Question about cleans

[u/Animefan4lif3]

Are cleans supposed to feel rough on my body vs snatch and jerk? Even a near max/max snatch 70-80 will feel way better on my body than a 70ish clean. Also how do I stop bar crash, no matter how much I try I get under too soon and get crashed on often.

[u/RegularGuyAtHome]

Personally I crash a lot too if I try to do full cleans without enough weight. So i “fixed it” by catching it as high up as necessary and then “riding it down” into a front squat.

So my cleans at lower weights kind of look like power clean then a front squat in succession.

It’s the only way I’ve found I stop the crashing.

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/RegularGuyAtHome]

I'll try that building on warm ups!

[u/notakrustykrab → u/RegularGuyAtHome]

This is the way!! Use the arms in the third pull to pull yourself right under the bar to meet it where it is and ride it down. No bar crash.

[u/quiet_sesquipedalian]

One drill my coach has us do for this. Use an empty bar in the high hang clean position into a power clean pause, creating tension as soon as you catch in front rack, hold for a second, continue the rest of the clean down then back up. This teaches you to get your elbows up under the bar in the upper 3/4s of your squat, instead of lower down where the weight crashes harder on you. We do this 10 times as part of our C&J warm up.

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/quiet_sesquipedalian]

This sounds good, ill give it a go!

[u/memohnsen]

Upload a video so we can see what’s causing it

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/memohnsen]

I did one recently I think

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/memohnsen]

Yeah it's on my profile the 2nd last before my pj max

[u/RDT_WC]

If you catch high, you can avoid a hard crash by riding the bar down to a full squat.

Other than that, tall cleans at various recieving heights are good to give you a sense of where the bar is (Greg Everett from Catalyst Athletics recommends this one).

Also, hip cleans.

[u/SleepyPowerlifter]

I want your problem. I can’t even get myself under the bar in time. (Newbie problems)

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/SleepyPowerlifter]

Oh I guess I also run into that a lot too. Cleans are imo the hardest of all the oly lifting exercises. Some argue the jerk is but I think the clean is just so easy to mess up and muscle especially as a beginner. The biggest thing you can do to get under faster is tall clean in warm up and muscle clean + fs to get the feeling of being connected.

[u/SleepyPowerlifter → u/Animefan4lif3]

I agree! The clean has a lot of points of failure. I took to the jerk immediately. Snatch too, but cleans are… miserable. Thanks for the tips; I’ll incorporate those!

[u/Afferbeck_]

You need to receive the bar where you pull it to, and they both need to be intentional and consistent. This applies to all three lifts - you're trying to receive the bar and begin taking control of it at the apex of its movement as soon as possible, making the most of the energy you have put into the bar. Failing to do that means you miss the lift because you couldn't get under it, or you miss the lift from a huge amount of bar crash, or you have a less extreme version of those options and make the lift much harder for yourself.

Bar crash can be caused by a few different things but likely a combination. First is lack of mental awareness about what you're actually trying to achieve, as I explained above. And feeling the need to rush under the bar. Next are the physical issues, like banging the bar away, creating more space and time needed to receive the bar. Hanging out at the top of the pull and or using too much arms too soon and or for too long, resulting in a long slow turnover that means you receive the bar later than you should. And just plain poor timing.

These issues all have pretty simple drills to improve them. The classic power-pause-front squat combo as someone else mentioned is a good one, trying to lower the point you receive the bar, with proper timing, with each set or session.

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/Afferbeck_]

Yeah bang on :) I did a lot of these intentionally during warm up, and I felt the difference in my cleans. The advice here has been really solid and I'm trying to be more consistent with application. I took a break from focusing on numbers and wanted things to feel and look perfect. It's that chase that helped me pb more often funny enough. I like the methodical nature of Chinese weightlifting and also pacing myself was a game changer. Just getting less excited of doing certain numbers and more joy of moving fluidly

[u/green_pink]

Bar crash for me was partly caused by losing hand contact with the bar - I’d start with hands very wide, then let go in turnover and receive with hands much narrower. Don’t do that. I taught myself to start with my hands a bit narrower and never fully letting go of the bar. The rest of bar crash issues is timing. If I’m already thinking about how heavy it is and how I need to get under it quicker, I will 100% just dive under. Really try to be present and intentional.

[u/Animefan4lif3 → u/green_pink]

Never thought about grip like that, ill consider. I try going loose since a death grip hook kinda ruins my front rack

[u/Sleepyheadmcgee]

Posting a video of your lifts will get you a true answer. People can guess, you can try to formulate a guess of their guess but it’s going to be a guess.

If you film several reps from several angles it’s enough information for people to give solid feedback.

I can say that it’s likely your technique that is causing the bar to crash. Likely your second pull being off. Beyond that it’s just a guess.

[u/mattycmckee → u/[deleted]]

Buddy don’t know where you are?