Y’all, we’re 5 weeks into our Clean and Jerk cycle, which means we only have 1 week left to be better than we were 5 weeks ago. Obviously, everyone will set a new 1RM and will PR the mess out of next week, but like, who’s tired? I’m tired! And I know when I get tired, my form can get sloppy if I let it. So to encourage you to finish strong, let’s take a sec to remember a few integral anecdotes about performing the C&J -- especially when you’re tired. The Clean and Jerk is an Olympic lift that is excellent for developing strength, power, and speed. This is a complex lift that recruits many muscle groups simultaneously. We are engaging our core, posterior chain, shoulders, and hips as we explode from the ground, get ourselves underneath the bar, and finish tall -- all the while staying tight and composed. Because it is such a complex movement, and because there are plenty of opportunities for us to lose the lift or sacrifice our form for all those #gainz, let’s talk about a few of the major faults that are keeping us from throwing around heavy weight and some ways to fix them. We’ll start with the clean today then talk split jerk later this week.
The Clean
The Fault: Bad stance, grip, and/or setup.
Coach Mike Burgener says that 90% of all missed lifts can be attributed to our feet. We may not all be able to clean and jerk 425 pounds but we can ALL set up like we are going to. Correcting the grip, stance and setup are merely a matter of not neglecting them in the rush to rip the barbell off the floor.The Fix: FOCUS!!!
The setup is 90% mental and 10% being flexible enough to get into setup position. (That’s what Chris says though he has no science to back this up). You may not set a PR on every lift but you should set up like you’re about to. The feet should be hip width apart (always!). Walk up to the bar and set your feet under your hips before you do anything else! Now, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, tighten the belly and get that core locked in. You’ll thank me for this later. The setup should see your knees tracking slightly out, your butt down, your shoulders pulled back and your chest up. All three of those should have your shoulders just about right over the bar. Lastly, the grip should be a hook grip (always!), with the hands a minimum of a thumbs distance away from the legs and the knuckles pointing at the ground.The Fault: The early pull
The clean is essentially segmented into three pulls that happen SUPER FAST but it’s pivotal that our body and the bar are in the right place at all three checkpoints along the way.From the ground - The first pull is a smooth and steady pull is from the ground to the knees.
Launch position - The second pull begins once the barbell has passed the knees and and the hips are extended.
Pulling ourselves under the bar - The third pull is us pulling ourselves around and under the bar.
We’re all pretty good on the first pull. It’s the second pull where the wheels come off. Starting the second pull before our hips are extended means we lose almost all of power are hips are intended to generate. It also has ramifications on the third pull because it means the bar doesn’t get any height and we can’t get underneath it and into a good receiving position with the elbows up.The Fix: Work from the hang/launch position.
There are two fixes here. The first is to simply practice the hip extension by repeatedly moving the barbell from the launch position just above the knee to full hip extension with no shrug or pull with the arms. The second is to practice hang cleans from the launch position just above the knee with lighter weight, focusing on full hip extension before beginning the third pull. Watch this video of Sage Burgener and notice how she gets the hips open and extended before starting the turnover. Also notice how she sweeps the bar back towards her hips and isn't pulling the bar straight up. The only way to correct a bad habit is by perpetually drilling the movement correctly in order to form muscle memory.
