Something is wrong with my Power Clean

[drewcarroll2]

Hello Gentlemen,

I have a question, I think I know the answer, but I don't know how to implement it.

When I do power cleans, I feel as though I am racking pretty well. But I just got done doing 67.5kg on that 5' bar I have been whining about for a while, and the damn thing racks on my collar bone. I know this because my damn collar bone hurts now. Not seriously bad, but I can't get my "elbows up" like I am supposed to, I think. I have changed my grip width and I'm not catching it on my wrists anymore because my elbows are way, way up from where they were before I read SS.

I notice that for me, when I rack, it feels more comfortable when my elbows point "in" slightly. I don't have access to a video camera so I can't film it so if you don't mind my rambling explanation I would love to get some advices.

Thanks in advance,
This guy.

[Jawlz]

I know what you're talking about, like when u pull it pretty high and just catch it with the collar bone instead of your delts, and u get bruises haha.

I think you just need to focus being aggressive on your elbow positioning at the end of the pull so you can have the front deltoids flexed and ready to recieve the bar.

[mstrofbass]

I don't know about the pros, but I'm pretty sure most of us will rack it on our collarbone every now and then. So, the question is: Is it every single time, or just every now and then?

[Tom Campitelli]

Racking the bar on the collar bones repeatedly is not a good idea, as you have already seen. A proper rack position involves letting the shoulders come forward in a way that would seem slightly round-shouldered. This helps get the meat of your deltoids under the bar and provides some protection for your clavicles.

[OITW]

Here's a helpful suggestion. Wrap the bar in a pussy pad (or two for the maxi effect) before you do PCs. That should be much gentler on your clavicles.

And yeah, it's the rack. Fix it.

[fmerges]

Hi,

Leave your shoulders shrugged... as explained in:

http://startingstrength.com/articles...raps_starr.pdf

[drewcarroll2]

here's a helpful suggestion. wrap the bar in a pussy pad (or two for the maxi effect) before you do pcs. that should be much gentler on your clavicles.

And yeah, it's the rack. Fix it.

never!

[LudwigVan]

It sounds like your elbows aren't moving quickly enough when you rack.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

Damn, I have this problem in spades. I keep working on it every time, but my PCs are such a difficult lift for me, technique-wise, that I always seem to be missing some element, even if I get most of the other elements dialed in. The "shoulders forward" cue is good; I hadn't thought of it that way before. Doin' cleans tonight, so we'll give it a test-drive.

[drewcarroll2]

The cleans were excellent today. Hit my goal weight of 67.5kg and didn't f up my collar bonezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

Thanks guys!