So this question is more of a round table discussion rather than a “where can I put power cleans in my program”, since we have an array of choices. I’ve used several different methodologies for incorporating them in the program. What, in everyone’s opinion has netted you the best progress? Do you perform these to near limit or do you go sub-max and prime you for deadlifts or squats, if you perform these before. I personally feel my deadlifts are optimized by “priming” the CNS via power cleans.
I never hard programmed my Power Cleans but one thing that I always loved doing and worked very well for me was starting with bar and working up to a heavy-ish triple or single before my deadlifts.
[quote]EllE Star wrote:
I never hard programmed my Power Cleans but one thing that I always loved doing and worked very well for me was starting with bar and working up to a heavy-ish triple or single before my deadlifts.[/quote]
yea same for me, but dont get to exited as it fucks your deadlift if going heavy
One thing I like since cleans are my main 5/3/1 posterior work (lagging) but I also want some limited snatch and deadlift work, is to warm up with power snatches and as bar weight gets too heavy for snatch, the clean sets are just right and after my 5/3/1 work with those, I’ll add a plate or so on and get a set or two of submaximal deads. Bit of a compromise to focus on cleans but not completely leave out the others…
Just started to use the after military press in 5/3/1 % s but do 3 2 1 reps ( not meant for high reps in my opinion) and either fsl or joker so far so good but want to run it for several cycles before real opinion
I typically program them as an assistance exercise and do them after squats. I know it’s recommended to do them first but tried it and didn’t like it.
I generally work up to a heavy triple and do 5 top sets. I don’t program the weight since the amount I can lift with good form varies from week to week.
[quote]some_dude wrote:
I typically program them as an assistance exercise and do them after squats. I know it’s recommended to do them first but tried it and didn’t like it.
I generally work up to a heavy triple and do 5 top sets. I don’t program the weight since the amount I can lift with good form varies from week to week.[/quote]
Using that scheme, how has your progress been?
[quote]METAL VIPER wrote:
Using that scheme, how has your progress been?[/quote]
Terrible.
I think the scheme is alright if it’s used for assistance work. My goal is to increase my deadlift and not my power clean. I did try to prioritize both for a bit I found that after a certain point one started detracting from the other so I chose to make deadlift my main effort and put power cleans on the back burner.
If my goal was to progress my power clean I’d go about it totally different.
[quote]some_dude wrote:
[quote]METAL VIPER wrote:
Using that scheme, how has your progress been?[/quote]
Terrible.
I think the scheme is alright if it’s used for assistance work. My goal is to increase my deadlift and not my power clean. I did try to prioritize both for a bit I found that after a certain point one started detracting from the other so I chose to make deadlift my main effort and put power cleans on the back burner.
If my goal was to progress my power clean I’d go about it totally different.[/quote]
I agree about your goal. I’ve found that when my deadlift goes up, so does my powerclean and by no means do I train around the olympic lifts, but rather use the power clean to warm up for deads and get some explosive training in
[quote]METAL VIPER wrote:
I agree about your goal. I’ve found that when my deadlift goes up, so does my powerclean and by no means do I train around the olympic lifts, but rather use the power clean to warm up for deads and get some explosive training in
[/quote]
I use box jumps and med ball throws for warmups, depending on whether it’s lower or upper day.
I keep the power clean because I think it’s a useful athletic exercise. I think that if I were a dedicated powerlifter I might swap it out for something else but for me it serves it’s purpose and I’m not convinced I need it to be super heavy to achieve the desired training effect.
Plus it’s fun.
Done prior to squats or on an alternate day with no other main lift has worked well for me. I’ll do them 5/3/1 style for a while prior to squats for a few cycles, and in some cycles I will put them on an alternate day between the other mains days if I have more time to train. When on alt days, I general work up to heavy triples, though 5/3/1 style is always solid. I like to always go for rep PRs when done 5/3/1 style.
[quote]some_dude wrote:
I keep the power clean because I think it’s a useful athletic exercise. I think that if I were a dedicated powerlifter I might swap it out for something else but for me it serves it’s purpose and I’m not convinced I need it to be super heavy to achieve the desired training effect.
Plus it’s fun.[/quote]
Agreed on both points
[quote]Sultan-of-Swing wrote:
Done prior to squats or on an alternate day with no other main lift has worked well for me. I’ll do them 5/3/1 style for a while prior to squats for a few cycles, and in some cycles I will put them on an alternate day between the other mains days if I have more time to train. When on alt days, I general work up to heavy triples, though 5/3/1 style is always solid. I like to always go for rep PRs when done 5/3/1 style.[/quote]
I used the 5/3/1 scheme for a long time and got some decent gains, though I’m not a fan of going up to 5 reps in the set unless I cluster it. Not pushing the ‘cleans can’t be done above 3 reps dogma’, I just didn’t personally like it