Power Clean Form Check

Can you guys please criticise my form, I just started working on power cleans and want to continue to full cleans.

I’ve also tried 80kg but something is holding me back from jumping under the bar…, its like some subconcious fear, any tips how to work on that?

[quote]Rawen wrote:
Can you guys please criticise my form, I just started working on power cleans and want to continue to full cleans.

I’ve also tried 80kg but something is holding me back from jumping under the bar…, its like some subconcious fear, any tips how to work on that?[/quote]

Kind of hard to tell form this angle, with that said, it looks like from the first pull you’re starting with the bar more toward the front of the foot. That seems to leave the bar out in front, so I’d say to work on your first pull first…this is your base, your “foundation”. If your first pull is screwed up, everything else will start to fall apart- especially with heavier weights.

Here is a video that may help:

If you’re trying to move into the squat clean, I’d suggest to lower the weight so that you’re not focused on pulling as hard as you can but more on the positioning. A key point to note in the squat clean, is that you should NOT over pull the bar, it’s straight up and down. Once you build more bar awareness with more repetitions in the squat clean, you should get a better feeling of the lifts.

Hope this was helpful.

Thanks, The comment/Vid helped a lot, I’ve been trying to get the bar closer to the heels and it definitly feels much better, I made 2 more vids if you could look at them and critisize my form again I would really appreciate it.

I think my hips are rising to fast, what do you think?

failed at my first attempt on this one, Lift @ 0:30

PS my max FS is 120, so 100/120 is my clean/FS ratio (for now, cuz I did this after FSing/heavy clean pulls), whats a good ratio for a beginner?

I have no idea how people clean anything close to thier max front squat. I can front squat about 285lbs and my power clean is at 215. For me its definitely just my damn elbows not coming up well enough.

[quote]Field wrote:
I have no idea how people clean anything close to thier max front squat. I can front squat about 285lbs and my power clean is at 215. For me its definitely just my damn elbows not coming up well enough.[/quote]

well maybe your technique isn’t that good either, I really felt I could have done atleast 10kg more if I improved my technique, or maybe its because I don’t got excesive leg strength compared to the rest of my body, maybe you do…

Trying pulling the bar into your shins and sitting on your heels.

You should feel no forward inclination (if that makes sense). Really force yourself to sit back. Stay tight thought because it might be weird at first.

If you still feel you’re struggling from the bottom, start working off blacks to learn and master the explosive hip in the 2nd and “3rd pull” before you drop.

My response to 70kg Squat Clean:

Positioning from the start looks pretty good…from the video angle, it looks like you’re sitting back pretty far, I would even try to raise your hips just a few more inches up and allow your shoulders to start a little further over the bar.

Not sure if it’s just these two videos, but looks like you’re sitting far back in the squat too, which is placing you into a awkward bottom position. In the full squats you’ll needs your shins to travel forward (tried to add still pic but it didn’t seem to work).

For the 100kg squat clean, I believe if you work on these 4 points:
First pull positioning
Squat positioning
Squat strength
Upper back strength

Your lifts should look significantly better…that with time/reps it’ll come together just keep at it. On the plus side, you have a natural feel for the bar, which doesn’t come easily for most Weightlifters.

As for the ratio for a beginner question. I wouldn’t worry about it, just focus on getting reps under the bar and focusing on the tasks mentioned above for now. Positioning will be key for you, eventually that will be a limiting factor in squats as you increase in strength.

At least those are my quick thoughts based off of 3 videos… :slight_smile:

I would suggest reducing the weight to approx 50-60kg and focusing on technique for sets of 5 reps for a few weeks assuming training minimum 2-3 sessions per week.

It is easy to get overloaded with tips/cues etc and suffer from paralysis by analysis so try to focus on one aspect at a time/per session - usually starting with the 1st phase/from the floor and then working on the subsequent parts sequentially or if you have an obvious big problem in the 2nd phase/pull start there - depending. This is an ongoing process and you will not crack the technique overnight.

I would say get the initial pull right first - try to squeeze the bar off the floor by keeping chest up and pushing through your feet, do not yank it with your arms etc. Get that feeling comfortable/natural over a few sessions then shift attention to knee height and so on.

Have a look at these for some pointers from a Commonwealth Champ, Giles Greenwood (sn 180kg/397lbs, c&j 207.5kg/457lbs)

reverse chain clean method: ReverseChainClean - YouTube

power cleans tutorial: PowerCleanTutorial - YouTube

halting pulls: HaltingPulls - YouTube