I’m a college student, former football player, and I’m looking for help on getting my power clean up to where is should be. I was never really coached up on it so I’m just trying to educate myself by reading up and watching some videos. I’m decently strong but it’s killing me that I can’t power clean as much as I should, any advice?
How much do you do now? How much should you be doing?
[quote]BigE05 wrote:
How much do you do now? How much should you be doing?[/quote]
Max squat? Max clean? Max snatch? Max deadlift and if possible max clean pull? I’m not joking with these questions, they are important to know where you’re at. I’ve got a lot of tips (I’m not the best power cleaner, but still cleaned 315 at 230) for ya, but let me know first!
Pull harder.
just kidding.
Get a coach. It really is one of the only options.
-chris
Need to know a lot more to establish your weak areas as the other posters signified.
my exercise selection personally would be something like… Snatch Pulls, rack pulls from just below the knee, deadstop front squats, RDL’s, maybe jump squats, etc.
if i was going to do this myself next four weeks would look something like this…
Lower Body day 1:
Power Clean
Week 1: 8 singles, Week 2: 10 singles, Week 3: 6 singles, week 4: 3 singles-- all above 90%
Deadstop Front squats 3x3
Rack Pulls 5x5
hanging pikes (abs)
Lower Body Day 2:
Snatch Pull 10x2 between 80-90% not a max
RDL 3x3
Front Squat 5x5
weighted situps(abs)
Upper body day:
5x5 Push press
5x5 weighted pullups
3x8 dbbell incline + bent row
I’d change it up after 4weeks but it would look relatively the same. But thats because i know for MYSELF personally that snatch pulls and front squats make my power clean go up.
(actually overhead press, pullups and front squats make all my lifts go up, go figure)
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
I’d change it up after 4weeks but it would look relatively the same. But thats because i know for MYSELF personally that snatch pulls and front squats make my power clean go up.
(actually overhead press, pullups and front squats make all my lifts go up, go figure)[/quote]
Same here, I just did back squats and snatch deads for two months with no cleans, 5 kg pr! Though I’m convinced it could’ve been more if I did cleans as well.
Same happened to me in the smolov base cycle, cleaned 140 kg in the warm up…
my max power clean is somewhere around 245 (i haven’t maxed in a while but plan on it this week), max squat is 455. honestly i havent maxed in a long time but plan on getting some maxes this week. i’m currently at about 225 pounds bodyweight.
Rack pulls. Heavy rack pulls. The exact movements are different, but the muscles being overloaded and the body position in rack pulls are similar to those in power cleaning.
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
Need to know a lot more to establish your weak areas as the other posters signified.
my exercise selection personally would be something like… Snatch Pulls, rack pulls from just below the knee, deadstop front squats, RDL’s, maybe jump squats, etc.
if i was going to do this myself next four weeks would look something like this…
Lower Body day 1:
Power Clean
Week 1: 8 singles, Week 2: 10 singles, Week 3: 6 singles, week 4: 3 singles-- all above 90%
Deadstop Front squats 3x3
Rack Pulls 5x5
hanging pikes (abs)
Lower Body Day 2:
Snatch Pull 10x2 between 80-90% not a max
RDL 3x3
Front Squat 5x5
weighted situps(abs)
Upper body day:
5x5 Push press
5x5 weighted pullups
3x8 dbbell incline + bent row
I’d change it up after 4weeks but it would look relatively the same. But thats because i know for MYSELF personally that snatch pulls and front squats make my power clean go up.
(actually overhead press, pullups and front squats make all my lifts go up, go figure)[/quote]
When you’re doing snatch pulls how do you keep track of progress?
eg If you are adding 5lb of weight each week, how do you know that your pulls aren’t just getting lower as the weight increases?
Do you just go by feel, or do you use something as a reference point for the height of the pulls?
I thought he meant snatch grip deadlift, not the high pull. If I’m wrong it’s a good question indeed.
I meant snatch pull
and I pretty much go by feel, i “know” what’s fast to me plus i’m not NEARLY getting the height i need if i go too heavy. I generally have a good idea of when Im getting close to a maximal pull too. Sometimes i go too far but its easy to just back off some the next set.
it really comes down to having lifted a long enough time to “know” yourself.
uh clean is pretty technical having better form and being faster-yet still smooth- will help you tremendously. Best option is to find a coach obviously.
my technique has gotten dramatically better since i started really working on it. i’d ultimately like to learn to full clean and jerk. any program ideas??
If you can teach yourself a full squat-clean, you will be able to power clean more since you will be better skilled at getting under the bar and getting your elbows high.
Getting a copy of “Starting Strength” would help.
If you want to make your power clean go up, find the full-body lift you suck at and improve that. If you suck at Front Squats, then focus on those. If you suck at Deadlifts, focus on those, if you suck at Power Snatches, do those.
Don’t waste any time doing Calf Raises.
Do Power Cleans as your first exercise.
Find out what Prilepin’s Chart is and apply it to your training. If you do 5 sets of your 3RM every time you do Power Cleans you’ll get stuck but if you follow this chart you will do well.
The Russians say you need to train with 85-95% of your max in competition lifts frequently in order to develop speed strength. Loui Simmons says you can’t train with 90% of your max in the same lift for more than 3 weeks in a row. They’re both right. So do a lot of sets at 85% of your max to teach your body to become better at Power Cleans.
this vids are pretty damn good. They talk about the Snatch but if u can snatch u can clean. NOT the other way around.
Dan John:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6529481301858251744
Tommy Kono I
Tommy Kono
IF you want to get good at this thing, you need a coach. Ask around at the forums, go to USAW Réduire ses impôts and look for ur state to see where there are some gyms and call them. Stop by there and network to find someone who trains close to u.
great fuckin advice from neospartan and fighting scott
If you want to make your power clean go up, find the full-body lift you suck at and improve that. If you suck at Front Squats, then focus on those. If you suck at Deadlifts, focus on those, if you suck at Power Snatches, do those.
^^Thats like get stronger for dummies, really simple (but correct) way of putting it
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
The Russians say you need to train with 85-95% of your max in competition lifts frequently in order to develop speed strength. Loui Simmons says you can’t train with 90% of your max in the same lift for more than 3 weeks in a row. They’re both right. So do a lot of sets at 85% of your max to teach your body to become better at Power Cleans. [/quote]
So the take home point is to use 85-95% of your 1RM enough to increase strength and speed, but only for up to 3 weeks in a row, then change the max lift so there’s no burn out and to avoid hitting a plateau(??)
What would you recommend doing during the next 3 weeks? For example, say 3 weeks of ME back squatting, then what? 3 weeks of heavy deads, and maybe a few sets of a 7-8RM front squat?
How much time do you have, i think you can go hard up to 4 weeks personally but i think its unique for everyone imo. but week 4 is USUALLY a back off week (instead of doing 10 singles over 90% i’ll do 3) ^
ME: snatch pull 8 singles over 90% (2wks), power snatch (1-2wks) 10 singles over 90%
rest week (don’t do ME but do accessory work)
ME: Deadstop Front Squat (2wks), Front Squat (1-2wks)
Rest week, accessory work, maybe squats for reps
ME: Elevated DL 10 singles, Rack Pull 8 singles, DL from floor 6 singles,
Rest week again,
ME: Clean Pull 8 singles, Clean pull from Blocks 10singles, power clean from floor 6 singles,
“Rest” week.
Test max
Staples throughout your training would be Front squats, RDLS, GM’s, Bent rows, unilateral work, and on speed days i like either lighter oly work (emphasis on speed), speed deadlifts, and jump squats.
Don’t make it more complicated than it is. A former thrower who’s name I won’t mention gave me this simple routine he did to increase his power clean from 300 lbs to 420 lbs.
Day 1:
Work up to a near max in the power clean, start with sets of 5, then 3’s, then doubles, then a few singles. Once a month work up to a real max.
Day 2:
5 sets of 5 hang cleans.
He did front squats, two or three times a month clean deadlifts, heavy shrugs, arm work, rows and some auxilliaries (I’m dutch, probably wrong spelling). Each time he felt he was about to enter a plateau, he reversed the exercise order in his workout, seemed to work for him. He probably used the described set and rep scheme for his other core lifts as well.
O, another program that details everything:
http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_149_A_PageName_E_ArticlePowerCleanProgram
Myself, I went from a 115 kg to 125 kg power clean after doing the canadian ascending descending training from Chris T for the back squat, power clean and romanian deadlift.
I power cleaned 130 kg after just doing all kinds of stuff, can’t remember that one.
Went from a 130kg to a 135kg power clean after doing the 1-6 method (Poliquin) for snatch deadlifts and squats.
I power cleaned 140 kg in the midst of the smolov base cycle.
My point: just pick a few set and rep schemes, always do the squat and the clean, and pick 1 or 2 exercises that you feel help your clean out. In my case these were heavy romanian and snatch deadlifts.
Hope this helps you out a bit.
Although I didn’t ask the original question, I was curious–thanks guys lots of good info provided.