By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
It's unfortunate that so many coaches
make the process of learning the Olympic lifts seem more difficult
than a manned mission to Mars. In point of fact, developing safe
and efficient technique in these lifts isn't much harder than learning
to bench, squat, or deadlift, which most people seem to have no
issues with.
Now of course, developing the technique
necessary to compete on the International stage does take years,
but the same can be said for powerlifting, a sport that Olympic-lifting
coaches love to demean as primitive and pedantic. Just because a
sport looks simple doesn't mean it is. And conversely, just because
a sport looks complex or sophisticated doesn't mean it's unattainable
for the average person willing to put in the time and effort.
Here's two cases in point: Justin
Negrete and James Fitzjohn.
Justin's entire experience with resistance
training spans just one year, and his experience with Olympic lifts
was gleaned during two stays at Bed & Barbell- a 5-day visit
in July '08, and a 4-day visit just last week, where he completed
two workouts. So in total, Justin has had a total of about 3 workouts
with us where we worked the clean. With that in mind, check out
how nice his cleans are in this video:
My second example is James Fitzjohn
from England. Prior to working with us here at Bed
& Barbell, he had virtually no experience with Olympic
lifts, other than toying around a handful of times. As of this writing,
James has visited us here 4-5 times, and last week he posted a lifetime
Personal Record of 100kg's (220 pounds). Check out the video and
tell me that cleans are beyond your reach
Both of these lifters display the
elements of sound technical cleaning, namely:
The bar starts against your shins
and stays tight against the front of your legs all the way up
to the "rack" position on your shoulders.
As the bar ascends upward, your
knees push backwards, which positions your shoulders in front
of the bar at the instant it reaches knee height. This allows
for efficient full-body extension powered by the posterior chain.
Your arms stay long and straight
until your body reaches full extension (meaning a vertical body
line, up on the toes, big shrug.
Once you've reached full extension,
you allow your elbows to bend so that your arms won't impede the
upward motion of the bar. I emphasize the word "allow"
to point out that the elbows flex passively to get out of the
way of the bar, as opposed to actively to assist with lifting
the bar. The arms attach you to the bar - nothing more.
The bar is caught on the shoulders
with high elbows. This provides a shelf for the bar on the deltoids.
Catching with low elbows tends to make the bar land on your collar
bones (which hurts). If you have trouble with the shelf, experiment
with grip width and make sure you protract (push forward) your
shoulders- protracting your shoulders is a lot like pulling our
a drawer… it's like pulling out your shelf for the bar.
There is a distinct "tempo"
to a successful clean- it starts slowly, and gradually builds
to full speed once the bar gets past your knees. Think of
it like this: from the floor to your knees, the goal is
to "get into position:" meaning, push the knees
back and get your shoulders out in front of the bar. This
is the "power position." Make sure you get here
each and every rep. From the knees to the top of the pull,
think explode. Once you reach full extension, you're "done."
Now all that's left to do is to catch the bar on your shoulders.
And that's it! Are there finer
points I haven't covered yet? Sure. But the point is, just
get started. Because cleans are fun, so no need to wait until
you've mastered it, cause that'll never happen.
Enjoy and discuss- maybe Justin
and James will chime in with their own experiences.
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About The Author
His colleagues call him an iconoclast,
a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The
Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches
miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled
in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’
methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious
results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing
demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY
Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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