Reply With QuoteAwesome, might give this a try myself after this cycle. I don't really clean at all and it would be a good opportunity to cut out any layback in my press for a while as well.
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So I started power cleaning EVERY overhead press rep and......
...... it's 10x worse than just cleaning the first rep. I had to test my max and start a new cycle to adjust. It was exhausting. Even with a lower weight I wasn't able to do nearly as many reps as I thought I would. It's a good workout and it's got me doing power cleans again without having to extend my workout periods.
Fortunately I can now power clean more than I can press with all of the practice reps I got today. But my press took a hit because I still have trouble adjusting my grip up on the shoulder from the clean to the press.
I recommend giving it a try. Personally I'm going to be doing much lighter weights than I'm used to, but hopefully it'll be worth it in the long run. It's a hit to the ego but a lot of fun.
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Awesome, might give this a try myself after this cycle. I don't really clean at all and it would be a good opportunity to cut out any layback in my press for a while as well.
Member
I always have a problem setting my press grip if I clean the weight first. How do you do it? Do you clean it with the press grip already? How do you get the bar into the palm of your hand?
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Exactly what I experienced. I tried it once and couldn't get a good "press" grip on the bar.Originally Posted by elVarouza
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So, maybe I'm just being silly here, but I have a question: why are you purposely limiting your progress in the press, rather than just doing power cleans separately and increasing them that way? When you put them together, you make them limited by each other and by your endurance.
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It's taken some experimentation to get a decent grip. It's still not as good as if I had taken it off a rack, but I've found a decent medium. I clean with my press grip, which took some adjusting, but it's working. I wasn't able to use a normal clean grip and then swap while on the shoulder.
I have very limited time in the gym. It's not unusual to just get in my squat/press/bench/deadlift workout that day before having to leave. So I wasn't doing power cleans at all. And until last week I wasn't pressing much either (I stopped to focus on my powerlifting meet lifts). This allows me to do both in a short period of time. Rather than warming up for the press, pressing, then warming up for the cleans and then cleaning, I just do 1 warmup and 1 lift.
Plus I've wanted to clean my presses for quite a while but I wasn't willing to take a couple of steps back in weight to do it. Now I am. And my press only suffered 10lbs. I'll get it back before too long. A couple of cycles and I'll be where I was before. Except this time I'll have a bigger clean and press.
I forgot to mention that several people in the gym were looking at me like I was crazy. We have a lot of mid-high level powerlifters, several bodybuilders, and the usual "bros". I've never seen any of them doing power cleans that I can remember, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the gym do presses, so the sight of the combo must have been odd to them.
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Add a front squat after the clean (or after the press) and you're 3/4 of the way to a pretty balanced full (though light) workout. (Chins would be the remaining 1/4.)
For about a week before I had to take time off cleaning and pressing due to my elbow, I was doing clean & press, then add weight, clean & front squat, add weight, deadlift. Very efficient, since all the warm-ups were combined, yet I still got heavy work in via the deadlift.
Bulgaria
It all depends on how your press compares to your power clean. I mean, my best press for a set of 5 is 100 lbs. Power cleaning 100 lbs for 5 is a joke. If I clean and press 100 lbs for 3 sets of 5, it's not even as hard as a CrossFit WOD. Front squatting it also would just make me laugh.
I think it'd be good for beginners, one of their common issues is a reluctance to squat deep, which is eased off a lot by doing it light.
There's a guy on Dan John's Q&A forum who's been doing clean and push press as his entire workout - he's just doing it for judo. Adding the push lets him be cleaning more. He says it's worked for him.
I also find myself thinking of Rip and Gallagher's recent chat where they bemoaned the lack of great pressers around. Maybe pre-1972 the press:clean ratio wouldn't have made the cleans so light as today. Still not as heavy as a clean alone, of course, but not as light as they would be today. Anyway, just tossing that there for consideration.
As with all things, depends on capabilities and goals.
Member
Kag you keep a log up anywhere?
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