Hey, guys.
This is just another form check vidya. I’ve been lifting clean and jerks consistently for a month and a half now (finally) and I was wondering how I’ve been doing. I have no teachers, so I’m really just looking for help.
Sorry about the Jerk cutting out at 205. Oops.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
No explosion on the 2nd pull. bar is waaaaaaaaaaaay out in front of you. Moves slightly forward away from you instead of coming close. Losing a lot of power there. Nothing even close to hip contact (or upper thigh contact for cleans). That’s at the first weight warm-up too.
Looks to me like you need to get under the bar a lot faster in the jerk too. Too much thought about “pushing it up” as opposed to getting under it as fast as possible after hard explosion. Hard to articulate at the moment. But you need to be in position at the same instant the bar stops moving upwards, not still moving down under it.
Thanks for the advice, Aragorn. I’m going to try to be more explosive on the 2nd pull today. It’s just that I can power clean 235-255, but I can’t full clean that much because my squat strength is terrible. Also, my jerk technique/strength isn’t all that great either, so I figure what’s the point of failing on the squat portion of the clean with a weight i can deadlift for 50 reps when I can’t even come close to being able to jerk it either? This way I can still work my legs without going to failure every workout.
That’s the way I’m looking at it right now. My train of thought is probably flawed, though. My programming ideas don’t usually work out too well, lol.
Do you have any oly lifting programs that you would suggest for someone with a terribly weak squat (atg fs 1rm 225)?
-Also, pendlay.com’s snatch progression series video that I had bookmarked isn’t in service anymore and I never got around to learning from it:
http://www.pendlay.com/Snatch-progression-series_df_54.html
Do you have any sources/videos you’d recommend for learning the snatch? It’s always been something I’ve been hesitant to try without proper form for fear of injury.
The videos are still up. Look on the Cal Strength website.
You need to take weight off the clean and get that bar onto you thighs!! It’s way out in front of you. You’re pulling like it’s a deadlift, not a clean pull, i.e. basically, you’re pulling with your back and not using your legs!!!
From your other thread, start squatting first and then working technique after, focusing on using your legs off the floor!!
[quote]Zooguido wrote:
Thanks for the advice, Aragorn. I’m going to try to be more explosive on the 2nd pull today. It’s just that I can power clean 235-255, but I can’t full clean that much because my squat strength is terrible. Also, my jerk technique/strength isn’t all that great either, so I figure what’s the point of failing on the squat portion of the clean with a weight i can deadlift for 50 reps when I can’t even come close to being able to jerk it either? This way I can still work my legs without going to failure every workout.
That’s the way I’m looking at it right now. My train of thought is probably flawed, though. My programming ideas don’t usually work out too well, lol.
Do you have any oly lifting programs that you would suggest for someone with a terribly weak squat (atg fs 1rm 225)?
-Also, pendlay.com’s snatch progression series video that I had bookmarked isn’t in service anymore and I never got around to learning from it:
http://www.pendlay.com/Snatch-progression-series_df_54.html
Do you have any sources/videos you’d recommend for learning the snatch? It’s always been something I’ve been hesitant to try without proper form for fear of injury.[/quote]
Honestly, I think for somebody in the 225 lb 1RM squat range, “squat more” is about all you need. I would honestly suggest you keep the clean/jerk weights light and work on hammering technique vs. trying to lift heavier. Efficient technique needs to be a foundation for future lifting.
I would suggest technique work while you are fresh, then squat strength work afterwards. I do not think you need a full olympic lifting program, you need to hammer the foundations of technique before going heavy (like, 12 weeks of technical perfection without going anywhere near 85%) and you need to get stronger on the squat. Much stronger.
It’s all about what you want to accomplish. If you don’t have the technical foundation your olympic lifting will always suck. So work the two aspects separately–technical and raw strength. Then go back to working heavier (gradually) on the olympic lifting.
FWIW, you can squat 2x a week or 3x a week just fine right now. You could pick one front squat day, one back squat day, and one front squat + chains day, or whatever. Make sure you are not grinding weights and that you are gradually increasing the volume of heavy squatting over time, not necessarily taking a WSB tack and maxing out all the time (this has value too, but I don’t think it will help you as much, particularly for Oly lifting).
[quote]olylifter106 wrote:
From your other thread, start squatting first and then working technique after, focusing on using your legs off the floor!![/quote]
I respectfully disagree with this. Technique needs to be worked when he is fresh and able to correct/learn and absorb new motor patterns correctly, not after he’s tired from squatting. Technique always comes first. Do however agree with using the legs off the floor.