Olympic High Bar Squat

I watched a lot of Olympic Weightlifting videos the other day. I come from a Chinese background, so logically, I would watch the vast array for Chinese Olympic Weightlifters. My favourite would have to be Liao Hui. He competes professionally in the 69kg weight class, and holds the Clean and Jerk world record for that class. It's really motivational when you see what people in the same ethical group as you achieve something way beyond your reach. When I finished the videos on Youtube, I wanted to Snatch a bus and overhead squat it!

Liao Hui - 69KG

On another occasion, I was fortunate to see a video of "Ivan Charkarov" demonstrating a No-No-No Squat for a Triple. It was the first time I've heard of the sequence; it means:

• No Belt
• No Wrap
• No Spotter

The form was incredible, hitting ATG on every rep and keep the body as upright as possible. Not to mention it was for a whopping 270KG!

But Louie Simmons, a powerful figure in Powerlifting also said that...

"powerlifting coach Louie Simmons would say that just by looking at Chakarov, he could tell that Chakarov didn't know how to squat right - because his quads were too big"


It makes me really insecure when these situations pop out of the blue. As an athlete striving for a successful career, it is my best interest to find out as much as I know. When these situations come, I don't know which side to lean on, should I still squat ATG, or parallel? But after all, Louie Simmons is a POWERLIFTING coach, and has less carryover to athletic prowess. Contrast to Chakarov, an Olympic Weightlifter, group of genetic superior men who has a higher vertical, and can win the first 30m of a 100m race when compared to Track athletes.