Power Clean Questions

[John Tony]

I've been struggling with these forever. I get the bar up to my mid chest but don't get under the bar. At light weights its not an issue because I essentially rack the bar while standing up. With heavier weights I try to do the same thing and obviously it doesn't work. Here is my attempt with 165:



So my question is: How long do you work on form before calling it a day and removing them from your program? I enjoy doing them but feel like I am not really making progress so I am just spinning my wheels.

A more academic question: why does one rack the power clean? I understand that its in the program to train power, but isn't the expression of power fully executed with the jump? Is it racked only because you can't "miss" a high pull? People use Dynamic Effort lifts which you also can't "miss" so why are power cleans different? I am legitimately curious not simply trying to justify not doing power cleans.

[Tom Campitelli]

I wouldn't give up just yet. Here's the deal, you need to jump hard and try and leave the ground. JUMP. Then, reverse direction and get underneath the bar. If you do a vertical jump, you don't land with straight legs. Get under the bar and catch it with bent knees. After the jump happens, stop trying to continually row the bar up. Let it float up to you as you go down to meet it.

Why would one not rack a power clean is perhaps the more important question? High pulls are difficult to quantify. Power cleans require a greater commitment to rack and are better at getting you to fully explode. You do not jump the same way in a high pull.