Transition from Deadlifts only to Deadlifts and Power Cleans

[Wil F]

I am in the early stages of Starting Strength, and have been following the AB three day rotation (Squats-Press-Deadlift/Squats-Bench-Deadlift) for a little over a month. The book and DVD are both fantastic, I never thought I would squat again, and although I'm not very heavy on the squats yet, the form instruction in that section alone has changed my training completely.

In SS:BBT3 you write "The two workouts alternate across the MWF for the first couple of weeks, until the freshness of the deadlift has worn off a little and after the quick initial gains establish the deadlift well ahead of the squat. At this point the power clean is introduced[.]"

When I set my starting numbers for linear progression, the deadlift started out already well ahead (for some values of well ahead) of the squats as I had not done any squats for years (back injury which is now well healed). As a result, my working sets yesterday (5 weeks into the program) were Squat 120, Bench 180, Press 95, Deadlift 220. I currently increase bench 5, press 5, squats 10 and deadlifts 10 each workout. I increased squats only 5 for the first month because I wanted to get the form right, and I was nervous about my back.

Question 1: Should I be waiting to incorporate power cleans until I miss one of the deadlift increments, or have to drop to 5 pound increases, or should I add them in now?

Question 2: I know we don't count reps that are assisted in any way by the spotter in determining whether to increase the weight on the next workout; do we count reps that are significantly slower than the starting reps? For example, in bench the first two working sets are often regular, but I may slow down significantly for the last rep in the last set. Should I redo the weight the next time, or go ahead and call it good as long as the form was decent and the rep was unassisted?

Male, age 44, weight 270, bfp 35%.

Thanks again for making the book and the DVD, Coach. It's early days I know, but it's having a great impact for me so far.

Wil

[veryhrm]

Hello.

Rip only answers stuff in his Q&A.... (though he would kick this one down to "Repetitive Inquiries" so it's good you didn't post it there :-) ). To make an attempt at your questions (as random forum person)... i'd say:

1) The guidance on when to start PCs is not that specific. In your case you can start it whenever you feel like it.

2) In the early going bar speed might come into it, but pretty soon you start taking them however you can get them (as long as form and depth are good).

[CaptainHoneySmacks]

Considering your deadlift is nearly double your squat, I would suggest moving to power cleans. You will find that they are an amazing lift, both fun to perform and functional(Explosive Power) I think the point of deadlifting in A and B at first is so that your deadlift will ultimately outpace your squat - as most people have a higher deadlift then squats. Question 2: I would think that it would count, as long as the form is correct and you successfully complete the rep. You will find as you lift heavier, you won't be able to pop up and down lighting fast as you do with lower weight. As you long as you lift the weight through the full ROM unassisted and with good form - then it counts. Thats in my book anyways.

[Wil F]

Thanks for the replies. I will start adding in power cleans in the next week. I've been looking forward to them and, frankly, deadlifting three times a week is a beast.

[hatmanii]

Yep, you will see longer progress on your deadlift this way as well.