Not the Fix One of the easiest ways a coach can get someone to hit a personal record Olympic lift at a clinic is to tell them “move faster” or “pull faster,” the core precept of the philosophy that “speed kills!” And it works. Many lifters will hit PRs. CrossFitters and casual weightlifters will walk away singing that coach’s praises when their snatch goes from 60kg to 63kg in a weekend. The extra speed works for a while, anyway. For a little more weight on

Going Under the Bar I’v e had a number of CrossFitters and weightlifters complain to me that they have an almost impossible time going under a snatch, or, less often, the clean or jerk. Someone in their lives may have ascribed this technique flaw to a lack of “guts.” A coach or fellow lifter convinced the athlete that the reason they did not go under the bar was a substantial character flaw: the lifter did not have enough courage to go under the bar. But being brave has nothi

Deadlifting You don't have to spend much time in the sport of weightlifting before you understand in your bones the importance of squatting to success in the sport. In every training hall you'll hear talk of impressive back squat weights. On weightlifting message boards people dissect and argue every conceivable permutation of squatting programs like the Texas Method or Russian Squat or Smolov. There are nearly as many Youtube videos of world class lifters back squatting as t