Power Cleans for Physical Idiots

[anticausal]

I sort of know what I'm doing wrong. I've watched the reps in slow motion, and I'm always bending my elbows right at the jump, if not slightly before the jump. The problem is, I just can't stop doing this.

I've tried jumping multiple times with straight arms (never rack), and then going for a real rep immediately after. My elbows end up bending way too late, and I can't even rack the bar. It ends up being like something out of QWOP.

Is there any trick to get the elbow timing right? Simply thinking about it seems futile.

https://vimeo.com/109382723

My deadlift is currently at 360x5x1, and this PC session is 115x3x5. No need to watch all sets, but the first is the "best". By the 3rd set, I'm racking on my chest instead of shoulders, and by the 4th and 5th sets I'm missing the last rep.

And to anyone wondering what the hell is wrong with my back, I have Scheuermann's Kyphosis.

[Michael Wolf]

It's a tough thing when you know what you're doing wrong and just can't stop it. If you are indeed a physical idiot, it will likely be harder and take longer to fix than if you weren't, and in person coaching more helpful than online form checking. But you seem very determined so let's give it a try.

There's a few things to address here, so we'll go 1 by 1 and then put them together.

First, your arms bending. It looks like you're doing the step where you internally rotate your arms to "screw them in" and help keep them straight through the jump. Continue doing that before every rep, but now think about holding them there like you would at the bottom of the "tricep rope" exercise that you've done and/or seen people do at the gym.

Next, aim the bar higher up on your thigh. You need to hit the jumping position with the bar - and jump - before you bend your arms. So think about striking higher up on your thigh with the bar. The bar must strike the jumping position with straight arms, every time.

Now, with all that in mind, temporarily stop doing cleans. Instead, do clean pulls where you start exactly the same as the power clean by pulling the bar off the floor in a straight line, except just jump when you get to the jumping position: just jump up with straight arms, don't try to rack the bar. Do as many sets of these as necessary till you've really got the entire thing down: pulling in a vertical line off the floor, striking the correct position on your thigh with the bar, all while maintaining straight arms. Once all that has happened, the next set do 2 clean pulls and a power clean on the third rep.

This would be better with a coach there with you live, but this approach may help.

[anticausal]

Thanks coach. The tricep rope cue is interesting, and I'm excited to try it. It's a more active cue than I was using, which was trying not to squeeze the bar, relying on the hook grip, and imagining my arms as passive rods.

What you describe as clean pulls is what I was trying to describe. I've been doing that, but it hasn't helped. What happens is after doing a bunch of those, I go to the opposite extreme and end up bending my elbows too late and I can't even rack. Hopefully with the tricep rope cue and aiming higher up on the thigh, I'll get rid of that problem.

And you're right, I probably will need another coaching session at some point. I saw Tom a couple months ago, but we mainly focused on the other lifts and I was doing snatches at the time because I thought I was incapable of racking a clean. He definitely got me to rack the cleans, and I think he almost got me to do 1 or 2 reps without bent elbows, but unfortunately I forget how it felt and haven't been able to reproduce it.

[Michael Wolf]

Thanks coach. The tricep rope cue is interesting, and I'm excited to try it. It's a more active cue than I was using, which was trying not to squeeze the bar, relying on the hook grip, and imagining my arms as passive rods.

What you describe as clean pulls is what I was trying to describe. I've been doing that, but it hasn't helped. What happens is after doing a bunch of those, I go to the opposite extreme and end up bending my elbows too late and I can't even rack. Hopefully with the tricep rope cue and aiming higher up on the thigh, I'll get rid of that problem.

And you're right, I probably will need another coaching session at some point. I saw Tom a couple months ago, but we mainly focused on the other lifts and I was doing snatches at the time because I thought I was incapable of racking a clean. He definitely got me to rack the cleans, and I think he almost got me to do 1 or 2 reps without bent elbows, but unfortunately I forget how it felt and haven't been able to reproduce it.

Ya, I thought what you were describing were the clean pulls I mentioned. Can't guarantee it, but they may work better with the additional cues as well as doing them exclusively for as long as it takes for the movement to become second nature: Drag up your legs, hit the jumping position, jump with straight arms. This may involve doing one or more entire workouts this way, if that's what it takes.

Tom is an excellent coach - another session with him would surely be worthwhile.

[anticausal]

I did one session with only clean pulls, and yesterday I did a bunch of singles trying my best not to bend early. I'm still having trouble, but I got about half without bending early. Only problem is I'm not racking properly.

https://vimeo.com/110080171

There are 4 reps in this video. First one comes the closest but racks on my chest, the second one doesn't get up, 3rd one I somehow lost hold of the bar, and the last one my jump was all messed up. But at least I'm not bending early. Is there anything I can do to improve on these and actually rack? Is it simply a matter of me now bending too late? Or are am I bending at the right time and my arms are just coming up too slowly?

Also, I'm doing these after squatting and bench pressing, as prescribed is SSBBT, so I'm pretty tired. Do you think it might be justified for me to do PCs first for a while? At least until I get my form fixed?

Thanks!

[Tom Campitelli]

You fixed your early arm bend. Now you just need to jump harder and faster. That is what will send the bar upwards and allow you to rack. Also, straighten out your knees a little more on the pull from the floor. They will rebend when you jump. I promise.

[CannedBass]

I just wanted to add my thanks for the tricep rope cue. I've been struggling with this for a while, too, and I think that cue finally did it.