I'm Learning the Powerclean(And other form checks)

[mcsquared]

Hey all,

So on Monday I decided to stop being a little bitch and do my powercleans. I took video of my attempts from earlier today. What I'm concerned about is use of the arms...I know that the jump is the core of the movement, I'm just wondering if there's a visual cue I can look for that is a sign that I'm using my arms too much.

Here are the vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbXFhRjcMPk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cNTTu8voZc

I'm using light weights here to make sure that I got the movement down. Obviously I'll add more next workout, hopefully getting up to 135 pretty quickly so I'm pulling from the right height.

Here are some other form checks too:

195lbs Squat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKxA3414vyY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhMKmAOcJ6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ27yTQf6Q4

Worried primarily about going too low on my squats and back tightness. Kept my elbows up as best I could and kept my back tight. My shoulders are getting more flexible so the low-bar position is getting easier and easier.

105lbs Press:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsfctN4z-j4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nQZmOxIW4Y

Worried about my grip and bar path. Sorry about the shitty camera work, there was no real place to put it so I had to get creative. I wedged it in one of the hooks on the squat rack.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts guys. Appreciate it.

[Bloodninja666]

Powerclean vids not working for me.

You are descending pretty fast on your squats. If you're concerned about going too low (which I dont think you are in the vids) you might think about slowing the descent and staying tighter. Otherwise they look way too easy, add some weight!

A tip on the presses- don't start breathing on the first rep. Knock at least 3 reps out before a breath and do them faster. Ive found that any way to conserve stamina and speed that lift up make my life easier.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Powerclean vids not working for me.

same here.

IPB

[nisora33]

McS: squats don't look half bad. I agree with others that the depth of your squat needs to be cut off just a little--maybe about an inch. At the very bottom of your squat, make sure the knees stay out, although I bet if you pinch off your depth like I'm suggesting that this may become a non-issue.

And please oh please, quit dive-bombing your squats, it makes the gods of squat very unhappy and I'd hate to see a guy like you get smote over something like that.

-Stacey

[mcsquared]

Haha, thanks stacey, i appreciate the insight. Here are the actual powerclean vids, which hopefully are working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7J5u4883BA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml4OW20Waso

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi,

videos are working now.
One thing that strikes me is that your elbows are both too low and too slow.
You should really slam then upwards as fast as you can, so that when the bar lands on your shoulders, the arms are almost horizontal to the ground.
What you are doing is receiving the bar with the elbows almost pointing to the ground (so the weight is on the elbows, not the shoulders), and then raising the arms.

The whole movement seems kind of too slow and not explosive enough. I'm sure the more experienced people on this board will come up with further comments and suggestions.

IPB

[steelerfan]

I think you and I suffer from the same problem.. I was over thinking the movement off of the floor and going too slow and not as explosive as it could be. I think in my case it was a result of making sure I didn't jerk it off the floor and squeezed it off the floor as it cues in SS 2nd ed and also worrying about brushing the thigh. As long as your 1st pull is solid and engrained don't even think about it and once the bar clears the knees just jump with the damn thing and try to get the elbows rotated up to the rack posistion ASAP..