One thing that stumps me on powercleans. At the start of the pull when I'm lifting it off the ground, should I let my arms hang until I get to the jump phase then use your arms to get it up to your front shoulders? Or do what I always do and at the start of the lift (just after when my arms become straight) just pull with my arms and get more power when I do the jump phase.
It's hard to explain my dilemma, but hopefully someone will understand.
Correct. And another point- the elbows flex passively, not actively— if they didn't, your extended arms would impede the upward path of the bar. The arms connect you to the bar, and nothing else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StuWard
The arms shouldn't bent until after the jump shrug. You lose power if you do it earlier.
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Ya, you don't use your arms to get the bar up.
The jump and the shrug should be enough to get the bar up. Otherwise you're just doing an explosive upright row.
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
I was going to say watch some vids on youtube but everything happens so fast its hard to see the sequence of events. You may however find an instruction vid on youtube that breaks the lift down into segments. Worth a try.
OK, cool thx for all the info guys. Now with all that in mind, should I just work on the first pull and jump shrug portions of my powerclean for now or just continue doing regular powercleans and work on the technique from there on?
You could do Clean pulls and high pulls and get that down before you worry about catching the weight, check out this article (videos included) from Charles (above)
It might be helpful CLICK HERE
should I just work on the first pull and jump shrug portions of my powerclean...
Depends why you're doing the power clean.
If you're training for sport and are just trying to develop power, you don't even need to do the first pull. Just take it from the beginning of the transition phase (from the point where you're bent forward at the hips with the bar just above the knees) or take it from the high chest phase (stand straight with the bar in your hands, then bend the knees, keeping your torso vertical, and you're in the high chest position).
Just jump straight up (and a little back, depending on your technique), full force as if you were doing a vert jump test and are trying to reach as high as you can. Drive your shoulders up to get that bar moving even faster, then whip your arms underneath and rack it.
It's obviously a bit more complicated than that. If you're serious about learning the o-lifts, I really recommend finding someone qualified to teach them and working with them. This weekend my college held a conference and my club helped run it. I got to help in a workshop, Teaching the Power Clean. Not only did I watch two national/world level weightlifters clean, but I got to watch them coach two large groups how to power clean. Just in one day, spending time with people who know what they're doing, you pick up so much.
Do a google search and ask around.
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
"If you're training for sport and are just trying to develop power, you don't even need to do the first pull." I would agree. Keep in mind pulling from the floor to the knees when performing a Power Clean is not the same as doing a deadlift. With the PC the shoulders and hips raise at the same time. This element of the lift becomes very frustrating for some trainees. My former coach David Pursley used to have use spend 60-90 minutes lifting from floor to the knees. I had a hard time with the technical aspect of this phase of the movement.
Really? It seemed pretty simple at the conference last weekend - most everybody was doing cleans with good form by the end of the four hour workshop.
The first pull really only has you doing one thing - bringing your knees back so that the bar can pass without having to swing forward. If you can do that while keeping your torso angle to the ground constant, you're in the perfect position for the transition phase.
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
"If you're training for sport and are just trying to develop power, you don't even need to do the first pull." I would agree. Keep in mind pulling from the floor to the knees when performing a Power Clean is not the same as doing a deadlift. With the PC the shoulders and hips raise at the same time. This element of the lift becomes very frustrating for some trainees. My former coach David Pursley used to have use spend 60-90 minutes lifting from floor to the knees. I had a hard time with the technical aspect of this phase of the movement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew
The first pull really only has you doing one thing - bringing your knees back so that the bar can pass without having to swing forward. If you can do that while keeping your torso angle to the ground constant, you're in the perfect position for the transition phase.
Actually I do that already. I always raise the hips and shoulders at the same time. I do powercleans because it's part of Rippetoe's Starting Strength routine. I'm actually doing a lot better on the powercleans, too. I mentioned in my log the jump part is real fluent with me now. It's too bad I can't video myself and show my form on here at the least for any corrections that could be made. I love the powercleans, they're fun to do.
Powerclean technique question
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