Power Clean?? form check

[Simma Park]

OK, big problems here.

First of all, your rack looks all screwed up. Maybe the camera angle is wonky, but the bar looks way up under your chin against your neck instead of across the delts and way too dependent on the support of the hands. You need to fix this first, because if you don't have a proper rack, the rest of the lift goes to hell. Film or photograph your rack position directly from the front and at a 45 degree angle from the front and post here. We need to see what exactly you're doing. It doesn't have to be filmed on PC day--for right now, I'm just interested in the rack position. But it's probably better if you have a decent amount of weight on the bar. Doesn't have to be working weight, but not an empty bar.

[mun.1010]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJv_...ature=youtu.be

Here is my Clean in a different view.

[mun.1010]

Here is my latest clean session

Set 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Mq-...=youtu.be&t=13
Set 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPyqU...=youtu.be&t=30
Set 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unorq...=youtu.be&t=12
Set 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lajon...=youtu.be&t=17
Set 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKKz5...=youtu.be&t=39

Summary
-I feel that my technique improved a bit further down the set.
-On some occasions I was catching it with my hand rather than my delts.

Questions
-How do I prevent my self from jumping backwards?
-Are there some flaws that need immediate attention?

[veryhrm]

The bar is pushing you back because your shoulders are too far behind the bar when you jump.

Practice the jump position w/ your shoulders farther forward over the bar and also your mid-foot.

[Simma Park]

veryhrm is right that you need to keep your shoulders out in front of the bar as long as possible, but fundamentally, your problem is that you seem to think this lift is about pulling the bar up with your upper back/shoulders instead of exploding the bar upwards from your legs/hips.

Most people who have this problem do the dreaded arm pull as they use the biceps to pull the bar, but you manage to keep the arms straight and instead try to pull by throwing back your shoulders/upper back/head.

Go back to the breakdown detailed in the book--practice jumping only, from the jumping position, without worrying about the rack, and jump straight up and let the force from your legs and hips "float" the bar up. Do not pull the bar up. Video yourself doing this. When you feel that you are directing your force upward instead of back, then integrate the rack.

You also need to fix your rack, which is too slow and almost always results in you catching the bar with nearly vertical forearms.

You appear to have long forearms. You have flexible wrists and long hands, so you can force your way into something that almost looks like an OK rack after you catch the bar, but it's not a good position for you because you fail to rack quickly and efficiently. Try taking a wider grip and don't just lift the elbows up, but also point them inward. See figure 6-43 in the book.

Lastly, I can't really say for sure, but it looks to me that you're having issues keeping the bar in close to your legs. It should touch the legs all the way up, including touching the thigh when you jump. I recommend long socks or long pants.

And wear shoes when you power clean.

[Sixteh]

Your back isn't in extension when you set up.

Straighten out your back. Your hips will go down a bit, this is fine.

The power clean works like this:
First pull--bring the bar from the floor to your knees. I'm not going to get into the whole bar path shenanigans, but if you want to do a vertical pull the bar needs to start and remain over mid-foot. If you want to do an s-curve pull it starts at your toes and ends up at mid-foot by the time you finish the first pull.
Scoop--squeeze the bar in with your lats, and BE PATIENT. You explode when the bar is just past your knees. Keep pulling the bar up by bringing your hips in a little bit (this will make your back angle more vertical, which is fine), then when the bar is a bit above mid-thigh--where the bar rests when you are just standing and holding the bar:
Third pull--THAT is when you jump. You are jumping early, and since you jump early with such a horizontal back angle the bar is:
(a) moving backward
(b) not going high enough
So you need to throw your back the way you are right now in order to make the lift.

If instead you wait until the bar is at mid-thigh--this will seem counterintuitive at first, but trust me, it works--the bar should go straight up and down, or loop out a little bit and loop back in--in either case it ends up right above mid-foot, where you can rack it without jumping back.

[veryhrm]

...
I'm not going to get into the whole bar path shenanigans,
...
[ --- stuff --- ]

Given the nature of this sub-forum in general and this thread in particular it would be nice to preface your statement w/ the disclaimer that this expressly is not how the SS PC is conceptualized or taught. As it stands you're giving Ornish based advice to a relative noob on an Atkins board w/o noting that fact.

[Sixteh]

Given the nature of this sub-forum in general and this thread in particular it would be nice to preface your statement w/ the disclaimer that this expressly is not how the SS PC is conceptualized or taught. As it stands you're giving Ornish based advice to a relative noob on an Atkins board w/o noting that fact.

Fair enough on the first point, but aside from the start position and first pull the lift is pretty much the same. Which I thought I outlined just fine.

[Simma Park]

Fair enough on the first point, but aside from the start position and first pull the lift is pretty much the same. Which I thought I outlined just fine.

You're going into details that Rip specifically avoids getting into, because his philosophy is that breaking things down to that level for newbies to the lift is counterproductive. Especially since following his teaching method properly leads to those things happening without needing to be explicitly taught. And given that you are not there to coach them in person.

If you were just learning the power clean, would YOU be able to follow the instructions you gave two posts back?

[Sixteh]

You're going into details that Rip specifically avoids getting into, because his philosophy is that breaking things down to that level for newbies to the lift is counterproductive. Especially since following his teaching method properly leads to those things happening without needing to be explicitly taught. And given that you are not there to coach them in person.

If you were just learning the power clean, would YOU be able to follow the instructions you gave two posts back?

When I first learned how to power clean, I did the exact same thing he is doing: I pulled early and muscled the bar up with my back. I couldn't do even a rep or two at 185 without feeling some pump / soreness in my lower back. Once I followed the advice I gave him above, my clean went up, and my back soreness went away. However, it can be boiled down to: you are exploding too early, so be more patient when you pull.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TlbDQUWs0s

That's a commonly linked power clean technique video here, where the lifter scoops the bar in (positions the knees underneath the ba) and then explodes when the bar is at mid-upper thigh.