Why use the Power Clean instead of Hang Clean?

[Adam.]

Why use the Power Clean instead of Hang Clean?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Why only strengthen part of the range of motion explosively?

[btech]

Would it be safe to say that the hang clean is to the power clean as the rack deadlift is to the deadlift?

[Adam.]

Isn't the initial pull slow and controlled simply to set up the second pull? I don't have the book in front of me, but if I remember correctly, you say not to explode until the bar is above the knees. The bar above the knees is the starting position in the hang clean.

[kaisermetal]

why not clean & press?

[Mark Rippetoe]

These are all very good questions. Very, very good. I am proud of you all.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I like doing clean and presses, but I look at it as a way to do some extra work with my presses, not with my cleans. Your power cleans should be far enough a head of your presses that you cannot press what you can for a set 5 or less.

Part of the power and squat clean is developing coordination. Having to judge when to explode with the bar helps improve timing. Also, even though I squeeze the bar off the ground, the bottom part of my clean is much faster than my deadlift, but it did not start that way.

[Adam.]

I am not sure if that is sarcasm or not. The result would make be feel either smart or stupid. I must know!

[shizz702]

The hang clean is a great exercise in it's own right, but I'd look at it as more of an assistance exercise to the power clean. The power clean builds functional, explosive strength teaching you essentialy to pick up a heavy object from the floor and lift it to the shoulders. While the hang clean is still a good exercise, the fact it lacks the pull from the floor would make the power clean an overall better exercise in my opinion, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing the hang clean as assistance from time to time to strengthen your second pull.

[67629]

How about the fact that because the bar has no upward momentum in a hang clean like it does from the first pull in the power clean, you cannot lift quite as much?