Give up on the powercleans? ><

[Rager Ivan]

I hate giving up.. but ive made no progress on these for 18 months now. my 5 rep max is 78.5kg. I have gone through starting strength far longer than I should have and have recently reset on my first madcow routine.

I'm a 6'3.5 ectomorph and around 200lbs atm (not cut)

How does this lift comapre with my others?
Deadlift 140k x5
squat 105k x5
bench 97.5k x5
powerclean 78.5kg x5
millitary press 61kg x5

If I cant do proper form I might as well move to barbell rows instead.
Also in the madcow routine.. on the last day youre supposed to do an 8 rep set.. the powercleans are substituted into that routine.. I feel like you shouldnt do an 8 rep set for powercleans though.

Ill have a video soon chaps, thanks!

 

[Paladin114]

I wouldn't say to get rid of them. There's so much muscle activation in a power-clean that, in my opinion, doing it at nearly any weight is worthwhile. If your goal is to increase the weight on them, I'd suggest moving them to an earlier point in your workout, or substitute it with two exercises, such as a deadlift-to-shrug and front squat.

Also, so much of the power clean is in technique. Have someone film you throughout your set, or have someone watch you and make sure your technique is good and the movement is in sync. There may be a portion of the exercise where you're trying to, say, swing the weight into position instead of simply getting under it.

 

[ZisDeadBaby]

I am one of probably few people that would say drop the power cleans. I never really understood the real benefit of it for your average strength athlete. It's a great explosive exercise and power builder, but when I did power cleans I just felt like it completely gobbled up my energy and ruined my lifting for anything else that day. Especially for those of us that bigger and taller with extended wingspans and ranges of motion. I would just drop it and focus on the big 4 ohp/squat/deadlift/bench, but that's just me.

 

[DevilMMA]

If it were me I would go back a few pegs....

Go back to doing muscle cleans or hang cleans and only when you have them absolutely nailed return to powercleans.

 

[DrBdan]

In the long run I think you will get the most benefit from lowering the weight and working on your form.

Here's a related thread from the SS forum: Trap-bar jumps as alternative to power cleans - Starting Strength Forums

Summary: Joe DeFranco posted something saying that you don't need to do cleans because other exercises can adequately train the full extension so something asked Rippetoe about it and Rippetoe disagrees.

 

[DevilMMA]

My issue with powercleans is that they are a wee bit lower body dominant for my liking.... I squat, deadlift AND push press every week AND try to keep my overall health good with a bit of cardio here and there...... my legs dont need any extra grief!!!

Hang cleans switch the focus more to the upper body.

 

[DrBdan]

I'm not an oly expert but I think hang cleans are still mostly powered by hip extension, not your upper body.

 

[Lug's Spear]

I'm willing to bet you being stuck is a form issue. I had the same problem until I got some oly lessons.

 

[DevilMMA]

I'm not an oly expert but I think hang cleans are still mostly powered by hip extension, not your upper body.

Neither am I!! I know you still have the triple extension but surely it stands to reason since youre starting in a more upright position that to get the bar up, your upper body must be used more.

From vids that I have seen there definitely looks like more bend at the elbow when hang cleaning.

 

[Origins]

Neither am I!! I know you still have the triple extension but surely it stands to reason since youre starting in a more upright position that to get the bar up, your upper body must be used more.

From vids that I have seen there definitely looks like more bend at the elbow when hang cleaning.

I don't think your upper body is involved significantly more in a hang clean. I think that in a proper hang clean the power is still coming from triple extension, and your elbows are bending at the same point in the pull as in a power clean pulled from the floor.

In the "correct" hang clean that I am thinking of, you lower the bar to the point on your leg where you would begin the second pull in a regular power clean.

 

[turbozed]

Never give up, never back down!

 

[DevilMMA]

Question.....

Would any suggest that a powerclean is a reasonable substitute for a DL? I like both but I severely doubt my body will be able to hack squatting, DLing and PCing in a week.

 

[BassAckwards]

have you tried going lighter and work on pure technique? maybe do higher reps to beatyourself out of the plateau?

 

[turbozed]

have you tried going lighter and work on pure technique? maybe do higher reps to beatyourself out of the plateau?

I don't think higher reps is the answer to extremely technical lifts like the clean.

Technique is the key here, and fatiguing yourself with high reps is only going to ensure the development of poor technique.

 

[Baconator69**]

Powercleans are made of win. DO IT.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Question.....

Would any suggest that a powerclean is a reasonable substitute for a DL? I like both but I severely doubt my body will be able to hack squatting, DLing and PCing in a week.

I wouldn't try to substitute it for DL. If you have to choose, I would take out hack squats.

 

[keyboardsmasher]

Technique.

 

[Sakmongkol]

I wouldn't try to substitute it for DL. If you have to choose, I would take out hack squats.

God I hope that was a joke. Try it at first, you'll know if you are not recovering by whether or not you keep getting stronger. I'd replace deadlifts with PCs if you feel you must take out one exercise, and keep in squats.

 

[keyboardsmasher]

God I hope that was a joke. Try it at first, you'll know if you are not recovering by whether or not you keep getting stronger. I'd replace deadlifts with PCs if you feel you must take out one exercise, and keep in squats.

Umm.. I Thought the joke was Power cleans being a substitute for DLS.

 

[Lug's Spear]

God I hope that was a joke. Try it at first, you'll know if you are not recovering by whether or not you keep getting stronger. I'd replace deadlifts with PCs if you feel you must take out one exercise, and keep in squats.