adapting from the power clean to the clean

[peanut butter]

for the past month and so i've been powercleaning, managing to progress technically and strength wise, making good improvements. but recently i've started trying to advance on to full on cleans ( ass to grass ), rather than just dipping slightly. but its been awkward. when powercleaning i can explode fully and then drop slightly to catch it. but when cleaning with heavier weights, i cant fulfill the pull and have to change direction and sink down, before i can properly finish the pull ( getting the jump and lean back). im wondering if any of the other olympic lifters on here have the same issue as i have.

 

[anvar]

start off with just the bar for awhile to get the technique down

 

[#1can]

For me it was a natural progression...i don't really think of them as completely different exercises, just as i stack on more weight i have to squat lower and lower to catch it. eventually you get a feel for the point where the bar isn't accelerating anymore.

 

[Alon]

A lot of people find it akward even though it's essentially the same movement, the reason being that generally the weights are too light to really require a full clean (especially in the beginning). I'd suggest that you try some power clean + front squats, don't full clean too often (otherwise you'll learn the full clean but cut your pull in order to accomodate it) and avoid going all the way ass to grass, sometimes you will go all the way down but just try concentrate of recieving it slightly higher.

Full cleans on like 60-70% are a bitch since it's so akward to pull the bar hard (especially if you're warming up for some big cleans) and also get under it to recieve it properly. Try experimenting with warmup methods and see what works for you, personally I like the powerclean + front squat upto about 80%+ then full cleans, but it depends on the lifter. Just don't compomise your pull (for both the powerclean and full clean) by full cleaning too often, it's amazing how little full cleaning you can do and still get gains (ie. have long training cycles with no full cleaning whatsoever, then ease back into full cleaning over a few weeks).