If a clean feels super heavy right when you initiate the pull off the ground, it’s time to start overloading that pull phase. This will become especially apparent if hang or block clean variations start feeling more reliable than having to go from the ground. The key is to overload the pulling phase with more weight than we would be able to get under for an actual clean. This helps us achieve a few different things: 1) Strengthens our pulls. Pretty straightforward here, by adding weight to the movement and following the principle of progressive overload, we’re just going to get overall stronger in the movement we’re experiencing regularly. 2) Patience through the pull. This is a big one for intermediate lifters, it’s easy to skip through our hip extension or rush the lift if it immediately feels heavy from the ground. Instead, we can get used to it taking a long time to go from the floor to the hips with the bar, which will give us more confidence to throw up a heavy clean even when it moves slowly off the ground. 3) Practice hitting our positions even when under heavy fatigue. If we can practice keeping our chest up, driving through the legs, staying over the bar, etc when working with 110-120% of our clean max, it gets a lot easier to replicate that technique once the weights get back down to 95-100% again. So, if you find yourself struggling with feeling strong through the pull, rushing through the movement, or experiencing technical breakdowns, then trying out some Supra-maximal clean pulls might be a good idea to add to your routine.

If you notice your hips pop up right as you pull the bar off the ground… Or if you have a hard time creating and maintaining tension from the floor… OR if you struggle with utilizing strong leg drive through the pull phase of your clean… This low-pause power clean variation can help to optimize your mechanics. Pick a weight around 70-75% of your clean max to work with on these (heavy enough to force you to try, light enough to where you can still move it well consistently). Focus on a tight and controlled lift off the floor, full-body tension maintained THROUGH that isometric hold, and then a big finish through the LEGS as you complete the power clean. Pay attention to a couple of points as you perform these: 1. Is my back at the same angle during the pause as it is off the floor? (Pro tip, it should be 👍🏻) 2. Am I extending my hips all the way as I finish through the pull? (Pro tip, you should be 👍🏻) 3. Are my arms staying mostly extended through the bar making contact at the thighs? (Pro tip, they should be 👍🏻) Throw this variation into your routine if you’ve noticed any of the former mentioned form breakdowns in your clean, report your findings back here so we can all learn and improve together!

The backwards jump can be a tricky habit to shake, but once we understand the nature as to why it’s occurring, it becomes much more manageable. If you’re throwing your shoulders back in the top pull phase of the lift, your momentum is going to be sent backward. The only way to land and recover from throwing yourself in that direction is to bring your feet with you when you land. Not what we want to happen. Instead, we want to drive our momentum upward to get the most force output into a vertical pull as possible. This not only will help us pull the bar even higher, but it’s going to keep our energy transfer mostly within the vertical plane, making it easy for us to keep our feet in roughly the same position, and also putting the bar directly overhead for a simple receive. Just remember, your body is aiming your feet, so practice maintaining that vertical torso angle during your pulls to help drive this form point home. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Happy training

The name of our game is how much weight you can possibly lift with adequate form, so practicing with heavy loads is obviously going to be a non-negotiable. The main point of focus when going heavy: try to make every rep look the same regardless of the weight on the bar. As the weight gets heavier, there are going to be form breakdowns that you won’t necessarily see at lighter loads. Maybe your hips rise early, maybe you start shooting your hips forward to make bar contact, maybe you don’t finish extending in your pull. Doesn’t matter what your “thing” is that flares up, just take note of what this thing is time after time with heavy weight on the bar. From there, we have 2 points of feedback: 1) Focus on one cue to help overcome this form breakdown. For example, if you’re too slow under the bar (like I am), think about speed in the turnover. Sometimes this helps us make a big improvement on our lifts immediately, other times it can lead to another compensatory breakdown. Either way, it’s going to take us one step further in the right direction. 2) Determine how to address this form breakdown in the future. For example, if you notice that you’re shorting your pulls when it gets heavy, practice doing pulls at high percentages. Pick 2 oly variations per week that address this form breakdown you’re having, and 1 accessory exercise that same point of technical or physical breakdown. For the snatch in particular, what’s your primary breakdown that’s stalling your ability to continue pushing the weight?

Your main takeaways here: 1) Shoulders are directly over the bar 2) Bar is above the base of the toes 3) Chest up, tension in the back 4) Keep the bar close as you push off the floor Focus on one step, perfect it, then start stacking cues on top of one another. This is also why we practice the clean pull, to highlight this phase of the lift where we are going from the floor to making hip contact. Happy training