Squat Rx #20: Thoughts on Power Cleans

[powerac200dbp]

very informative video. for the last 5 years i have been following a Westside barbell program and have seen very good results(155kg bench, 210 squat and more). lately though i have developed a liking for Power Cleans and the Olympic lifts. do you believe its possible to integrate Power cleans, Clean&Jerks, Snatches and their variations into a Westside program? if yes, how would you go about doing it? thank you. James

[Netwirq2]

The Blue Oyster Song LMAO XD. Nice vid though.

[EvilSecondTwin]

This guy is very informative! Great tips!

[BigErnie00]

I could not see where the Kb was moving in a straight line when you did the swings. The movement path was the same in both movements - from what I could see at least. Or did you mean something else?

[shumshum81]

saying the kb handle should be in a straight line w/ the arms

[BigErnie00]

Can you elaborate? I understood that the trajectory of the bell should be different for the two movements. Kb Swings mean the bell is following an arc due to the swing; but snatches should mean a vertical movement of the bell, otherwise there will be a loss of power due to hip extension moving the bell upwards. I think he meant to describe it differently, but ended up using a description for snatches.

[johnnymnemonic2]

The purpose of the kb swing is to promote hip drive, not teach proper bar trajectory.

[BigErnie00]

Yes I know, as I already wrote above. My point was that you said in your video: "The kettlebell should move in a straight line" which for swings is incorrect, hence my orginal question. Shumshum I think understood as he or she indicated that the bell should be in a straight line with the arms and not follow a straight trajectory.

[thesku11s]

Im loving all these great tip videos you have made. A lot of your stuff has helped me a lot. Power cleans is something I still have a lot of trouble with and Im considering breaking up the training into segments to prefect form. So I was hoping you might be able to advise on proper technique for high pulls?

[300Spartans1]

love the russian melody in the beginning

kak papal v ameriku ya dig

[hybridman]

haha thats the music from the theme of the blue oyster bar in the 80s comedy movies Police Academy. haha you love the music. homo. type in blue oyster bar and youll find the scene.

[wilwat00]

I find I often want to take a small step back as I'm receiving the bar at the top of the movement. Is this an indicator that I'm pulling the bar back and up like a deadlift and not getting the proper drive from the hips?

[funk192]

hmm would shrugging up the bar with your traps be a 4th extension?

[iMagnusX]

that would be concentric (but still necessary) action. up, jump, shrug. up jump shrug. upjumpshrug.

[MightyThor655]

you dont throw the weight up in a rocking motion. you are shruging up the weight creating less distance it has to travel equaling more weight cleaned. =]

[EZrussian]

YOu are big boy

[Idalove]

Good work with the video! Gotta look through the rest of your vids, seems like you know what your talkning about! Now im off to the gym for some power cleans...

[cGeer15]

Hey man, great vids. I love the Squat Rx series. It has really helped me get my hams and glutes involved in my squatting. Question: With power cleans, is it normal to feel most of the pressure of the lift in the shoulder upon racking? Thanks.

[jiggasnap]

probably figured it out by now, but in case you didnt... take a wider grip and tuck your elbows in, tryng to bring them together as close as possible. if you have around a 6'2 wingspan you want your middle fingers on the rings. by angling this way and bringign your elbows as close together as possible you will activate your delts and the bar will rest on muscle, not bone. Somewhat analogous to maintaining a shrug when squatting.

[eli6844]

weird, im 6'4 with a 6'7 wingspan and i clean 275. BUT i put my hands right what the smooth and the grip on the bar meet. Maybe widening my hands will increase my weight, lol.

[dirtrail]

Another great vid. Can I ask, why weren't you dropping into a full squat once you'd cleaned the bar into the catch position? I'm getting a lot better at these, yet tonight I found my elbows were hitting my knees as I squatted down for the second half of the movement. Keeping my elbows up is really uncomfortable.

[dirtrail]

Sorry, ignore that question - my brain's not working properly today - do you do full cleans?

[dynamik916]

you're always alone in that big gym in all your videos...do you own that place and you just film before you open it up or after you close or something?

[klined]

great question

[theuppercut]

lol what was the snap at the end of the video?

thanks you covered powercleans those and deadlift are my fave movements.

[johnnymnemonic2]

Bad editing.

Thanks!

[duba3988]

What is the song's name in the beginning? It sounds very similar to Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis...

[johnnymnemonic2]

Thanks everyone.

The song is "El Bimbo" by Paul Mauriat. You may remember it from the "Blue Oyster Bar" in the Police Academy movie series.

[SHates]

Great!

[barbell724]

Nice video! I had to tweak a couple things on my power clean that I was doing wrong.

[barbell724]

Sorry for my comment below, I didn't think it went through, you can delete it.

[barbell724]

Nice video! It helped me fine tune a couple things in my power clean.