As a power lifter and one who
prides himself on a big and ever increasing deadlift I have
become a student of the positions one needs to reach to achieve
proper and efficient from in the dead lift. I have become
as well a firm believe through teaching the correct positions
first and foremost the rest of the things will work them selves
out in time.
By knowing and achieve each
position your are then best able to transition to the next,
and as well by knowing them first you then have the ability
to ID what went wrong when you miss a lift or something feels
heavier then it should.
In the same light, since joining Charles
here at Staley Training Systems I became a student and now teacher
of proper O-lifting form. Included in that is the clean. The same
thing can be said about the positions of the two.
Coming again from a power lifting
/ Deadlifting background the relation of the positions of the proper
clean and proper deadlift perplexed me. More so then the similarities
in the positions of these very like lifts was the small yet huge
in execution difference. I thought it would be helpful to quickly
break down and explain the positions of a proper deadlift and proper
positions of the pull portion (minus the catch) of the clean for
those trainee’s and athletes like myself that use both in their
programming and help you to be able to view them as the similar
but yet very single entities they are.
(Note: I am going to give generic
form on the deadlift and not take into account slight variances
in body structure that would warrant adjustment. Still the basic
premise of the lifts is the same)
The differences are slight but evident.
In the deadlift you are positioned
with the hips higher, looking to get the hamstrings wound tight
like a drum, and weight shifted toward the heels to achieve a strong
tight starting position at the point you need to produce the maximum
force in the lift.
In the Clean you use more Knee flexion,
the hams are not strung tight yet as you are looking to achieve
that at the power position.
In the DL you start the pull HARD
with Hip and knee flexion looking to gain a mechanical advantage
and get your body behind the bar as far and fast as you can to utilize
body weight against the bar.
In the clean you initiate the pull
with knee flexion and simply maintain the hip angle to obtain the
power position. The Power position shoulder in front of bar hams
would like a Bra strap ready to burst. From the power position this
is where you GO! Hit extreme power and hip flexion to jettison the
bar in a straight close line up the body.
In the DL when the bar reaches
the top of the knee, the same place as the power position
in the clean you should already be firing glutes as hard as
possibly to get your hips under your torso and shoulders as
far behind the bar as possible to make the lockout as smooth
and easy as it can be.
Achieving lock out when the
hips have reached full extension past the point at which a
clean will go and knees are locked.
Below is a video walk through
as well that may help you graps the difference between the
clean which is a LIFT with the bar going up in a steady controlled
fashion to reach a position where the bar, by forceful hip
flexion can be launched to the shoulders.
Vs the DL which is more of a
pull backward utilizing as much of the rearward pull of the
body weight to get the shoulders behind the center of gravity
pulling on the bar as soon as possible.
Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished
strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting
and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion
in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF
275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total
records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift,
performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phil has been ranked in the “Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting federations, also serves as the Arizona State Chair for the North American Highlander Association, as well as the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition
with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).
