How High Should the Clean Go?

On a successful lift on the clean, I get it to shoulder height then drop it. However, I don’t let the weight rest completely on my shoulders. Instead, its on my arms and my shoulders. If i go all the way to my shoulders, by lifting my elbows up, it puts a lot of pressure on the arms and elbows. Its not painful, but the weight is heavy

Whats the correct technique?

I will not be doing jerks btw

this video is a pretty good example of what I do.

The first two cleans the guy gets the weight up, has it in the front squat position and then lets the weight go.

In the third rep he gets the weight to rest on his shoulders and he brings the elbows all the way up. You can see its much more taxing.

Thank You for your response

Hmm. That’s a good question. Curious to know what the experts think but I usually complete the clean all the way to a dead stop across the shoulders and then drop it. Hawkson are you actually catching the bar at the top or are you just powering it up like a high shrug and then just letting it drop back down immediately?

I’ve got the bar on the arms and the shoulders but its not locked out so to speak.

If i get my wrists under that bar I consider that a rep

Oh I see what you’re saying. reversing immediately after the catch rather than setting the arms higher to prepare for the jerk and then dropping. I’m no expert on the olympic lifts, but it sounds like a decent stopping point to me as long as you’re not going to press or jerk it further. pretty much how I do them

[quote]Hawkson101 wrote:
I’ve got the bar on the arms and the shoulders but its not locked out so to speak.

If i get my wrists under that bar I consider that a rep[/quote]

You gotta get that bar racked for it to count. Do you do front squat with the bar in the racked position? It will take a while to get the flexibility for it. Be patient and it will pay off by not bothering your wrists.

[quote]Krollmonster wrote:
Hawkson101 wrote:
I’ve got the bar on the arms and the shoulders but its not locked out so to speak.

If i get my wrists under that bar I consider that a rep

You gotta get that bar racked for it to count. Do you do front squat with the bar in the racked position? It will take a while to get the flexibility for it. Be patient and it will pay off by not bothering your wrists.
[/quote]

You have to have the bar racked across your chest to have it count. You can’t just get it up and drop it. The bar has to be under control across your chest before you drop it.

Koing

[quote]robo1 wrote:
Hmm. That’s a good question. Curious to know what the experts think but I usually complete the clean all the way to a dead stop across the shoulders and then drop it. Hawkson are you actually catching the bar at the top or are you just powering it up like a high shrug and then just letting it drop back down immediately?[/quote]

True Olympic Lifters Pull the bar to just above their waste then drop underneath it. You have to have tremendous explosive strength and flexibility to perform an olympic lift correctly.

My suggestion is to pull the bar to the midline of your chest and then drop underneath it. Finishing in a quarter squat position. Rack the bar in the front squat position with your elbows pointed straight ahead and the bar resting on your shoulders.

You may have to perform some flexibility exercises for your shoulder girdle and forearms in order to get the correct form.

Why are you power cleaning? The specific answer would probably depend on why you’re doing it (and who you asked)…