Well that doesn't exactly put my mind at ease.
I'll take it really slowly. I wanted to keep the cleans in because of the way they compliment the deadlift. I was wondering if it turns out that I can't do them, heavy kettlebell swings with a focus on explosion might be an ok substitute. Or maybe kettlebell snatches. I can do those without any pains.
Corrie, it’s too early to be fretting about the possibility that you may have some kind of structural issue with your shoulders which will prevent you from cleaning.
+2 on a form check. Let the shoulder calm down, then post a proper form check when you’re ready to work them back in. This may be something as simple as you arm-pulling the bar (a common mistake) and irritating the tendon where one of the biceps inserts proximally.
Kettlebell work is not a substitute for explosive barbell lifts. Troubleshoot your clean first and make sure you actually have a problem that requires replacing it with something... before you start worrying about what to replace it with.
I'm so happy. I did my next workout today and I managed to get through my working sets of cleans at 70lb with almost no pain at all.
I started focusing on getting under the bar by bending my knees a bit instead of using my arms to get the bar up to my shoulders. It felt a million times better and looked a lot closer to what I see in other people's videos.
thanks everyone.
A common problem that I see that causes pain is when people don't release the bar in the rack position. But, it usually causes pain in the elbow and in the back of the shoulder/scapula area. Just thought I'd throw that out there, though, since I see it a lot.
That definitely played into it. Since I was trying to lift it up to my shoulders and not catch it with them, I would alwyas end up with my hands under the bar.
This time I focused on getting my hands off the bar, just leaving 2 fingers and catching the bar with my shoulders.
A large number (perhaps the majority) of the worlds best weightlifters seem to do their cleans caught with a full grip still on the bar. Perhaps this is because they will jerk it afterwards. But at the weightlifting club in my city, the coach teaches everyone to even front squat with a closed fingers grip. Perhaps it is important to develop the flexibility in triceps/lats too, rather than using the crutch of "finger tipping" the bar with full open hands. Not that the method is bad, but its clearly not the only way.
Last edited by Dastardly; 11-07-2011 at 09:34 AM.
Taking observations of an elite populations, and applying the lessons learned therefrom to a non-elite population is sometimes a mistake. I would posit that you have hit the nail on the head in one regard: flexibility. If you have the correct anthropomtery, then you should be able to do it. You'll note that SS:BBT states that the bar may be released, not must be released, and only in the event of the inability to rack the bar with the hands fully gripping it. I've also noticed that a lot of O-lifters widen their grip after racking to shorten the height of the lift at lock-out above the head.
I think this is wrong.
That clip of Hui is a bad example. He catches in open hands, on his fingertips. He regrips the bar immediately after the catch. All of the Chinese weightlifters catch with relatively open hands, actually, from what I’ve seen.
And it’s actually impossible to see what Aramnau is doing in that video. In this one, he seems to open his hand at least somewhat for the catch:
I think many elite lifters have the anthropometry and flexibility to not have to open the fingers much (and a lot of it depends on preferred grip width), but all of them definitely relax the hands for the catch (and actually, well before the catch). This is the number one mistake beginners to the clean make--they try to actively grip the bar through the movement, including the catch. This is wrong. It places too much strain on wrists and elbows to catch with the tension created by actively gripping the bar. It also makes it pretty much impossible to rotate the elbows under quickly enough to catch properly. If, on the other hand, you have the flexibility/anthropometry to be able to still have your fingers wrapped around the bar at the catch while your hands remain relaxed, that is another matter.