I want to add power cleans to my 4 day push pull routine. My reasons are I want to make my deadlift stronger, I want to add some more mass by using a movement I have never tried before, and lastly it looks fun (I’ll prlly regret this a few months from now). Anways my big question is should I power clean after deadlifts? or should I deadlift once a week and power clean once a week? The major things I want to get out of them are added muscle mass and increased strength and power for bringing up my deadlifts. Thanks
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Anways my big question is should I power clean after deadlifts?[/quote]
Before is usually preferred, to make sure you’re as explosive as possible and figuring you’ll pretty much always be cleaning less than you’re deadlifting. but Rippetoe makes a case for putting cleans later in the workout if you’re not competing in weightlifting and they’re not a particular priority.
I’d say it depends on how you’re structuring the rest of the workouts, since alternating them is usually to account for recovery. If you’re training 4 days a week on a push/pull split, can you not start one pull day with deads and the other pull day with cleans?
What kind of sets and reps do you plan on using with the cleans?
If you want increased power in the deadlift you should try something other than power cleans there a pretty technical lift and hard to learn on your own. Also it probably wont carry over to your deadlift to much at all. If your looking for increased pulling power and acceleration off the ground for the Deadlift do one of these each week.
1- deficit deadlift: standing on a 2-4 in block for 1-5
2- deadlifts against bands. : use roughly 60-70% of your Max on the bar and then strap some bands to the bar so its a bitch up top. Teaches you to continually pull with fast acceleration other wise the bands will stop you dead in your tracks. Pull for singles only with short rest periods.
3-Front Squats to very low box( 12 inch box if possible ) if you deadlift conventional this will help a million times over.
These will have more carry over than the power cleans. If how ever you insist on power cleans I would alternate power cleans one week deads the next. If you want to do them in the same workout then powerclean first as it will not effect your deadlift form as much as Deadlifts will effect your power clean form.
Good luck.
^ agreed, if you want to do an explosive move try high pulls off blocks, these will be like power cleans without the catch at the top.
I think the heavier loads will have a bigger carryover to your pull.
@chris…would it be okay to use straps on whichever exercise you didn’t do first, either cleans or deads?
@ Chis- Yeah I was reading starting strength when I decided I wanted to add power cleans. And no I’m not competing in weight lifting, I just want to get as big and strong as possible and also learn all of the lifts. I thought about starting with cleans one day and deadlifts the other but wouldn’t it be difficult to adjust loading based on fatigue from the previous lift? Also like I said I want cleans to help bring up my deadlift and build some size, not interfere with my pulling. For sets and reps I usually do 3 sets of my main lifts (not counting warm ups). The first set is 7, the second is 5, and the third which is max effort is 3. Is this good for learning power cleans or should I have a bit more volume?
@ Reed- Thanks for the input man you’ve been pretty helpful around here as of late. I wouldn’t be learning the cleans on my own, I have someone who really knows his stuff willing to teach me. I like the ideas you gave, especially the front squats to a low box. I need to learn proper front squat technique first though. Another on my list of things to learn. If I were to add front squats like that could they be done as an assistance exercise after back squats? Or should they be alternated to get the most out of them?
Bulk- just tryig to help out where I can my friend. Front squats in my opinion I would add as a main mover because you want to keep low reps 1-3 per set espeacially starting out because, if you do higher reps your upper back is going to be a limiting factor and you will not be able to keep your elbows up high and keep proper form.
If you have someone who is able and willing to teach you then by all mean go ahead and learn the power clean. Just decide what your main goal is. If athletics are your main priority power cleans will be a great addition. If a Max deadlift is your goal then the ideas I stated above will def have more carry over. Although which ever you chose power cleans would still be a good thing to learn just for the future if nothing else.
Just remember pretty much everything you do will work just somethings are going to work much better.
[quote]chobbs wrote:
@chris…would it be okay to use straps on whichever exercise you didn’t do first, either cleans or deads?[/quote]
I’ve personally never felt comfortable using straps with cleans. It always seems to interrupt my racking, but if you can deal with it, I don’t usually have a problem recommending straps on (only) the last few sets of any exercise where grip may become a limiting factor.
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
I thought about starting with cleans one day and deadlifts the other but wouldn’t it be difficult to adjust loading based on fatigue from the previous lift?[/quote]
Not sure what this means. One reason for doing warm-up sets is to determine the working load for the day. If you’re eating enough (and since you’re trying to gain size, you should be), you’re probably not going to be so fatigued from one session to the next that it severely impacts the weight you can use compared to the same exercise the previous week.
If that’s what you’re doing for your main exercises, I’m not sure you need to treat it as the only exercise that gets special volume. I’m pretty sure Dan John likes 7,5,3 sometimes, so that’s good enough for me. 
But by itself, if you’re still playing with technique, I’d probably go something like 4 or 5x1-3 before bumping up to maybe 4 or 5x4-6 since we’re using them for size also.
You should try both, and see what scenario fits you and your recovery capabilities best. There are logical arguments for both sides. If you find that you’re not progressing when they’re on the same day, that’s when you’d try the alternate-days method.
I’m not going to bother commenting on whether or not power cleans will help your deadlift etc. Others have done that, and frankly, if you really want to do a lift I think you should just go ahead and do it.