Movements
Movements
The movements domain tests the nine foundational movements, their points of performance, common faults, and corrections. The exam favors the squat, press, and deadlift families, plus the medicine-ball clean, because they expose midline stabilization, active shoulders, and hip extension.
Points of performance
- Squat family (air squat, front squat, overhead squat): feet shoulder-width with toes slightly out; hips back and down; knees track over toes; heels stay down; full depth with the hip crease below the knee; neutral spine. In the overhead squat, keep the bar over the midfoot and the armpits forward.
- Press family: shoulder press uses no knee bend. Push press uses a dip-drive and finishes with hips and knees extended and no re-bend. Push jerk uses a dip-drive and re-bends the hips and knees to receive the bar overhead. Keep the bar close and finish with active shoulders.
- Deadlift family: deadlift starts with the bar over the midfoot, hips back, flat back, bar close, and drive through the heels to full hip and knee extension. Sumo deadlift high pull uses a wide stance and pulls to the chin with elbows high after hip extension. Medicine-ball clean goes deadlift, hip extension, pull under, catch in a front squat, then stand.
Worked example
An athlete performing a push press bends the knees during the drive and then bends them again to catch the bar overhead. That is a push jerk, not a push press. The push press must end with hips and knees extended and no re-bend; re-bending to receive the bar defines the jerk. The correction is to keep the dip shallow and vertical, drive through the whole foot, lock the elbows overhead, and finish tall. If lockout requires re-bending, reduce the load and rehearse the press finish.
Traps that cost marks
- Letting the knees cave inward or the heels rise in the squat.
- Rounding the back or letting the bar drift away in the deadlift.
- Hyperextending the spine at the top of the deadlift instead of finishing with the hips.
- Rebending the knees in a shoulder press or push press.
- Catching a medicine-ball clean with low elbows or a rounded back.
- Confusing the sumo deadlift high pull with an upright row: hips extend first, then the arms pull.