Power clean form questions

Blacktie.

So I started the starting stregth program again about 6 or so weeks ago. I did it once before with good results but I never did the power clean as it just looked very complicated and so I did pull up and chin ups instead. This time round I decided to give it a go and am finding the form hard to get right. I feel like I'm doing it very sloppy or something. Although it is slowly getting better I feel like I need to get alot better.

So hears some things that are going wrong on it-
1- Sometimes when I jump I land slightly forward or backwards of were I was standing originally.
2- When I put the bar back down my legs alot of the time are slightly more spread out so I have to keep readjusting my feet positions which is a bit of a pain.
3- During the jump one side sometimes goes up quicker than the other. This only occurs sometimes and only toward the end of the exercise.

So any tips on how to fix some of thee problems? Also When I'm putting the bar down I drop it to my thighs and then the floor and in rippetoes book he says to do 3 sets of 3 rather than 3 sets of 5 when dropping the bar this way. Is this alright doing 3 sets of 3 then?

Thanks for the advice everyone

g'em

Blacktie. wrote: »

1- Sometimes when I jump I land slightly forward or backwards of were I was standing originally.

This is more than likely becuase you're allowing the bar to travel too far forward or pulling it backwards at an angle. In a clean movement the bar should be traveling straight upwards (or technically in a slight s-curve). The vast majority of people alow the bar to travel way out ahead of them, purely because keeping the bar close is instinctually daunting. Hell, you've got bits on the outside you don't want knocked against a metal bar thankyewvurymuch

To help stop this you can do a few things:

• start with you toes pointed slightly outwards. This helps you maintain balance and go straight up instead of out and up.
  
• at the start of the lift concentrate on pushing your heels into the ground. This allows you to stay back on your heels and not rock forward on your toes, again going out and up.
  
• at the start of the lift make a concerted effort to round your elbows as far out to the front as they'll allow. This promote straight up pulls.
  
• practice pulls up with the bar alone. get used to how the bar feels being close to your body.
  

Blacktie wrote:

2- When I put the bar back down my legs alot of the time are slightly more spread out so I have to keep readjusting my feet positions which is a bit of a pain.

You should finish the clean with your feet further apart - it's something you need to do to maintain balance during the lift: starting the lift with your feet together allows you to maintain a shoulder width grip, thus promoting a vertical pull. After the jump your feet spread a little to promote stability for the catch.

The olympic lifts are not designed to be carried out for reps, they're power movements done as single lifts. It's ok to stop, take a breath, and readjust between each one.

Blacktie wrote:

3- During the jump one side sometimes goes up quicker than the other. This only occurs sometimes and only toward the end of the exercise.

This is fatigue. We all have imbalances, usually caused by bad posture from sitting at desks, walking with a slump, having fallen arches etc. by and large those imbalances don't show themselves easily. When you tire though, the imbalance becomes more pronounced - as the weaker side tires, the stronger side compensates.

It's another reason why I'm not fond of anything more than 3 reps per set for any olympic lift - you sacrifice too much form. The same goals can be reached using lower reps, good form and higher intensity.

Blacktie.

Wow very thorough answer thanks alot g'em will be incorporating all that into the next workout!

d'Oracle

Awesome answer G'em.

WHIP IT!

Such a showoff, g'em...