Muscle Cleans?

[konkoba98]

I'm curious why power cleans are the preferred variation for development of power over the muscle clean.

From SS, 3rd edition, pg 218, addressing why we don't lateral split:
"The purpose of the power clean is to pull the bar as fast and as high as possible. We don't want to make it easier to get under the bar; we want to pull the bar higher."

Unless SS is defining the PC differently, a PC is racked and recovered without the hips dropping below the level of the patella, but can be racked anywhere from just above that level to the full standing position. A lifter might progress the PC without pulling the bar faster or higher but by catching it lower and/or improving their '3rd pull'.

The muscle clean seems to deal with that problem. Progressing the MC means you pulled the bar faster to rack it at the same position everytime, so why isn't it preferred?

I've thought of a few reasons why the PC might be preferred but they aren't very good. The best one I've thought of is just that the PC is a more well known and popular lift relative to the MC... :/

If you had a trainee making progress on the PC but was catching it lower and lower, would you address it or just wait for them to get close to parallel and then have them either not go lower or just do full cleans?

Thanks in advance

Colin

[Nick D'Agostino]

First a power clean can be done using more weight then a muscle clean better satisfying our exercise selection criteria. Second you don't really jump during a muscle clean. Straightening your legs fast isn't the same as a jump. Having to land on straight legs to properly perform a muscle clean requires much more stringent regulation of force out put, especially on warmups. We want as close to maximal force out put all the time (even warmups). It would kind of suck to pull something so fast that you become airbourne and then have to land without bending your knees. Lastly the muscle clean is a bad habit creator for any trainee interested in learning the olympic lifts after their linear progression. It reinforces arm bending at the expense of explosiveness, which in many cases is extremely hard habit to stop once it's started. Also we coach the power clean to a 30 degree bend in the knee (1/3 the way down in a front squat). Anything more would be addressed in a novice strength trainee.

[konkoba98]

Makes sense. Thanks.

If a trainee were catching at the top, with little to no knee bend, would they be coached to catch lower? I'm guessing the que would be a more pronounced jump and STOMP?

[Nick D'Agostino]

Yes they would be coached to catch lower if they had no knee bend. The first thing I try is after they catch the bar having them front squat 1/3 the way down and hold that position for 10 seconds. I then tell them to land from the jump in the position they were just holding.