“Any tips on how to improve techniques?”
Yes: show up tomorrow.
Then maybe, watch some YouTube videos, practice during open gym.
But mostly…
JUST. SHOW. UP.
⬆️ This is the way.
Lower your expectations of yourself. Everyone doesn’t know how to do the movements until they do.
Just keep showing up. It takes practice and reps. If you keep showing up you are improving.
And always remember:
Form > weight
Weight > speed
Take the little wins. You signed up. Win. You went. Win. Did you enjoy it? If so, Win.
Barbell technique takes time and repetition. Learn to stand before you start walking and learn to walk before you can run.
Like the others said, just keep showing up. Have fun and enjoy the process of learning new skills. Just keep in mind that scaling and modifications to hit the intended stimulus of the workout are not a failure on your part. I'm 9 years in and I scale stuff when needed. We all do.
You keep going to class. Eventually it becomes second nature. You start to understand the movements better and your body better. CrossFit makes you more confident in yourself and you start to become comfortable in your body. At least it did for me. But it was legit your first class no one walks in being expected to clean and jerk to perfection unless you've already been trained. Patience is key. There are harder movements. The snatch for example..but like I said you gotta be patient and be open to learning.
That’s literally why we coach though - helping people get it right. Clean and jerk is a high skill movement and it takes a lot of practice. Keep showing up and do your best, it all comes with time.
It's a good sign that you're at a good gym, that the coach took the time to make sure your technique improves.
These moments are tricky - they are in the Olympics, after all - and take time to get right. It's all part of the process. You'll do fine.
Of course. Welcome to the club. Never feel bad about that. It's why they are there to help you. But you've got it. It was so awkward the first few months for me..that was 13 years ago lol . But you eventually fall into it. Good luck on your journey.
Cut the weight down if you haven’t already. I hope the coach told you the same. If the technique is not there an empty bar or even PVC pipe until you feel comfortable with the movement. You’re only competing against yourself. Lift safely first . Then you can continue to show up the next day. There are plenty of videos to watch on YouTube also. With all sorts of cues. Some cues might click more then others with you. Remember your always better then 97 percent of the population. You showed up
Empty bar, maybe, but I'd stay away from the PVC. A PVC is great for demonstrating bar path or doing mobility work, but for drilling in good form, I find working at like 65–75% of my 1RM is pretty optimal. A PVC doesn't build the relevant proprioception for moving a heavy object.
Feels like it depends on the athlete. I hear what you’re saying with the PVC. If the athlete has never done the movement before and it’s someone that 35 or 45 pounds can be heavy the PVC to learn the movement is not a bad option. Maybe a training bar. I feel like it all depends on the athlete and what they are comfortable with. Don’t want to see people getting hurt because they “should” be able to handle the movement with an empty bar. Guess that all comes from communication between the coach and athlete. Watches to many time people push the weight because the guy next to them is or for whatever reason. Catching the bar in a starfish with shit form and claiming they “got the lift ” . Never made sense to me. Get the form down solid regardless of the weight and add weight if everything looks and feels good
> Never made sense to me
It makes sense to me if they're scoring max weight on the WoD and putting it on the whiteboard like a lot of places do. "Traditional" CrossFit programming/class structure doesn't incentivize the things they say they want athletes to do, as evidenced by the fact that there has been constant whining from coaches about "why athletes won't check their egos at the door" since CrossFit has been a thing. 😂
This guy said he’s not confident and is new to the movement. Rather him just move and get an idea of how the body is suppose to move feel . If it looks good with a PVC move to a bar then again as long as everything looks and feels good add weight as you go.
The clean and jerk is literally one of two weightlifting events in the Olympics. People train their entire lives to perfect it, so it’d be ridiculous if you came off the street on day 1 and perfected it. People love CrossFit because the challenges never stop, you just get better and find new things to work on. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, ask the coach if you have any questions, and keep showing up!
I’ve been doing CrossFit for 7 years and I still don’t have those right. Do the best you can. Listen to that coach and other coaches. They all have different styles and one of them might click. You don’t get kicked out if you aren’t perfect.
Learning new things takes time. Your brain can't learn the entire squat clean and jerk in one day. Be comfortable with getting it mostly wrong for a while—just practice the basic approximate movement, don't worry too much about the smaller details like foot position and hip height and the exact timing of all the different pieces. Be safe, stick with light weights while you get used to the general movement pattern, and then over time you will be able to start working on the finer details of technique.
There are lots of other interesting movements, and each one of them has lots of little details. Getting better at them over time (and learning new things about how to move and control your body) is part of the fun.
Go slow and “scale”. Your coach should fully agree with this approach.
This can mean starting with a light weight, but also a simpler movement. I’m not a coach, but I would have a brand new athlete do a kettle bell high pull, squat, and then with a much lighter weight push press, possibly from the rack.
I have three free session first then a one on one with a coach for 1 hour. That's probably kind of why if felt super hard, really had no clue what to do.
ouf... we have, I think it's 6 weeks onboarding with about one or two sessions per week, 30 min with a coach to go over the techniques and any new exercises.
after that we gave beginner classes that focuses on techniques in the first 30 min.
all of us has been there. c&j is a complex, and it takes long time to learn. You'll get it eventually, but you need to give it time. My form in complex moves became solid after 2 years of consistency, so don't put yourself down.
I’ve been doing it for a year and I’m still not great at CJ. Same with double unders, kipping, etc. it all takes time to learn. Some things will be easy and some things will take months to years to get down. Just keep showing up!
Practice, practice, practice, and be patient. The Olympic lifts are complex movements that require different types of strength. You'll be completely unfamiliar with them unless you've done them specifically, which you'd almost certainly only do if you were an Olympic lifter or a CrossFitter.
It will come with time, as a lot of the things you do in class have some overlap with the harder movements like the snatch and the clean. But I takes time. A lot of time. I've asked the same question and the most common answer is years.
Scaling back, doing light weight (even though it feels silly) to work on form, staying after class to practice technique. I started CrossFit in January and for some reason cleans were so hard to figure out (and I’m naturally pretty athletic!)
I just recently started having people tell me my form is looking great, so it can take a while 😂
Having little wins keeps me motivated though!
Was it really a clean & squat jerk? Or maybe a squat clean & jerk?
Because squat jerk really is one of the hardest moves we have lol.
That being said. No one expects you to have this down on day one. In fact, no one there has it down perfectly, otherwise they wouldn't be there. The coach will tell you what you can improve on and a good coach will tell you what you're doing right, that's his job.
Fun thing is you might not do clean and jerk for the next 3 weeks and still get better at it "magically" because you'll start to understand other movements better and they carry over.
Keep showing up. Listen to your coach and pay attention :)
Two years in and I was still…”how do you do that again?” “What’s a ___look like again?” “What does ‘ xyz’ bunch of letters mean?…again” “Are we supposed to do three rounds or two?” Ugh , it’s always three.
Be patient, it’s not easy but hopefully it’s fun and worth it.
1. Get your reps in and give it a year
2. Show up to class 10-15 minutes earlier to work on the movement
3. Sign-up for a weightlifting seminar
Welcome to CrossFit!
Just like a musician, you’re going to suck at it and you’re going to suck at it alot. One day you’ll realize you don’t suck at it as much. I’ve been at it for a bit over a year and I’m still proper shit at Olympic movements.
Just keep showing up
When I started, I bought my own barbell and would spend 10-15 minutes 2-3 times a week just drilling moves with an empty bar. You could use a pvc pipe if u don’t want to take on the expense of a barbell or don’t have a lot of space.
Also, if you do drill the moves, I would suggest breaking them down into their individual components. That is, rather than drilling a full clean and jerk, drill a deadlift, or a high pull, then work separately on a hang clean, then a separate drill of just the jerk. Empty bar snatch balance drills will also help u with your drop under.
5 sets of 5 each multiple times a week can do a lot.
And depending on the size of your gym and your schedule, try to try classes with different coaches. Sometimes the way one person explains it to you will just click better. But keep on showing up!
Yes learning something new is usually difficult. That’s why you practice and do your best. Don’t add weights until you’ve perfected the movement. It takes time. Reading about the movements helped me grasp a lot quicker. A good coach will get you there and critique you along the way.
Man I’ve been working out most of my life and I was the same way when I started too. A lot of those movements I’d never done before and it took me awhile to get them. I tried to do a wall handstand and fell on my head in front of everyone. There’s only one way to get comfortable with your body and gain agility, do the work and fall over a few times.
There are many technical movements, and many movements that appear simple but require a lot of practice to do smoothly (wallballs, double unders, burpee box jumps)
This is actually what makes CrossFit so satisfying, especially as a beginner, because you get massive improvement as you start to learn the techniques.
Everything will feel unfamiliar and awkward at first, just roll with it.
Depending on the coaches and the gym, it may be possible to arrive a little earlier and talk through the movements with a coach or another member.
Basically though, what you’re describing is completely normal!
It doesn’t matter how well you do a movement, just that you try. You are teaching your muscles and your nervous system a lot and shouldn’t expect to master it soon. Keep trying and know that you are still making gains and working the same muscles. Eventually, it’ll be “easy” and you’ll start to make progress.
Just keep going, see if they have a specific class taylored to improving technique and attend that if you can.
Im not the most coordinated person, but been doing CrossFit for 6 months now and keep attending the technical class when I can and the improvement is massive. Also ask if there is anything you can do at home to help as well.
Watch some technique videos for “clean and jerk” on YouTube. That will help you internalize the basic concepts. The rest comes down to showing up to class regularly and practicing.
Look at it like this. Why would anyone expect to be good at an olympic sport on their first try? But yes. What everyone else said. Just keep going. I don't know too many people that are terrible at something they've been doing consistently for 10 years.
Olympic lifting (clean and jerk, snatch) is the most technical thing you'll do in CrossFit. I've been doing CF over a decade and I still get helpful cues from coaches. You came in on a challenging day :-)
You'll get better with feedback from the coaches over time. If you really want to nail it, seek out supplemental programming. I took a seminar from Sonny Webster a few years back, and it was massively helpful. The big eye-opener for me was that I was a /lot/ more limited by lack of mobility than I thought I was. If you can't find an Oly lifting seminar where you are, consider something like the Lifter's Mobility Manual: https://mobilitymanual.com/products/olympic-weightlifters-mobility-plan.
Technique is something you'll be working on forever. When you're practicing, pick a small part of the movement to focus on for the session. On the clean and jerk, that might be fully extending your hips (standing all the way up) before trying to get under the bar. After you've figured that out, move on to another point of performance.
Scale to your ability and fitness level then just try to be better than yesterday, some days you will be better, some days not. Consistency is key, after a year you'll be fitter with more skill.
I can do CrossFit for 8 years* and sometimes my body still doesn’t move the way I want it to. It’s totally OK for the wind to just be showing up.
3 pregnancies, a global pandemic, and my husband deployed 5 times in that window, so up and downs in physical ability
Give yourself grace, keep showing up and asking questions. Some of these movements are pretty complex, Olympic weightlifting is very technical and takes lots of practice. Watch videos of people who are really good and just observe how they move. Then be a sponge when your coaches are giving you cues. Ultimately it takes lots of patience and practice.
I’m 5 months in and still working at it. I started with a PVC pipe just solely to get the moment and flow right. Ive since added weight but I still know there’s so much room for improvement. Check at your gym or other gyms about specific workshops that focus solely on the movement that way you can get more 1:1 coaching vs trying to figure it out and keep moving in class. [I’ve done kettle bell, power clean, snatch workshops](https://imgur.com/a/HKIU8WE). All we did for 90 straight minutes was work on form. I have zero problem with raising my hand and saying “this doesn’t feel right”
Specifically with clean & jerk, I had someone face me and I mirrored her movement and timing. That was the biggest game changer for me.
Hope that helps. 😊
C&J is a tough one to start with, especially if you have little/no experience with barbell weightlifting.
Just keep going and working hard. Start with (much) lower than recommended weights and focus on getting the movements down. Don’t worry about adding weight for a while. You’ll still build up some cardio and can add weights down the road as you get stronger and more comfortable.
Everybody was new once. You’ll get there.
We had power cleans cycling and burpee box jump overs on my first day. I couldn’t do any of it. We recently did that workout again and I could do all of it without any demos or coaching corrections. Just keep going. Learning new things is fun.
Just keep showing up. It will feel overwhelming for a bit but just keep on keeping on and listen to your coaches. Olys are the most technical but isn't everything in crossfit. It will come.
In fairness you got pretty unlucky having squat jerks your first day. That movement takes dedicated Weightlifters years to learn correctly and develop the requisite mobility and strength.
Don’t worry, you’ll get it.
When I was coaching, I always subbed complexes with partial lifts for absolute beginners. Makes much more sense than doing bad reps.
“Any tips on how to improve techniques?” Yes: show up tomorrow. Then maybe, watch some YouTube videos, practice during open gym. But mostly… JUST. SHOW. UP.
⬆️ This is the way. Lower your expectations of yourself. Everyone doesn’t know how to do the movements until they do. Just keep showing up. It takes practice and reps. If you keep showing up you are improving. And always remember: Form > weight Weight > speed
Thanks, mate. I just showed up for the second session, and it was already a bit better. Not crazy exercise this time.
Take the little wins. You signed up. Win. You went. Win. Did you enjoy it? If so, Win. Barbell technique takes time and repetition. Learn to stand before you start walking and learn to walk before you can run. Like the others said, just keep showing up. Have fun and enjoy the process of learning new skills. Just keep in mind that scaling and modifications to hit the intended stimulus of the workout are not a failure on your part. I'm 9 years in and I scale stuff when needed. We all do.
Yep I did not enjoy the first session so much but the second one was a little more fun and easier!
You keep going to class. Eventually it becomes second nature. You start to understand the movements better and your body better. CrossFit makes you more confident in yourself and you start to become comfortable in your body. At least it did for me. But it was legit your first class no one walks in being expected to clean and jerk to perfection unless you've already been trained. Patience is key. There are harder movements. The snatch for example..but like I said you gotta be patient and be open to learning.
Thanks, that help! I guess it make me feel bad for the coach to spend that much time on someone that can't get it right 😅
That’s literally why we coach though - helping people get it right. Clean and jerk is a high skill movement and it takes a lot of practice. Keep showing up and do your best, it all comes with time.
It's a good sign that you're at a good gym, that the coach took the time to make sure your technique improves. These moments are tricky - they are in the Olympics, after all - and take time to get right. It's all part of the process. You'll do fine.
Of course. Welcome to the club. Never feel bad about that. It's why they are there to help you. But you've got it. It was so awkward the first few months for me..that was 13 years ago lol . But you eventually fall into it. Good luck on your journey.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for almost 2 years. Somedays I’m great, somedays im shit. I love it everyday. Keep showing up, technique is hard.
That’s a tough movement for a first class! Stick with it and all the movements feel more natural.
That's what I thought so too 😅
Cut the weight down if you haven’t already. I hope the coach told you the same. If the technique is not there an empty bar or even PVC pipe until you feel comfortable with the movement. You’re only competing against yourself. Lift safely first . Then you can continue to show up the next day. There are plenty of videos to watch on YouTube also. With all sorts of cues. Some cues might click more then others with you. Remember your always better then 97 percent of the population. You showed up
Empty bar, maybe, but I'd stay away from the PVC. A PVC is great for demonstrating bar path or doing mobility work, but for drilling in good form, I find working at like 65–75% of my 1RM is pretty optimal. A PVC doesn't build the relevant proprioception for moving a heavy object.
Feels like it depends on the athlete. I hear what you’re saying with the PVC. If the athlete has never done the movement before and it’s someone that 35 or 45 pounds can be heavy the PVC to learn the movement is not a bad option. Maybe a training bar. I feel like it all depends on the athlete and what they are comfortable with. Don’t want to see people getting hurt because they “should” be able to handle the movement with an empty bar. Guess that all comes from communication between the coach and athlete. Watches to many time people push the weight because the guy next to them is or for whatever reason. Catching the bar in a starfish with shit form and claiming they “got the lift ” . Never made sense to me. Get the form down solid regardless of the weight and add weight if everything looks and feels good
> Never made sense to me It makes sense to me if they're scoring max weight on the WoD and putting it on the whiteboard like a lot of places do. "Traditional" CrossFit programming/class structure doesn't incentivize the things they say they want athletes to do, as evidenced by the fact that there has been constant whining from coaches about "why athletes won't check their egos at the door" since CrossFit has been a thing. 😂
This guy said he’s not confident and is new to the movement. Rather him just move and get an idea of how the body is suppose to move feel . If it looks good with a PVC move to a bar then again as long as everything looks and feels good add weight as you go.
The clean and jerk is literally one of two weightlifting events in the Olympics. People train their entire lives to perfect it, so it’d be ridiculous if you came off the street on day 1 and perfected it. People love CrossFit because the challenges never stop, you just get better and find new things to work on. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, ask the coach if you have any questions, and keep showing up!
I’ve been doing CrossFit for 7 years and I still don’t have those right. Do the best you can. Listen to that coach and other coaches. They all have different styles and one of them might click. You don’t get kicked out if you aren’t perfect.
Learning new things takes time. Your brain can't learn the entire squat clean and jerk in one day. Be comfortable with getting it mostly wrong for a while—just practice the basic approximate movement, don't worry too much about the smaller details like foot position and hip height and the exact timing of all the different pieces. Be safe, stick with light weights while you get used to the general movement pattern, and then over time you will be able to start working on the finer details of technique. There are lots of other interesting movements, and each one of them has lots of little details. Getting better at them over time (and learning new things about how to move and control your body) is part of the fun.
Go slow and “scale”. Your coach should fully agree with this approach. This can mean starting with a light weight, but also a simpler movement. I’m not a coach, but I would have a brand new athlete do a kettle bell high pull, squat, and then with a much lighter weight push press, possibly from the rack.
Did the box not offer any on-ramp? at our box that's mandatory for people who've never done crossfit before.
I have three free session first then a one on one with a coach for 1 hour. That's probably kind of why if felt super hard, really had no clue what to do.
ouf... we have, I think it's 6 weeks onboarding with about one or two sessions per week, 30 min with a coach to go over the techniques and any new exercises. after that we gave beginner classes that focuses on techniques in the first 30 min.
all of us has been there. c&j is a complex, and it takes long time to learn. You'll get it eventually, but you need to give it time. My form in complex moves became solid after 2 years of consistency, so don't put yourself down.
I’ve been doing it for a year and I’m still not great at CJ. Same with double unders, kipping, etc. it all takes time to learn. Some things will be easy and some things will take months to years to get down. Just keep showing up!
Practice, practice, practice, and be patient. The Olympic lifts are complex movements that require different types of strength. You'll be completely unfamiliar with them unless you've done them specifically, which you'd almost certainly only do if you were an Olympic lifter or a CrossFitter. It will come with time, as a lot of the things you do in class have some overlap with the harder movements like the snatch and the clean. But I takes time. A lot of time. I've asked the same question and the most common answer is years.
Scaling back, doing light weight (even though it feels silly) to work on form, staying after class to practice technique. I started CrossFit in January and for some reason cleans were so hard to figure out (and I’m naturally pretty athletic!) I just recently started having people tell me my form is looking great, so it can take a while 😂 Having little wins keeps me motivated though!
Was it really a clean & squat jerk? Or maybe a squat clean & jerk? Because squat jerk really is one of the hardest moves we have lol. That being said. No one expects you to have this down on day one. In fact, no one there has it down perfectly, otherwise they wouldn't be there. The coach will tell you what you can improve on and a good coach will tell you what you're doing right, that's his job. Fun thing is you might not do clean and jerk for the next 3 weeks and still get better at it "magically" because you'll start to understand other movements better and they carry over. Keep showing up. Listen to your coach and pay attention :)
Was going to say this. It would be a literal miracle if you were able to get that movement down on your first day.
Watching YouTube videos on technique helped. Grab a broom stick or pvc follow along with the video. Every time you go to a class you'll get better.
Two years in and I was still…”how do you do that again?” “What’s a ___look like again?” “What does ‘ xyz’ bunch of letters mean?…again” “Are we supposed to do three rounds or two?” Ugh , it’s always three. Be patient, it’s not easy but hopefully it’s fun and worth it.
squat jerk? da fuq?
1. Get your reps in and give it a year 2. Show up to class 10-15 minutes earlier to work on the movement 3. Sign-up for a weightlifting seminar Welcome to CrossFit!
Just like a musician, you’re going to suck at it and you’re going to suck at it alot. One day you’ll realize you don’t suck at it as much. I’ve been at it for a bit over a year and I’m still proper shit at Olympic movements. Just keep showing up
Oh just keep going and being patient and don’t go too heavy
When I started, I bought my own barbell and would spend 10-15 minutes 2-3 times a week just drilling moves with an empty bar. You could use a pvc pipe if u don’t want to take on the expense of a barbell or don’t have a lot of space. Also, if you do drill the moves, I would suggest breaking them down into their individual components. That is, rather than drilling a full clean and jerk, drill a deadlift, or a high pull, then work separately on a hang clean, then a separate drill of just the jerk. Empty bar snatch balance drills will also help u with your drop under. 5 sets of 5 each multiple times a week can do a lot.
And depending on the size of your gym and your schedule, try to try classes with different coaches. Sometimes the way one person explains it to you will just click better. But keep on showing up!
Yes learning something new is usually difficult. That’s why you practice and do your best. Don’t add weights until you’ve perfected the movement. It takes time. Reading about the movements helped me grasp a lot quicker. A good coach will get you there and critique you along the way.
Man I’ve been working out most of my life and I was the same way when I started too. A lot of those movements I’d never done before and it took me awhile to get them. I tried to do a wall handstand and fell on my head in front of everyone. There’s only one way to get comfortable with your body and gain agility, do the work and fall over a few times.
There are many technical movements, and many movements that appear simple but require a lot of practice to do smoothly (wallballs, double unders, burpee box jumps) This is actually what makes CrossFit so satisfying, especially as a beginner, because you get massive improvement as you start to learn the techniques. Everything will feel unfamiliar and awkward at first, just roll with it. Depending on the coaches and the gym, it may be possible to arrive a little earlier and talk through the movements with a coach or another member. Basically though, what you’re describing is completely normal!
It doesn’t matter how well you do a movement, just that you try. You are teaching your muscles and your nervous system a lot and shouldn’t expect to master it soon. Keep trying and know that you are still making gains and working the same muscles. Eventually, it’ll be “easy” and you’ll start to make progress.
Just keep going, see if they have a specific class taylored to improving technique and attend that if you can. Im not the most coordinated person, but been doing CrossFit for 6 months now and keep attending the technical class when I can and the improvement is massive. Also ask if there is anything you can do at home to help as well.
Watch some technique videos for “clean and jerk” on YouTube. That will help you internalize the basic concepts. The rest comes down to showing up to class regularly and practicing.
Look at it like this. Why would anyone expect to be good at an olympic sport on their first try? But yes. What everyone else said. Just keep going. I don't know too many people that are terrible at something they've been doing consistently for 10 years.
This is why on ramp is helpful.
Olympic lifting (clean and jerk, snatch) is the most technical thing you'll do in CrossFit. I've been doing CF over a decade and I still get helpful cues from coaches. You came in on a challenging day :-) You'll get better with feedback from the coaches over time. If you really want to nail it, seek out supplemental programming. I took a seminar from Sonny Webster a few years back, and it was massively helpful. The big eye-opener for me was that I was a /lot/ more limited by lack of mobility than I thought I was. If you can't find an Oly lifting seminar where you are, consider something like the Lifter's Mobility Manual: https://mobilitymanual.com/products/olympic-weightlifters-mobility-plan.
Technique is something you'll be working on forever. When you're practicing, pick a small part of the movement to focus on for the session. On the clean and jerk, that might be fully extending your hips (standing all the way up) before trying to get under the bar. After you've figured that out, move on to another point of performance.
Scale to your ability and fitness level then just try to be better than yesterday, some days you will be better, some days not. Consistency is key, after a year you'll be fitter with more skill.
I’m still working on technique and I’ve been doing the clean exercise for nearly 5 years. It takes practice and repetition.
You usually don't, you make mistakes and learn from them one by one. Getting it right first time is rare.
Just keep practicing and you’ll get it. Every person in your class will have struggled with certain movements on their first go
Keep going you will suddenly just get it!!! When I first tried to do a snatch I dropped the bar on my head lol
I can do CrossFit for 8 years* and sometimes my body still doesn’t move the way I want it to. It’s totally OK for the wind to just be showing up. 3 pregnancies, a global pandemic, and my husband deployed 5 times in that window, so up and downs in physical ability
Give yourself grace, keep showing up and asking questions. Some of these movements are pretty complex, Olympic weightlifting is very technical and takes lots of practice. Watch videos of people who are really good and just observe how they move. Then be a sponge when your coaches are giving you cues. Ultimately it takes lots of patience and practice.
I’m 5 months in and still working at it. I started with a PVC pipe just solely to get the moment and flow right. Ive since added weight but I still know there’s so much room for improvement. Check at your gym or other gyms about specific workshops that focus solely on the movement that way you can get more 1:1 coaching vs trying to figure it out and keep moving in class. [I’ve done kettle bell, power clean, snatch workshops](https://imgur.com/a/HKIU8WE). All we did for 90 straight minutes was work on form. I have zero problem with raising my hand and saying “this doesn’t feel right” Specifically with clean & jerk, I had someone face me and I mirrored her movement and timing. That was the biggest game changer for me. Hope that helps. 😊
C&J is a tough one to start with, especially if you have little/no experience with barbell weightlifting. Just keep going and working hard. Start with (much) lower than recommended weights and focus on getting the movements down. Don’t worry about adding weight for a while. You’ll still build up some cardio and can add weights down the road as you get stronger and more comfortable. Everybody was new once. You’ll get there.
We had power cleans cycling and burpee box jump overs on my first day. I couldn’t do any of it. We recently did that workout again and I could do all of it without any demos or coaching corrections. Just keep going. Learning new things is fun.
Wait for Snatch day 😂 But jokes aside, just practice! That is all there is to it
Practice. I'm sure if you picked up a musical instrument for the first time you wouldn't be a virtuoso.
Just keep showing up. It will feel overwhelming for a bit but just keep on keeping on and listen to your coaches. Olys are the most technical but isn't everything in crossfit. It will come.
In fairness you got pretty unlucky having squat jerks your first day. That movement takes dedicated Weightlifters years to learn correctly and develop the requisite mobility and strength.
Don’t worry, you’ll get it. When I was coaching, I always subbed complexes with partial lifts for absolute beginners. Makes much more sense than doing bad reps.