Increase My Power Clean

[quote]DouglasJ16 wrote:

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?[/quote]

While you need to change exercises frequently when using above 90% of your max, you can use 85% of your max in the same exercise for a while. Here’s what I did for a while that made my Power Clean, Power Snacth, Zercher Squat, and Deadlift go up. I’ve only changed it because my Bench wasn’t going up. It’s a 4 day rotation.

Sun - Power Clean/Deadlift/Power Snatch/Rack Pull
Mon - Upper Body
Wed - Front Squat/Box Squat/Zercher Squat/Box Squat
Thr - Bench like a Girl

On the Wednesdays I’d box squat I’d do sets of 10. On Front Squats and Zercher Squats I’d max out. I didn’t put much weight on the sets of 10 I’d do with Box Squats but I did increase my Front Squat and Zercher Squat a lot.

The rotation matches up so 1 stressful full-body lift is done a week and that 1 stressful lift alternates between Wednesday and Sunday. It’s basically the Same as Matt K’s template except for 2 things.

  1. On the weeks he does ‘Deadlift Assistance’ workouts I did Olympic Lifts.
  2. On the weeks he does ‘Olympic’ Squats for a set of 10 I did box squats for a set of 10.

Besides the Power Snatch and Power Clean, other Supplimental Lifts you could include in are Push-Jerks, Behind-the-Head Jerks, Hang Cleans, Hang Snatches, Snatches from Blocks, Cleans from Blocks, Snatch High-Pull, Clean High-Pull, Shrugs, Mid-Thigh Deadlifts, Mid-Thigh Snatch-Grip Deadlifts, Log Curls, Log Press, Press, Overhead Lockouts, and Isometrics. Pick 3 or 4 and rotate through them.

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
DouglasJ16 wrote:

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?

While you need to change exercises frequently when using above 90% of your max, you can use 85% of your max in the same exercise for a while. Here’s what I did for a while that made my Power Clean, Power Snacth, Zercher Squat, and Deadlift go up. I’ve only changed it because my Bench wasn’t going up. It’s a 4 day rotation.

Sun - Power Clean/Deadlift/Power Snatch/Rack Pull
Mon - Upper Body
Wed - Front Squat/Box Squat/Zercher Squat/Box Squat
Thr - Bench like a Girl

On the Wednesdays I’d box squat I’d do sets of 10. On Front Squats and Zercher Squats I’d max out. I didn’t put much weight on the sets of 10 I’d do with Box Squats but I did increase my Front Squat and Zercher Squat a lot.

The rotation matches up so 1 stressful full-body lift is done a week and that 1 stressful lift alternates between Wednesday and Sunday. It’s basically the Same as Matt K’s template except for 2 things.

  1. On the weeks he does ‘Deadlift Assistance’ workouts I did Olympic Lifts.
  2. On the weeks he does ‘Olympic’ Squats for a set of 10 I did box squats for a set of 10.

Besides the Power Snatch and Power Clean, other Supplimental Lifts you could include in are Push-Jerks, Behind-the-Head Jerks, Hang Cleans, Hang Snatches, Snatches from Blocks, Cleans from Blocks, Snatch High-Pull, Clean High-Pull, Shrugs, Mid-Thigh Deadlifts, Mid-Thigh Snatch-Grip Deadlifts, Log Curls, Log Press, Press, Overhead Lockouts, and Isometrics. Pick 3 or 4 and rotate through them. [/quote]

I’m curious how much your power clean went up? In my humble opinion this is really overcomplicating things. I’m not einstein, you definetely got something going that’s helping you, so don’t take this as a personal attack, but I feel the power clean can be improved much simpler.

[quote]arnoud verschoor wrote:

I’m curious how much your power clean went up? In my humble opinion this is really overcomplicating things. I’m not einstein, you definetely got something going that’s helping you, so don’t take this as a personal attack, but I feel the power clean can be improved much simpler.[/quote]

From 195 in late January to 235 last week. Zercher went from mid-300s to 425. Power Snatch went from like 125 to 155.

I don’t think it’s that complicated. It’s just sorta complicated to explain. There’s really only a few things I did.

(1) Started with Matt K’s template
(2) Replaced Oly Squats w/ Box squats so I didn’t question depth
(3) Replace the days he does Back Raises & Shrugs w/ Quick Lifts

Oh, and I obviously didn’t use all those possible Supplemental Exercises. I just used Power Cleans and Power Snatches.

[quote]undeadlift wrote:
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]

Not that similar. However, that actually works for some time. I did that for a month years ago, and my power clean increased by 30 pounds over 2 weeks, but I gained nothing for the next 2 weeks.