Powercleans

[mcsquared]

My latest incarnation of the powerclean, for ya'lls critiquing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T9tB9hZMx8

Thanks!

[TomC]

They look pretty solid. You may have a hint of early arm bend on one or two, but nothing significant. Your start position and general mechanics seem to be good. My main suggestion is to be more explosive on the second pull. Once the bar hits the mid thigh, jump aggressively, get the bar moving faster, and drive the elbows up with more urgency.

[mstrofbass]

They look pretty solid. You may have a hint of early arm bend on one or two, but nothing significant. Your start position and general mechanics seem to be good. My main suggestion is to be more explosive on the second pull. Once the bar hits the mid thigh, jump aggressively, get the bar moving faster, and drive the elbows up with more urgency.

What about his rack position? It looks like it's half racked on the front of his delts, and half in his hands. I wouldn't think that would fly when he starts bumping the weight up.

I don't know enough to critique the mechanics.

[nisora33]

What about his rack position? It looks like it's half racked on the front of his delts, and half in his hands.

He's probably just death-gripping the bar. Hook grip might solve that if that's the case.

-S.

[Sami]

I have issues racking heavier weights. I can rack lighter weights no problem. But 70kg and up, I think I get unsure and don't want to let go of the bar. I end up catching it in a press position.

If you can get the rack position fairly easily, it may just be a confidence issue. Look at the bar as a target that you have to hit with your delts, and you need to really rotate your elbows MUCH faster. The elbows are another explosive component of the lift.

[TomC]

What about his rack position? It looks like it's half racked on the front of his delts, and half in his hands. I wouldn't think that would fly when he starts bumping the weight up.

I don't know enough to critique the mechanics.

His elbows could be a bit higher, but not everyone has limb lengths that support that position. I've seen much worse. I would bet that if he got his elbows moving a lot faster and let the bar roll back onto his fingers at the top that his rack would take care of itself.

[mstrofbass]

His elbows could be a bit higher, but not everyone has limb lengths that support that position. I've seen much worse. I would bet that if he got his elbows moving a lot faster and let the bar roll back onto his fingers at the top that his rack would take care of itself.

My arms are a little longer than average and I figured it out. But even if he couldn't, any type of weight being held like that is going to kill his wrists. Unless he's got ridiculous monkey arms (which it doesn't look like), he needs to work on it.

[TomC]

Someone better fucking tell that to Hossein Rezazadeh then.

http://olympic.iransports.net/imgs/vaznebardari_rezazadeh_3.jpg

http://www.topnews.in/sports/files/hossein.jpg

Also, Shane Hamman:

http://www.amateurwrestlingphotos.com/spotlight/2004_titan/weight%20lifting/medium/04_titan_weight-lifting_spolight%200028.jpg

Getting the humerus parallel to the floor is considered the ideal. However, just because they are not is not an indication that something is terribly wrong. If it is not hurting him, then things will probably be just fine. If it is hurting him, then, yes, he needs to get the elbows higher.

[gzt]

Someone better fucking tell that to Hossein Rezazadeh then.

Right, but there's a difference between a limit attempt in competition and what you're doing for sets across with a power clean.

[TomC]

You guys are right. He's going to mangle his wrists.

[TomC]

By the way, I am being facetious when I say he's going to mangle his wrists. Whatever the case, catching the bar with the nice high elbows is good. I am not arguing that it is not. I just don't see it as the biggest problem in the posted video.

[mstrofbass]

By the way, I am being facetious when I say he's going to mangle his wrists. Whatever the case, catching the bar with the nice high elbows is good. I am not arguing that it is not. I just don't see it as the biggest problem in the posted video.

No one said it was. He asked to be critiqued, and that is one critique that you failed to mention. The fact is, unless there's some reason he CAN'T do it, he needs to TRY to do it. It'll be a hell of a lot better to figure out how to do it now then wait until later when you end up hurting your wrists.

In addition, the examples you provided are ridiculous, and no where near analogous. First, it's painfully obvious that most of the weight is on their delts. They have large enough shoulders that they don't need their arms to be parallel to the floor. Not to mention, they've probably spent plenty of time working on their wrist flexibility to accommodate their form.

But, the point is moot. He asked for a critique, his racking can be better, and he should work on it instead of keeping his arms at an angle where most of the weight is supported by his hands, lest he start adding weight on there and fucks up his wrists, unless he's incapable due to some rare physical abnormality that isn't apparent from the video.

[TomC]

The fact is, unless there's some reason he CAN'T do it, he needs to TRY to do it. It'll be a hell of a lot better to figure out how to do it now then wait until later when you end up hurting your wrists.


Good points. I concede.

[mcsquared]

For the record, and this might be due to shoddy video, I definitely do not feel any strain on the wrists. This might be because of the weight, but I really don't believe so. This is in my opinion strictly, and perhaps it can be argued otherwise, but I always have the bar on the meat of my shoulder, in the proper racking position. It may not look that way, simply because I don't exactly have the most flexible shoulders, but its up there. I'm pretty sure Stacey hit it spot on, in regards to the death-grip. I've been starting the lift with a hook-grip and then opening it up at the end.

[Campbell]

The one thing I noticed was that when you drop under the bar to rack it your knees go forward quite a bit. With the weight being quite light you can get a very high pull so dont need to drop much but once it gets heavier you will need to drop under it more. You should be aiming to drop into more like a front squat position keeping your knees back and dropping your ass (Like Hossein and shane do in the pics).

You arent doing it much but i noticed because i have just started power cleans and I also do it (much worse than you) and am trying to fix it. I am certainly not an expert so feel free to ignore my advice.