Lasha is easily thestrongest weightlifter of all time in terms of absolute strength. He may even be the strongest person ever. Lasha has the best snatch, clean and jerk, and total ever. He has snatched 225 kilos and clean and jerked 267 kilos, both done in competition. Lasha is an absolute freak of nature. He has great mobility and technique for a super heavyweight. He is the “Georgian Juggernaut”. 

Since serving his two year ban back when he was 19 years old, Lasha has won multiple world championships and multiple Olympic gold medals. He hasn’t lost a competition in years. He never misses lifts. His technique is so sound and he is so precise he never misses lifts in competition. Whatever is put on the bar he will hit. 

I believe he has the best technique of all time in the super heavyweight division. Supers don’t always have the greatest technique because they have a large amount of mass (their guts) that they have to displace backward. We can see it in Lasha’s technique as well. He is still a beast. There are some physiological issues when comparing a super’s technique to a lighter lifter's movements. But with Lasha that really isn’t a factor. 

I want to begin by stating I break down the pull by positions: the floor to just below the knee, no man’s land (below the knee to just above the knee), the reciprocation point (the top of no man’s land), and then as the bar gets into the hip. We want to be looking at the heels, the torso, the upper body, and what goes into the catch position as well.

From the floor to the knee, we can see Lasha’s knees come back. His shins do not become totally vertical like they were back in 2016-17. As he has gained weight his knees don’t clear back as well as I believe they could. Regardless, the bar stays tight and the knees do go back. 

Through no man’s land, Lasha is super, super tight. As the bar clears the knees, the knees start to come forward and the bar comes into the hip. The bar being in his hip is where Lasha hits the pivotal part of his technique. Lasha’s heels are still down when his torso is upright. This position is to die for. Flat feet with an upright torso makes things smooth and leads to a strong upper body finish. Lasha then rotates the bar overhead with a strong upper body finish, stays grounded, and gets into the heels quickly to make a three white light lift.

The second rep is basically the same thing. The knees come back more than the first rep, knees come under at the reciprocation point, and he holds the heels nice and flat with the upright torso for him to have a long tall finish with everything fully extended before rotating the bar perfectly into the catch.

There are a couple key factors with Lasha’s technique. To begin, we want to see the barbell right over the shoelaces. As the lifter then pulls to the kneecaps, we want the knees to travel back. Lasha keeps his knees forward very slightly. From his weight gain, his shins stay forward just a little bit instead of getting completely vertical.

As the bar comes over the knees, the knees are pushed under. At the reciprocation point, Lasha comes through with the knees; the bar is right around mid-thigh at this point. But the main focus is that Lasha stays on his heels until his chest gets vertical. When his chest gets vertical, he has knee flexion, hip extension, and then he has that big upper body finish.

Stay flat footed until contact is made to snatch like Lasha. Lasha also gets to his heels very quickly in the catch as well.

To improve the position off the floor the snatch pull is a great movement. The focus needs to be on the eccentric movement. After doing the pull, we want to slowly work back through the patterning. The hard part of the eccentric is to think that knees come forward like Lasha, then back as the bar passes the knee, and then the knees come back forward as the bar returns to the ground.

As athletes start to think through the pull, and think eccentrically, they train the positions and the nervous system to use the knees coming forward to feel the hamstrings pull the knees back and just feel the positions more intuitively. 

I recommend doing snatch pulls once a week at 100% to 110% to help feel the positions off the floor to snatch like Lasha. 

From below the knee to above the knee is where most people lose their lifts. The dreaded no man’s land. We like to use the low hang position to train that position and make no man’s land less treacherous.

With the low hang snatch we want to start with the bar at the hip. From the hip, we want to lower the bar down below the knee. We want the eccentric patterning to be precise. We want the body to work through the technical positions. 

Above the knee gets the bar into the power position. This is the position where everyone accelerates the bar very rapidly. The high hang snatch, we want to come forward with the chest slightly, the knees come forward, and then execute the high hang snatch. 

Don’t let the bar drift forward, especially if you want to lift like Lasha. Feel the bar dragging across the quads and initiate the concentric movement by bringing the hips to the bar to lead to a big finish.

Lasha is known for having a strong upper body. Lasha’s traps are up to his ears. There is a reason Lasha can muscle snatch 150+ kilos. A muscle snatch helps athletes finish aggressively and finish rapidly. When Lasha does a muscle snatch, he does not make contact and his heels stay flat; he uses the upper body without making contact. The no contact is a key concept.  

The no contact muscle snatch trains the finish and gets the upper body stronger. Muscle snatches are also great for light days. I have seen Lasha snatch 210 kilos and the next day only did muscle snatches and pulls to go lighter.

I think the no feet snatch is arguably the best variation of all time. Norik Vardanian and his dad Yuri loved this variation. Kuo’s coach also said the no feet snatch is the secret sauce to her being the best weightlifter in the world. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us.

The flat footed pull position leads to a quick catch position. The whole concept is to stay connected to the bar and to the ground. The longer we are pulling the more we can apply force. The sooner we get back to our heels, the sooner we are getting to the drop period to catch. 

I recommend anyone who jumps back, forward, or doesn’t feel connected to the bar to use no feet snatches on a regular basis to snatch more like Lasha. 

To snatch like Lasha, know the technical goals and positions that need to be hit. Make sure to get a TON of reps upon reps upon reps. And then pick the variations based upon where the technique is lacking. Variations help with technique. Variations used consistently will improve technique.