I have a quick (and easy I hope) question on cleans. I’ve been doing them for close to a year now and I’m having trouble getting underneath the bar to rack it. I have no problems getting my elbows and forearms up quick to catch it, it just seems like I don’t have the quickness to go from exploding up to reversing back to get underneath it.
It’s starting to become more noticeble now as my weight goes up. Is there anything I can to do to help work this issue? Just keep doing cleans? Or is there some other movements I can incorporate? Thanks.
But I’ll put this out there with no video provided:
Your having issues because:
-your with your arms so you can’t actually get under the bar as your arms are loaded
-lack of technique training, how can you get under a big weight if you can’t get under a lighter weight enough, or you haven’t trained enough in the 70-75-80% area so when you guet to 95-100%+ your technique reverts back to whatever is ‘normal’ for you.
Stand up on your tip goes, not use your hamstrings to pull yourself down in to a front squat position (clean receive position), practice this. This is a good exercise.
Now do it with a bar, now load the bar up a bit, work on it for a few weeks/ months and you’ll get the hang of it.
It’s only easy if you practice the technique from the ground up. A video would be able to help the most.
Whats stopping you from getting down? Do you pull the bar up high but can’t rack it? Or it drops in front of you? Keep the bar close by extending all the way up and shrugging and not ‘leaning’ backwards.
I agree with Koing. Technique plays a big factor. I used to bend my elbows before I stood straight up so I was tearing up my biceps. The moment I became more patient and waited for my body to stand stright up, and be on my toes, and shrug/pull at the same time, I then could get under the bar because it was actually going higher from finishing the pull.
I’ve been performing C+J for a year now, and have noticed the more I train in exercises that assist my strength and power on the clean, the higher the bar goes.
So I began performing lots of heavy Good Mornings, Stiff Legged Deadlifts, and Bent Over Row’s. I realized that my Clean’s were getting higher when my accessory and assistance exercises were getting stronger.
As Louie Simmons stated,‘When you’ve got all the answers , change the questions.’ Or somewhere around those words. I know you get the point though.
Never sacrifice technique and form though. I made the mistake and almost ripped off my left bicep.
Sounds like you aren’t finishing the second pull and you are trying to get under the weight too early. With lighter weight, this isn’t such a big deal(as far as making the lift goes, still shitty for technique though), because the momentum you put on the bar gets it up relatively easy. When you up the weight, you aren’t pulling all the way and extending your hips, and therefore the weight is starting to drop from a lower height, thus making it more difficult to get under.
Really though, it is pretty hard to tell what you are doing wrong without a video. Post up a video so we can see what is going on and give you better advice.
The main thing you have to remember about Olympic Lifts is the best way to improve is to practice the full lifts with the necessary change in mind. if you make a conscious effort to make the necessary change on every single lift, you will improve immensely. Rarely will working on an assistance lift trump consistent attention to technique.
[quote]PrISM wrote:
I have a quick (and easy I hope) question on cleans. I’ve been doing them for close to a year now and I’m having trouble getting underneath the bar to rack it. I have no problems getting my elbows and forearms up quick to catch it, it just seems like I don’t have the quickness to go from exploding up to reversing back to get underneath it.
It’s starting to become more noticeble now as my weight goes up. Is there anything I can to do to help work this issue? Just keep doing cleans? Or is there some other movements I can incorporate? Thanks.[/quote]
Simple answer, clean from the hang, clean of blocks! (you can warm up with these movements)
Get to the point of doing the weight that you have trouble with.
[quote]LeanCarlosBrown wrote:
I agree with Koing. Technique plays a big factor. I used to bend my elbows before I stood straight up so I was tearing up my biceps. The moment I became more patient and waited for my body to stand stright up, and be on my toes, and shrug/pull at the same time, I then could get under the bar because it was actually going higher from finishing the pull.[/quote]
One of my coaches gave the following advice for people who had trouble getting under the bar. He said go to a full triple extension: shrug up to your ears and up on your toes. From this position, assuming you don’t have the ability to fly, the only place you can go is down. He has a point. I’ve noticed that this is true. It’s almost like you’re falling back down.
On a side note, for a person who likes to go searching the Internet for information on the Olympic lifts, which is not necessarily a bad thing, you may come across something from Don McCauley and others that bad-mouth the triple extension. The justification is that the top Greek and Bulgarian lifters no longer triple extend. Well, some do and some don’t. Also, if you’re a 6-year-old Bulgarian kid whose parents don’t mind abandoning you to the Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting machine, then you may learn a slightly different technique. But the triple extension style of pulling is still very valid and a good teaching technique. Learn to triple extend. As the weight gets heavier, you may find yourself pulling a bit more flat-footed. That’s fine, but learn to triple extend first.
[quote]I’ve been performing C+J for a year now, and have noticed the more I train in exercises that assist my strength and power on the clean, the higher the bar goes.
So I began performing lots of heavy Good Mornings, Stiff Legged Deadlifts, and Bent Over Row’s. I realized that my Clean’s were getting higher when my accessory and assistance exercises were getting stronger. [/quote]
For the record, very few high level lifters shrug up anymore. You’ll find a few who do on the snatch, but most people are shrugging themselves back down these days. As the weight gets heavier, shrugging underneath is more efficient than shrugging up. A lot of people who shrug up end up having the bar die on them because they spend too much time raising up with the bar as opposed to reversing direction. Still, with a brand new lifter, just getting them to shrug in -any- direction is important.
As for the rest of what Don McCauley says, you are definitely right that some people pull a bit more flat-footed than others. I don’t like the idea of telling newer lifters not to jump - I think that’s really the only way to get people to learn how to use their hips/thighs to accelerate the bar. Pulling more flat-footed is a thing to work on once you are a more advanced lifter.
Theres ‘no triple extension’ man…it’s only the double knee bend
1st knee bend during the first pull,
2nd knee bend during the 2nd pull,
Theres no issue with people jumping as long as you get full extension. Just don’t do a flutter kick (heels going back towards your hamstrings!).
I tell people to jump up as hard as they can. You see a lot of people generate NO POWER as they are too focused on what the coach is telling them. The coach is telling them too much info. IT’s easy only if you know wtf your doing. It’s very natural now but some coaches over load new athletes/ lifters and they freeze up. Tell them to jump with the bar and it works better,
shoulders over the bar
now tell them to keep the bar close
tell them to move the back towards mid thigh with straight arms
You piece the lift together bit by bit. Most people can’t handle 2 bits of improvement advice, work one and cycle around so you cover everything in a few weeks/months/ years.
Pulling with flat foot or toes is a non issue imo. Some do, some don’t. In the Clean as long as you get it why does it really matter anyway? The point is to get the Clean so you can get the chance to Jerk it
Good info Koing. When I have trouble getting a weight up on Clean, I find myself focusing on Jumping with the lift and it reaelly helps get extra explosion.
[quote]Syalowicki wrote:
Good info Koing. When I have trouble getting a weight up on Clean, I find myself focusing on Jumping with the lift and it reaelly helps get extra explosion.[/quote]
What I’ve found to help me is just what Jorge Garzafox has said. I had a hard time getting under the bar when snatching from the ground so I start snatching from the waist, shrugging and jumping underneath to sort of get over the fear of getting under the bar. Same with cleans, from the waist all you can do is pull yourself underneath the bar, I find it gets me in the right zone before going heavier from the floor.
