Power Clean + Push Press Form Check

Ok so I just realized I’m not going to be very popular here.

  1. Do not add weight to the bar when you’re already having trouble with you’re technique because “it’s easer to make corrections.with heavier weight because the errors expose themselves to a greater degree.”
    NOPE! If you already know you have an error WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO MAGNIFY IT?? That’s counter productive. You know you’re having trouble controlling the bar throughout the range of motion. Adding weight is only going to make your problem worse, not better.

  2. I’m not one to split hairs too much. I had a Chinese coach, I’m shorter with a longer torso, so what I’m going to say definitely works better for me, but you should keep your hips LOWER when you start and throughout the pull. All the other posters are correct that you should “stay over the bar” but many people misunderstand that staying over the bar “more” (like 4 inches beyond the bar) is better. I’ve found that as long as your shoulder is over the bar (like directly above the bar or maybe 1 inch) works better for a lot of people. Being so far out front of the bar can throw you off balance, and make you push your hips back too much, negating your leg drive. Think about this “How can your legs “drive” into the ground when they’re straight?” They can’t, your hips and back are extending, but if your knees are already extended, you won’t get the leg drive you need.
    Keep your knees bent more and USE YOUR LEGS as the bar passes your knee and is guided up your thigh.
    Keep the balance over the mid foot (directly below the area where you tie the knot in your shoe laces), keep your back tight, hips low and go slow until you get to the mid thigh. Then you should explode.
    I know this isn’t the typical thing taught everywhere, and you definitely won’t see any of this at your local crossfit box or your weekend USAW seminar that somehow makes you a “coach” in 2 days, but give it a try. Especially if nothing else works.

  3. You shouldn’t really ever “scrape” your shins or bleed from your legs. Think about keeping the bar so close that it touches the hair on your legs, but far enough away that it doesn’t gouge your skin.

  4. Don’t focus on getting the knees out of the way so much. It pushes your hips back too far and throws you off balance. How are you supposed to get good “leg drive” when you’re bowing?? Leg drive should probably come from leg extension, which is impossible if your legs are already extended before the bar passes your knee.

  5. You don’t “feel your hamstrings” during a clean. if you do you, you’re probably injured. Your hamstrings contribute, no doubt, but there’s no reason why they should be emphasized more than your quads, glutes, low back or just paying more attention to where the pressure is in your feet (REMEMBER THE PRESSURE SHOULD BE IN THE MID FOOT MOST OF THE LIFT)

  6. There’s many more things. I would work on guiding the bar into the rack position better. You’re just kind of throwing it up and letting it land on your chest wherever it wants. YOU’RE IN CONTROL of the bar, so after you extend and drive your elbows high in the pull, you should ACTIVELY drive the bar up and back into a firm front squat position. Think, “How should my PR front squat feel?” That’s how tight that front rack should feel. If it doesn’t all the front squats you’ve done aren’t carrying over to the clean. So there’s that to consider.

You’re doing ok, but there’s always something to work on. Keep posting videos and I might keep harassing you. Good luck

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@river_prussia Thanks for taking the time to write this out - much appreciated.

Your advice on this point actually mirrors the coaching I received some years back, so the advice from @drewc64 and @aldebaran forced me to think through it and re-evaluate a bit. I’m going to sort through the collective advice on this point, research, watch some videos, and experiment some more.

This is timely. I was noticing yesterday that I’m getting a lot of “crashing”. Going to work on this.

Please do.

Thanks again

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Of course you have to experiment. I agree with pretty much everything @river_prussia said but I guess I am more biased because I do not look like a chinese lifter at all with my super long legs and slender build (think Jhonathan Rivas) so for me If go too low I cannot move around the bar.

Glad I could help and not come across as too abrasive.

Right. You definitely need to “put in some miles” before you can decide what technique is right for you. There is a likelihood that there are elements of both styles (Euro and Asian) technique that will work… but you never know until you try… and “trying” usually involves months and months of frustration.
I just know that I spent about 7 or 8 years “forcing” a specific style, since that was all my first coach really knew.
It became obvious that his style wasn’t working for me and I made no progress after year 4. I suffered through a ton of overuse injuries and just kept on going. Slowly destroying my body and any potential I may have had in the meantime. I should’ve bailed but I was too stubborn to change anything.

I switched technique after about 8 years, got with a new coach (the Chinese one) and made more progress from a technical aspect in 2 years than I did in the previous 8. That was after having to break old habits and re-learn a deeply embedded movement pattern. It took about a year but it was worth it and I don’t feel embarassed to lift in front of people I respect anymore.

I was elated about finally making progress and at the same time, crushed that I had wasted so much time and pushed through so many injures that could’ve been avoided if I had just had the courage to say “No, I want to try something different”
I’m not saying a Euro technique is wrong, but it was definitely “wrong” for me… I just found out too late.

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So TBH I haven’t been as focused since I last posted - so probably still making some of the same errors. I still tend to feel better about pulling with my hips a little lower than higher in the starting position but haven’t stopped experimenting yet. This is at 95kg (max is 100kg) and I was feeling pretty tired on the press.

In other news, I actually decided to start snatching again. No real desire to go heavy - just want to use it as an opportunity to focus on technique and speed.

Thanks in advance.

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Reposting at 102kg. Still crashing in the catch and working on grip when I start the push press.

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Great job, you are a strong presser!

Some little things:

• At around knee level you start bending (pulling) a bit with your arms. Not necessarily a terrible thing in itself, it’s just linked to the next point.
• You initiate the second pull too early. Your hips are not fully extended, by a good amount. I have the same tendancy when power cleaning.
• Which mean you could pull more weight. What is your max squat?
• During the squat up, your weight is too much on your toes and you even jump! Often you see olifter do a super explosive squat, and having the bar fly off their shoulders in the rack position, like you do. Good for keepin the CNS primed! But don’t go as far as jumping. You need the extra energy for the press, which is the harder part!
• Prettyu much the same things in the snatch. You should try doing some Power drop snatches, snatch balance, and for both lift a 2 secs pause when catching the bar, then going down and finishing it up. Do you do full cleans sometimes?

Honestly, these are just little details, I think you have good technique, and that you will lift way more! Keep at it!

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Thanks for the review:

Thanks but doesn’t feel like it - press is definitely my ceiling right now

I see what you’re referencing now that you mention it

Front squat is right around 140 right now - would like to get it up to ~165

Yeah - typically don’t do this. Sloppy effort

So since my last post I actually gave up on snatching again. It’s fun but I decided it’s not worth the work for my current objectives. I don’t full clean just because I’m purely focused on getting my power up rather than hitting my max number. If there’s an argument for full boosting power I’m all ears though

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Say it ain’t so! The snatch is a high skill lift that allows to to bring more than just dumb aggression into the gym. You can do it!

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You mentioned crashing up thread.

Full cleans may not boost the power but in my experience they can sometimes help with crashing of the bar by improving the smoothness of the turnover and catch. Granted there will usually be “more” crashing on power cleans than full due to the sudden stopping, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.

In my experience fixing crashing is usually a result of working on the third pull/turnover and moving with the bar connected to you instead of just diving under. The back has to still be engaged.

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Interesting - I’ll give this a shot. Thanks

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Definitely. May also try some specific turnover drills. Full cleans aren’t a guaranteed fix for crashing, it’s just something I’ve seen them fix in some athletes.

I’m any case I’m always keen to keep deep squat mobility available in an athlete, so a limited amount may not hurt.

Could try a power clean + full clean complex as well.

Yep - was looking at some turnover drills after your last comment. Like the complex idea as well. Going to work it in over the coming weeks. Thanks again

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I really like tall cleans with light weight to practice turnover and cleanly receiving the bar

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But then again, take that with a grain of salt because I am very very novice at Olympic lifting

As for the snatch video, its quite good - you should be happy with it, you have nailed a lot of the fundamentals. from hips to turn over the bar comes away from the body slightly which causes your bottom position correction, I second @aldebaran comments, I feel like that can be easily fixed with some hang power snatches and holding the catch position/ drop snatch etc.

Can I ask what about the snatch doesn’t work for your current objectives? What are your objectives? One reason why i’ll never stop snatching, it’s ALPHA AF when you hit regular gyms. :joy: :joy:

Thanks for the feedback.

I’ve never had great strength or power, so I’m taking a year to just work on that so I can stop worrying about it and focus on the stuff I actually want to do (like snatch). Snatching was leaving my upper back and shoulders feeling kinda wack and that was impacting my other lifts. Issue probably would have been solved by just snatching more, but then I would have been taking away even more time from the other lifts so just elected to give it a break for a while.

Agree on the show-off value - plan to start working on it again a little later in the year when the outdoor temp is more inviting and my driveway is less icy.

Snatch was doing the same for me. Then I got into sports schools, doing olifts at least 3x times a week with 4 different coaches. Technique has improved a lot (even if not perfect) and these shoulders issues disappeared, and I can’t wait to do an o-lift program again.

It could also be something else (had one unstable shoulder/scapula because of past injury)

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Upfront disclaimer: these lifts suck and are not intended to solicit genuine feedback. It’s been cold and icy and I’ve been lazy about getting out to lift, so I’m just holding myself accountable here. Felt strong today, so worked up to two awful lifts at 105, then followed it up with a set of presses (9 x 66). Need to work on getting wrists under the bar and not dipping so low in the push press.

Edit: links fixed

Please go to home depot and buy a piece of 4x8(or whatever the fuck) rubber flooring you can drag out of your garage when you want to lift. I could give you 20 examples of why Lifting on a wet/icy driveway isn’t smart. Id rather give feedback on your lifts, than feedback on your rehabilitation.

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