There is a lot of skill in any lifts. It's funny that you mention breathing but one of things that I found that when the weight load was high enough, the effects of filling your lungs, doing the rep, resetting and then taking a full breath again......when the set was done I felt like I ran a marathon.
I am not the most flexible either but there are things that could be done. And movements can always be scaled. The snatch is a beautiful lift when done properly. To me, she is a fickle mistress. Easily the most complicates of any of the power or oly lifts as it involves so many different things. It is rare that I feel like I have done it correctly.
Most of CrossFit wods that involve weight are exactly as you describe, lightish medium weight for the most part. You just cannot go through one of them with a ton on the bar. I have to take separate time to focus on power or oly lifting
Yeah I’ve done the oly movements in a CrossFit setting but I’ve never felt good enough about them to load the bar significantly. I do think I’d enjoy single, maximal effort oly lifts but I’m not comfortable with my skill and flexibility.
Regarding breathing, you’ll see so many novice “power lifters” doing touch and go reps on deadlift. Even on my warm ups at 135 I completely reset, not just my breath but my entire body before each rep. It only takes a second, I probably finish my set of 10 two seconds slower than someone who isn’t, but it makes me fill my belly with breath, brace, lock my lats, drop my hips and all of the other cues I need to remember when lifting big weights every single time. I don’t perform any reps at any weight as if it isn’t 600lbs. That’s kind of in that conversation of skill. It’s not nearly as involved as a snatch, but doing the deadlift exactly as you would in a competition even when you’re just warming up, every single time, develops that muscle memory and fluency.