1RM Squat & Power Clean Check

[Sixteh]

Hey all,

I'm finishing up pseudo-SS (not eating enough for maximal gains for reasons I won't go into in this post), and I'm testing 1RMs this week to see my progress after 22 weeks.

I'm 5'7" 165#, 17 years old.
Last working sets were:
Squat 85#->260x3x5 (would've had 265 but I wanted to rest for today)
Bench 85#->187.5x3x5
Press 65#->120x3x5 (missed last rep twice at 122.5)
Deadlift 115#->285x1x5 (I suck at these)
PC 95#->135x5x3 (still learning, only started 2-3 weeks ago)

Squat:
Depth isn't exactly spectacular on the 300# try, but I was holding the bar a little awkwardly / toward the left and the bar actually hit the safety bar on the squat rack, so I wasn't about to go any deeper. I think I pretty much hit parallel though. How does it look?



Clean:
I'm jumping back, not getting hip extension. Might be pulling with my arms. Any suggestions / cues I could use to improve?



(On a side note, I managed to tear open a scab on my knee for like the 4th or 5th time doing cleans today. Really a pain--it's easy to control when I deadlift for the most part, but I'm trying to be fast when I clean.)

Thanks!

[Carnivroar]

Squats look great. Need to grunt a little though, on that 1RM. ;]

[MikeC1]

Clean - first thing is to fix your rack position, catch the bar on your shoulders, with your elbows pointed forward. To help do this, you'll either have to pull harder, or squat lower/faster, or both.

[Tamara Reynolds]

On your cleans, either set your toes on a line in the rubber floor or draw a line with chalk. Tell yourself to land with your toes in the same place. Try thinking "jump up" instead of "jump back."

Faster elbows. Just finish HARD with your elbows. You are racking the bar high, which is good, but watch how you then readjust your elbows after the bar is on your delts. THAT is where you want your elbows to begin with. Think "fast elbows."

Jumping back and not getting your elbows around fast enough will eventually catch up with you as the weights get heavier, and you will pull the bar plenty high enough and not be able to rack it. So, try the line cue for one set and the fast elbows cue for another set and see what works for you.

You are tearing open your scab because you aren't getting your knees out of the way. Try doing a few clean grip deadlifts when you warmup and just focus on getting your knees out of the way. Just bring the bar from the floor to right above your knee. You can do it as a complex where you do clean grip dead-clean grip dead-clean. I repeatedly tear open a scab on my shin when I snatch. It's pretty gross and better to avoid that if you can.

Overall, really, really nice work. Keep it up.

[Sixteh]

Awesome, thanks everyone!

I'll try the fast elbows cue. When I warm up with just the bar, I don't have much trouble with the elbows, so I might have to deload a little bit to figure it out.