I just got this handy camera that I will also use as a coaching tool. It can film stuff at 240 and 600 frames per second. This means that the camera is taking more pictures than the standard 30 or 60 fps, and thus can capture very fast movements (I got it for the Olympic lifts). Unfortunately the 600 fps degrades in quality (the resolution goes down quite a bit), and since the camera is taking so many pictures, you need a pretty hardcore light source to get the most out of it. The 240 fps works pretty well for my purposes in a gym, so I decided to share some of the videos with you after messing around with it on the first day.

It’s pretty sweet to watch the Olympic lifts when they are slowed down, and you can see little deviations in bar movement very well. Sammerr is the subject of our first video — he is a friend of mine that Rip and I have coached since he’s been at the gym. He’s a pretty damn strong 94 kg lifter (I just watched him deadlift 545 for a triple the other day), and was doing some 140 kg cleans. He’s clean and jerked 150 in competition, and these didn’t look particularly hard. His technique is solid in that the bar leaves the floor in a vertical bar path. Also note the shrug at the top of the pull.



After seeing the video slowed down, we thought it was pretty cool. So Sammerr loaded the bar to 90 kg and did a quick power snatch so we could film it. His form is, again, very solid (we finally got his start position consistent). My only nagging point is that he could have shrugged his shoulders a bit more at the rack, but a solid power snatch. It wasn’t that heavy — Sammerr has snatched 112 in competition and 120 in training. If he keeps pulling the bar vertical like he is here, he’ll easily hit at least 120 in competition.



For the hell of it, I also filmed one of my favorite people at the gym, “Peez”. She was power cleaning singles on the minute, so I had lots of footage on her. This was also the first time I coached in real time, then consulted a camera. It’s useful, but I don’t think a coach should be dependent on the camera to verify what’s wrong. Peez has come a long way in the last year and a half and has gotten pretty explosive on her power cleans.



Follow the jump for a squat video.
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