How to learn explosiveness in the clean, and aggressiveness in the press?!

[confuzzl3don3]

First off, Merry Christmas everyone!!

Now down to business, is that despite having poor sleep last night leading to a pretty shitty workout today I can plainly see my powercleans lack the explosiveness that is needed.

Powerclean - 42.5kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHXZbiemnMQ

I can't seem to ever finish the extension (2nd pull) like you guys tell me to. A full extension means jumping to the extent that your hips are fully extended so your body is a straight line, before stomping back down quickly and racking the bar?

I can never seem to do that, i just tuck back underneath the bar....i don't know if i'm worried that if i finish the extension i will be too slow to get back under the bar or what, i just can't seem to finish the extension....

The whole line up thing (bar-hips-midfoot) doesn't seem to be working that well either. As pointed out, i always seem to be leaning backwards when i rack the bar (and i noticed i end up with my feet behind my original starting position).

I have no idea how to fix these problems...i've tried mindlessly adding weight hoping that it'll somehow force me to get the form down but it doesn't seem to be working that well which was why i dropped back to 40kg...any help guys?

Also about the press, i want to know how to develop more aggressiveness in the movement especially at the beginning. I see people doing presses who explode into the movement but i seem to have a start then stall at the forehead level before pushing through....how do i develop this aggressiveness?

Press 38kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZZ8peDr4V8

Also is the bar being close enough to my face now, and is my leaning back too extreme?

And thought i'd throw in a squat to double check form.
Squat - 101kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ0OJu9V0GE

[Mr.City]

Clean: I believe you're jumping too early. It seems that you're jumping as soon as the bar clears your knee.

Press: Too much layback. It seems like you're lowering the bar too slowly if you're trying to use the bounce.

Squats: They seem a tad high.

[statesboroga_keith]

I'm a novice too, but I see a couple of things that I did that a coach helped me on:

Power Clean: work on tracking the bar up closer to your body, and like City said, your jump spot is a little low.

Press: Keep the vertical bar path all the way through the lift. At the top, the bar should be directly over your head. its too far back at the top.

Squat: have you tried to narrow your stance a bit and work on shoving the knees out at the bottom?

Out of curiousity, how long have you been lifting?

Thanks for posting! Merry Christmas!

[tescott]

Head down in the squat confuzz!!

And Merry Christmas to you too :-)

[Luke]

I found getting the p.cleans down was mental more than anything. For some reason I can do squats and deadlifts with a clear head but bench presses and cleans need a higher level of mental fortitude.

What I found to get more "explosion" was to actually visualise an explosion thrusting me off the floor when the bar touched me mid-thigh, and a force lifting me off the ground. It sounds a bit corny but it worked for me.

You're are jumping with the bar a little low down, chill out for a fraction of a second longer - it'll feel peculiar but you'll get there.

I noticed you're in Australia, me too. The resources for this sort of thing aren't great here. You seem to have a lot of technical questions floating inside your head like I did initially. Unless you get a coach the likelihood of you ever getting this shit down 100% may not be so great. The details are great to know but in the end you just have to lift. Your techniques are far from horrible so you should be fine.

Head down with your squats!

[Mirage]

Also about the press, i want to know how to develop more aggressiveness in the movement especially at the beginning. I see people doing presses who explode into the movement but i seem to have a start then stall at the forehead level before pushing through....how do i develop this aggressiveness?

Check this video, especially after 2:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXPJ3PfdyY

[zepled37]

No offense intended confuzz, but your clean form looks probably better than mine and I cleaned 205 lbs earlier this week. I think you just need to be patient, follow the program and train hard. Doesn't take any special magic or technique to get your numbers up quite a bit from where they are, just some patience and training and recuperating. I'm sure you can do it, just be patient and keep working hard.

[gman]

The only thing I will add in addition to what others have said, and this is may be more of a minor point, is that the PC is meant to be a set of 3, not 3 sets of 1. I think you are taking too long between reps.

[Charles Staley]

In terms of energy/tempo/explosiveness:

The power clean is much closer to a throw than a lift. If your mental construct is "lift," you're on the wrong track

Along these lines, after the 2nd pull, the bar should achieve a distinct weightless phase prior to racking on your shoulders. More speed.

First off, Merry Christmas everyone!!

Now down to business, is that despite having poor sleep last night leading to a pretty shitty workout today I can plainly see my powercleans lack the explosiveness that is needed.

Powerclean - 42.5kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHXZbiemnMQ

I can't seem to ever finish the extension (2nd pull) like you guys tell me to. A full extension means jumping to the extent that your hips are fully extended so your body is a straight line, before stomping back down quickly and racking the bar?

I can never seem to do that, i just tuck back underneath the bar....i don't know if i'm worried that if i finish the extension i will be too slow to get back under the bar or what, i just can't seem to finish the extension....

The whole line up thing (bar-hips-midfoot) doesn't seem to be working that well either. As pointed out, i always seem to be leaning backwards when i rack the bar (and i noticed i end up with my feet behind my original starting position).

I have no idea how to fix these problems...i've tried mindlessly adding weight hoping that it'll somehow force me to get the form down but it doesn't seem to be working that well which was why i dropped back to 40kg...any help guys?

Also about the press, i want to know how to develop more aggressiveness in the movement especially at the beginning. I see people doing presses who explode into the movement but i seem to have a start then stall at the forehead level before pushing through....how do i develop this aggressiveness?

Press 38kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZZ8peDr4V8

Also is the bar being close enough to my face now, and is my leaning back too extreme?

And thought i'd throw in a squat to double check form.
Squat - 101kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ0OJu9V0GE

[confuzzl3don3]

Clean: I believe you're jumping too early. It seems that you're jumping as soon as the bar clears your knee.

Press: Too much layback. It seems like you're lowering the bar too slowly if you're trying to use the bounce.

Squats: They seem a tad high.

Thanks Mr City, like a lot of the others said i'm jumping too early so i'll try to wait a bit longer. Also about the press i'll try to lower it faster but i was trying to keep it controlled like how a squat descent is still controlled even if you're using the stretch reflex. Maybe it's too slow though :P

and about the squats, really? I thought like the last 1 or 2 reps wre high but the first couple i thought i was below parallel. Might just be me

I'm a novice too, but I see a couple of things that I did that a coach helped me on:

Power Clean: work on tracking the bar up closer to your body, and like City said, your jump spot is a little low.

Press: Keep the vertical bar path all the way through the lift. At the top, the bar should be directly over your head. its too far back at the top.

Squat: have you tried to narrow your stance a bit and work on shoving the knees out at the bottom?

Out of curiousity, how long have you been lifting?

Thanks for posting! Merry Christmas!

Thanks for the advice, will do. Also i've been lifting since end of May so about 7 months. Yes i know i should have a higher numbers but that's what i get for fking with the program and not eating enough for the first several months.

Head down in the squat confuzz!!

And Merry Christmas to you too :-)

Haha yeah, i need to wear a neck brace or something

I found getting the p.cleans down was mental more than anything. For some reason I can do squats and deadlifts with a clear head but bench presses and cleans need a higher level of mental fortitude.

What I found to get more "explosion" was to actually visualise an explosion thrusting me off the floor when the bar touched me mid-thigh, and a force lifting me off the ground. It sounds a bit corny but it worked for me.

You're are jumping with the bar a little low down, chill out for a fraction of a second longer - it'll feel peculiar but you'll get there.

I noticed you're in Australia, me too. The resources for this sort of thing aren't great here. You seem to have a lot of technical questions floating inside your head like I did initially. Unless you get a coach the likelihood of you ever getting this shit down 100% may not be so great. The details are great to know but in the end you just have to lift. Your techniques are far from horrible so you should be fine.

Head down with your squats!

Thanks, i know about the whole australia thing and how had it is to find a good coach (not that i've tried really hard to find one though to be honest). Have you got a coach?

Check this video, especially after 2:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXPJ3PfdyY

Thanks for reminding me of the good ol' rippetoe vids.

No offense intended confuzz, but your clean form looks probably better than mine and I cleaned 205 lbs earlier this week. I think you just need to be patient, follow the program and train hard. Doesn't take any special magic or technique to get your numbers up quite a bit from where they are, just some patience and training and recuperating. I'm sure you can do it, just be patient and keep working hard.

Haha why would i take offense at a freakishly strong guy saying my form was better than theirs. But at 43kg i bet your form would be impeccable.

The only thing I will add in addition to what others have said, and this is may be more of a minor point, is that the PC is meant to be a set of 3, not 3 sets of 1. I think you are taking too long between reps.

I know, i asked Rip about it in his Q & A section and he gave me this reply:

"If you take more time to regrip and reset your position than is necessary to do it without resting, you are taking too long for it to be considered a real set."

So yeah maybe i'm being a bit too pussy and i should setup faster

In terms of energy/tempo/explosiveness:

The power clean is much closer to a throw than a lift. If your mental construct is "lift," you're on the wrong track

Along these lines, after the 2nd pull, the bar should achieve a distinct weightless phase prior to racking on your shoulders. More speed.

Thanks i'll definitely need to work on the speed