Full Clean Form Check

I’m 18 and recently decided I wanted to get into olympic lifting. Was wondering if you guys could tell me what I am doing wrong when cleaning. Any advice is appreciated 275x3

Thanks

Pretty good weight for a triple. You say you want to get into Olympic weightlifting… What does that mean? Do you want to compete?

Give a little better explanation and we can give you more appropriate direction.

Thanks for the response.

My lifting has been focused on training for football the last few years, and I have never really been worried about my form when lifting. My favorite lifts are different variations (power, hang and full) of cleans so I figured Olympic style lifting might be something I would enjoy. I would like to compete eventually but I have no experience with jerks and snatches so I think my goal for the now should just be trying to get the form of these lifts down. Since I do have some experience cleaning, I thought it would be helpful to see if I am doing anything wrong.

Thanks again for responding.

Looks good! Your arms are straight, you get under well, catch with elbows high.

Start doing some power snatches from the hang. You already have the hip pop and the strong pull from the traps. It’s should be really easy for you to pick up the power snatch.

That will teach you to keep the bar Close to your body, and improve your already good clean.

Do you do much overhead pressing or any jerks right now?

Thank you for the advice. I am going to start to learn the power snatch and also the jerk. I have never done any jerks, I occasionally push press so that is another movement I will have to learn. Also, do you know any of programs that would be good for a beginner?

It’s all in the hips!

I don’t think You will have any problems with the jerk. You “pop” your hips and drive, then when the bar is weightless, you dip under it. Its kind of just a timing issue.

What has your training been like until now? What are your other lifts like? You may be able to make some easy adjustments to your current program. A few power snatches instead of power cleans on “back day” or some jerks after overhead press on “shoulder day.”

Check out some of Thib’s routines on this site. A bunch of them mix in Olympic style lifts.

I actually see quite a few issues with these lifts, the strength is definitely there though.

  1. When you set up your toes actually go outside your hands, they definitely need to be inside your. It appears that its a little bit your hands being too close, and a little bit feet being too wide, either way need to get feet inside your hands.

  2. You jerk the weight off the ground, needs to be pulled more slowly off the ground. Apply force slowly, pull the slack out of the bar, and then apply speed to the bar as it breaks the ground.

  3. You are a little short of full extension. Hitting some power clean work should help this. I actually actually recommend no feet power cleans due to my next point. So work on keeping your toes on the ground.

  4. It’s important to move your feet in weightlifting, but not necessarily just pick them up and donkey kick the ground. I would work on some no foot movement power cleans and squat cleans. So work on your feet not completely leaving the ground. Still want full extension and getting up on toes, but keep toes planted to ground.

  5. You catch with your elbows very low. This is what is causing you to get forward coming out of the hole. This is probably caused by your super tight grip on the bar. Take the hook grip from the floor, then as you drop under the bar release the hook and let you grip be loose so your elbows can move around the bar easier, try to catch with your elbows as high as possible.

  6. Your feet are pretty wide on the catch which will get rough on the knees and hips. Moving them in from point number 1 will help, so will no foot power cleans and squat cleans.

Super strong though man, iron that technique out and you will be hitting some BIG numbers.