Self-Taught Clean & Jerk - Tips?

Training Beginners
21

If i were you or had to Rx a plan where you had no coach I would recommend training without the classic lifts.

You can go far and wide without training any classic lifts. Just the basic lifts:

Squats
overhead push and pull
frontal push and pull
downward push and pull

Just be sure to include speed work such as box jumps and hurdles etc.

This way once you get more accessible to a coach you will be physically prepared to learn and lift the classics with quick progress. as for now there is likely better things you can be investing your time into.

thing is, if you have shit form and no coach then your lift will never go up after a certain point. So lifting some small weight around poorly and risking injury is a huge waste of time compared to getting some sets of squats or high pulls in.

-chris

22

Will it kill you to stop karate for a few days? Or are you some kind of national competitor? Just take 2 days to find out what a pro has to say, then get back to tae kwondo.

23

It takes more than 2 days to learn the clean and jerk correctly.

Let me clarify some details.
I posted in the beginner section because I know nothing about the olympic lifts. I am not a novice lifter anymore, I have been training for a bit more than a year. I can deadlift over 400, squat over 300 and military press 150 with good forms.

The only thing I never did was the power clean. I added it in my program 2 months ago for more explosive strength. The jerk part was mostly for fun. If I lower the weight I can get under the bar with my albows locked.

So what do you guys agree on? Replacing the jerk by the push press and work on my power clean technique?

24

It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris

25

[quote]Avocado wrote:
It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris[/quote]

I don’t understand wat the big deal is.
I live in a rural area in Australia so there is no way I can find a coach to teach me technique until I move next year.I like doing cleans, and I think that I use safe form for the weight that I’m using.

Admittedly there are lots of things that I dont know, and that I will not be able to improve on until I find a coach, but why not work on things that are obvious?

For example, when I do heavy cleans, my feet spread and my weight is too far forward in the catch. Wats wrong with droping the weight back and focusing on those things to get them right?

26

[quote]Avocado wrote:
It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris[/quote]

I respectfully disagree. A lifter can develop a kinesthetic feel for the positions the body moves most powerfully in. This combined with free suggestions from youtube videos is enough to give decent form to a serious lifter.

Point two: Having a great coach does not automatically entail excellent form. I was watching some videos of a Oly trainer in North Austin, and his trainnees form was decent, but far from excellent. Which is bullshit. And this is a coach who had competed in the olympics for the bulgarian team not too far back.

27

I don’t see what the big deal is either. Sure, ideally he should get some coaching. Since this doesn’t seem to be viable right now, he’s taking the next best option, asking for form critque and certainly thinking about and trying to learn good form. You can go a long way on just that. His form is not so bad that he’s likely to hurt himself.

He does martial arts so probably has some good body awareness. He will probably understand and to a large degree be able to implement suggestions we might give him.

As for the other lifts that can be done for explosive strength, clean and jerks are much more fun.

OP, sorry about talking about you in the third person in your own thread.

28

[quote]Doyle wrote:
Avocado wrote:
It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris

I don’t understand wat the big deal is.
I live in a rural area in Australia so there is no way I can find a coach to teach me technique until I move next year.I like doing cleans, and I think that I use safe form for the weight that I’m using.

Admittedly there are lots of things that I dont know, and that I will not be able to improve on until I find a coach, but why not work on things that are obvious?

For example, when I do heavy cleans, my feet spread and my weight is too far forward in the catch. Wats wrong with droping the weight back and focusing on those things to get them right?

[/quote]

Nothing. That’s perfectly fine.

Thing is, that’s you working on how things felt, and having felt every subsequent rep in every session previous. You’ve been there for the good ones and bad ones and have developed a point of reference for what you’d consider correct or correct enough. Your bar pattern may or may not be optimal once you get to a coach but that is not of much concern to you ATM.

The OP is looking for other people to call it based on a single angle and a single rep. a sample of one with no more info than one camera angle is nothing to base any worth while advice on. It’s the kind of thing you do in certification exams but only because real lifters are usually not present to lift for examples.

So he could keep working the cleans, which are a top lift to do, but id say there are other things he could do with that time if he wants better or faster results. Its just that without a certain technical level the clean will stall out. I love a fast lift but i just do not think there is any advice that can be easily given or employed from this video.

If it were a testing question or something I would say that the extension is unfinished on the clean, the elbows are low, all 3 pulls are slow, can’t tell about back/front jumping or not, Hard to tell about starting position, If the clean is forward or backward it is impossible to say where the bar path needs to be fixed. the jerk is not. It is a press with a jump and an uneven landing.

But none of this shit really means dick to the OP. If he thinks about his unfinished extension then he might go home and think:

“feels like im extending, but ill try and get my hips through more”

Then he rolls up at the gym and starts flinging his shoulders backwards accidentally while trying to get full extension. Who know how anything we say will turn out IRL. So that’s why online coaching just is no substitute and not too many people want to feel responsible for someone getting buggered lifting incorrectly in a facility that has no bumpers and dows not allow for bail outs.

maybe just me,

-chris

29

[quote]Avocado wrote:
Doyle wrote:
Avocado wrote:
It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris

I don’t understand wat the big deal is.
I live in a rural area in Australia so there is no way I can find a coach to teach me technique until I move next year.I like doing cleans, and I think that I use safe form for the weight that I’m using.

Admittedly there are lots of things that I dont know, and that I will not be able to improve on until I find a coach, but why not work on things that are obvious?

For example, when I do heavy cleans, my feet spread and my weight is too far forward in the catch. Wats wrong with droping the weight back and focusing on those things to get them right?

Nothing. That’s perfectly fine.

Thing is, that’s you working on how things felt, and having felt every subsequent rep in every session previous. You’ve been there for the good ones and bad ones and have developed a point of reference for what you’d consider correct or correct enough. Your bar pattern may or may not be optimal once you get to a coach but that is not of much concern to you ATM.

The OP is looking for other people to call it based on a single angle and a single rep. a sample of one with no more info than one camera angle is nothing to base any worth while advice on. It’s the kind of thing you do in certification exams but only because real lifters are usually not present to lift for examples.

So he could keep working the cleans, which are a top lift to do, but id say there are other things he could do with that time if he wants better or faster results. Its just that without a certain technical level the clean will stall out. I love a fast lift but i just do not think there is any advice that can be easily given or employed from this video.

If it were a testing question or something I would say that the extension is unfinished on the clean, the elbows are low, all 3 pulls are slow, can’t tell about back/front jumping or not, Hard to tell about starting position, If the clean is forward or backward it is impossible to say where the bar path needs to be fixed. the jerk is not. It is a press with a jump and an uneven landing.

But none of this shit really means dick to the OP. If he thinks about his unfinished extension then he might go home and think:

“feels like im extending, but ill try and get my hips through more”

Then he rolls up at the gym and starts flinging his shoulders backwards accidentally while trying to get full extension. Who know how anything we say will turn out IRL. So that’s why online coaching just is no substitute and not too many people want to feel responsible for someone getting buggered lifting incorrectly in a facility that has no bumpers and dows not allow for bail outs.

maybe just me,

-chris[/quote]

Thanks for clarifying, I completely understand where you are coming from.

30

[quote]Doyle wrote:
Avocado wrote:
Doyle wrote:
Avocado wrote:
It’s pretty hard to “work” on your power clean tech.

Thing is until you have a physical reference point for “correct” you will have no idea what lifts are shit, better or good. And the second you use a mirror or some shit to try and monitor yourself you have failed the lift already.

If you are thinking about anything other than the lift itself at the time you cannot be doing it right.

Yeah, even a week or weekend of coaching, like a seminar, would be worth while id say.

there are other lifts you can do for explosive strength. jump squats, box jumps, throwing etc. High pulls are a great one too. Same line as cleans but without the dynamic transition and bar impact.

-chris

I don’t understand wat the big deal is.
I live in a rural area in Australia so there is no way I can find a coach to teach me technique until I move next year.I like doing cleans, and I think that I use safe form for the weight that I’m using.

Admittedly there are lots of things that I dont know, and that I will not be able to improve on until I find a coach, but why not work on things that are obvious?

For example, when I do heavy cleans, my feet spread and my weight is too far forward in the catch. Wats wrong with droping the weight back and focusing on those things to get them right?

Nothing. That’s perfectly fine.

Thing is, that’s you working on how things felt, and having felt every subsequent rep in every session previous. You’ve been there for the good ones and bad ones and have developed a point of reference for what you’d consider correct or correct enough. Your bar pattern may or may not be optimal once you get to a coach but that is not of much concern to you ATM.

The OP is looking for other people to call it based on a single angle and a single rep. a sample of one with no more info than one camera angle is nothing to base any worth while advice on. It’s the kind of thing you do in certification exams but only because real lifters are usually not present to lift for examples.

So he could keep working the cleans, which are a top lift to do, but id say there are other things he could do with that time if he wants better or faster results. Its just that without a certain technical level the clean will stall out. I love a fast lift but i just do not think there is any advice that can be easily given or employed from this video.

If it were a testing question or something I would say that the extension is unfinished on the clean, the elbows are low, all 3 pulls are slow, can’t tell about back/front jumping or not, Hard to tell about starting position, If the clean is forward or backward it is impossible to say where the bar path needs to be fixed. the jerk is not. It is a press with a jump and an uneven landing.

But none of this shit really means dick to the OP. If he thinks about his unfinished extension then he might go home and think:

“feels like im extending, but ill try and get my hips through more”

Then he rolls up at the gym and starts flinging his shoulders backwards accidentally while trying to get full extension. Who know how anything we say will turn out IRL. So that’s why online coaching just is no substitute and not too many people want to feel responsible for someone getting buggered lifting incorrectly in a facility that has no bumpers and dows not allow for bail outs.

maybe just me,

-chris

Thanks for clarifying, I completely understand where you are coming from.
[/quote]

Yo that. Also, are you absurdly tall or does that squat rack in your avatar look hella short?

-chris