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Thread: Power Cleans risk re-injuring MCL - how to proceed?

  1. #1
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    Default Power Cleans risk re-injuring MCL - how to proceed?

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    Hi everyone!

    TLDR; How to overcome/correct reoccurring Medial Collateral Ligament knee issues while doing movements involving jumps that require stance width widening, namely Power Cleans?


    Current situation:
    I had a few years sedentary, low food intake period in my life.
    Finally having my life back in order I started going into gym, about two months before SS which I've done for few weeks now.

    I love doing SS, and was eager for the idea of once again getting back to doing Power Cleans for the phase 2 of the program.
    My deadlifts are still progressing, so I figured I'd just do some technique practice under my belt to get ready when I stall.


    The past injury:
    Last fall I had a knee sprain from BMX'ing where a forceful right foot planting on the ground caused the momentum go through my ankle, up my shin oscillating in snake-like wave fashion and finally end up to my knee popping "in and out" laterally.
    I got quite big swelling with no significant bruising and no popping sounds hinting me that I had a moderate-bad case of ligament stretching. Took 1 month to walk somewhat normal and couple months of pain.

    Last winter I had couple sports related events where my knee also did similar motion that signaled me that I was still a bit out of 100% recovered.

    From anatomy pictures I've derived that the ligament (inner knee) in question would be the medial collateral ligament, MCL.


    What happened with Power Clean:
    I had already forgotten about the whole thing, until I was doing that Power Clean practice mentioned above.
    The problem part is that in the jump one is supposed to widen the stance laterally. That's what puts MCL at risk.

    It was going to be one of my few last reps of practice, after already having done my main exercise for the day.
    Lack of focus and muscles being tired, my knee caved in laterally inwards upon landing the jump, got that nasty clunk happen and I thought I was DONE for a long time again based on the range of ill motion.

    I proceeded to do immediate and thorough calf massaging, as it seemed as if the tension was building in the calf. And if I didn't massage it the tension would make the knee tense as well... if that makes sense.

    After first aid I was very eager to use my knee as normally as I could and did some action based rehab like walking on the beach with care and respecting the sensations feedback. I didn't stop going to gym and trained around the issue doing Romanian deadlifts, bent over rows, ohp/bp and pull ups as my program.

    The recovery went extremely well, this week I've been back on my regular 1st phase SS program, increased weights from where I was left off and with no problems with heavy squats and deadlifts. I'm really happy about that!

    I am however, somewhat discouraged from Power Cleans even I would really love to get to do them.
    Maybe with care I could avoid re-injury on lighter weights...
    But when it's getting heavier - That's when I'm getting concerned as heavier weight could obviously cause a lot more damage if the MCL is not going to hold.

    My question then is...
    How and what could I train to strengthen whatever mechanics involved to prevent my knee giving out?

    I saw some videos about training hips instead of the knee where the root weakness might be instead.
    Any ideas there?

    Or might there be a way to do Power Cleans without stance change to avoid risk of lateral knee movement?
    Eventually I would love to get into Olympic movements, but I think I really need to find a way to get this knee issue handled properly first.


    PS. I am not 100% sure which direction my knee actually rotates, the pain is definitely stretching the MCL, but I'm not absolutely sure which direction the knee has the tendency to move out of place, whether it's moving left or right first as it always happens so fast. What's certain is that it's lateral.

    All input highly appreciated!
    Last edited by Centurion; 07-12-2017 at 12:03 PM.

  2. #2
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    Or might there be a way to do Power Cleans without stance change to avoid risk of lateral knee movement?
    If you land correctly, there should be minimal "lateral" forces . . .but people get tired, loose focus, etc . . . I get it.
    If your feet land a A LITTLE wider in the catch pos. than the pulling stance, your knee should be out as well, everything should be a line somewhat
    (knee, toes, femur, etc)

    You can lighten the weight, pull higher with more speed, and catch in a taller position that does not require the jump to a wider stance.
    My warm ups are this way to a point.

    Otherwise, take care of your knee. Strengthen it with correctly performed squats.

    Power Cleans may not be worth it at this juncture.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by MBasic View Post
    If you land correctly, there should be minimal "lateral" forces . . .but people get tired, loose focus, etc . . . I get it.
    If your feet land a A LITTLE wider in the catch pos. than the pulling stance, your knee should be out as well, everything should be a line somewhat
    (knee, toes, femur, etc)

    You can lighten the weight, pull higher with more speed, and catch in a taller position that does not require the jump to a wider stance.
    My warm ups are this way to a point.

    Otherwise, take care of your knee. Strengthen it with correctly performed squats.

    Power Cleans may not be worth it at this juncture.
    Thanks for the input!

    It does make sense to me that there isn't that much lateral force directed at the knee.
    And I was just doing it with 40kg total (88 pounds) so I could feel something more than the bar.

    Now that I think of it and did some jumping on my feet, I think what ultimately went wrong was that my feet weren't pointing outside enough and my knees were likely too close to being locked up top or otherwise stiff which in probably together created some lateral/twisting torque to the knee.

    And yes, I'll definitely keep at it with squats as my problems are likely caused mostly by weak hips and quads


    Would it be sensible to do Power Cleans from squat width to begin with?
    The only big change in the beginning would be slightly wider rack position in terms of grip as result

  4. #4
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    good thread here: Is the Clean still relevant as one of the core lifts?

    power cleans* aren't necessary.

    if you could "feel something" odd at 88 lbs., and depending what your slow lifts are (squat, dead), this may not be effective stimulus for your current situation.

    * (note use use of the word 'power' cleans . . .if defence of precise language)
    Last edited by MBasic; 07-12-2017 at 02:51 PM.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the link!
    Very interesting thread indeed.

    It's not that I couldn't live without power cleans.
    But the thing is, I'm very interested in eventually being able to do snatches, cleans etc.
    Simply just enthralled by the movements themselves and inspired to learn them eventually.
    ... Which is why I'm here fishing for tips how to improve and ensure ligament health

    I'm still a novice (32 years old), last session 242 lbs for DL.
    Just 143 lbs for squat, but last session was my 4th back squat session since 10 years, so I'm still getting used to it...
    I've done Zercher squats within couple months with little under 200 lbs, which reflects the DL number better.

    At these levels power cleans would surely help, but again, they won't if my knee keeps popping

    I'm pretty positive in the restorative effects squats will give me in terms of handling the force within the musculature.
    And when it comes to getting back to learning PC's, I'll definitely deep study it and go extensive practice bit by bit before slapping weight on it... And probably won't go at it yet for many weeks(months) to come. Fingers crossed it'll handle itself.

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