OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE TRAINING (OPT)

By Michael FitzGerald

The power clean is one of many movements involved in Olympic style weightlifting. It is mainly used as a training tool, as it is not usually a competitive event in and of itself - like the Snatch and Clean and Jerk can be. Although it is frequently used as part of fitness testing for many athletes.
The movement begins with the barbell on the floor, but can be taken from any position between the floor and the hips. The movement ends with the bar racked on the shoulders. Between these two points is where all the mumbo jumbo is. Within this movement there are 3 distinct phases, or pulls.
The 1st pull involves bringing the bar from the floor to above knee height. This is when the angle of the torso changes (rises). This is to set-up the 2nd pull, which requires a vertical torso position for optimal pulling power. The set-up position for the 1st pull is individual based.

The beginning of the 1st pull

The end of the 1st pull / beginning of 2nd pull

The 2nd pull involves bringing the bar from above knee height to the hips. This is when the most vertical force is being placed into the bar. This position is usually referred to as the best bang for your buck, as it trains maximal hip extension - potentially improving ability on all movements involving forceful hip extension (squatting, jumping, running). This is true, when the power clean is practiced, and performed well.

The end of the 2nd pull / beginning of 3rd pull

The 3rd pull involves bringing the bar from the hips to the shoulders. This is when the arms bend to pull you under the bar. At max efforts, the bar will never make it to the shoulders without proper sequence and transition of the 3 pulls.

Pulling yourself under the bar

End of the 3rd pull

Completion of the movement

The power clean is one of the first Olympic lifting movements we teach at OPT. Usually being learned from the hang position (the end of the first pull). If taken from the floor, it will be the most powerful movement for many individuals. When first learning this movement, technique improvement will make all the difference in how much you can lift to your shoulders. This takes time. If you are an experienced lifter and can complete a power clean with good technique, then improving the strength and power through the hips, and torso will be needed to increase the amount you can lift.
However, if you want to lift even more weight to your shoulders, you would do a squat clean, meaning that you catch the bar on the shoulders in a full squat position. Squatting will add more demand to the movement, due the increased downward velocity of your body during the 3rd pull, when getting under the bar is vital to completing the lift. The difference between a squat clean and a power clean is merely the height at which you receive the bar on the shoulders. If you go below a 90 degree bend in the knees, then that would likely no longer be a power clean, it would then be a squat clean.
There are many training methods, assistance lifts, and coaching cues to help improve the power clean. I will briefly mention topics that we have to most frequently coach at OPT - using the example of taking the bar from the floor. Fixing each of these usually requires correct feedback from a coach, as it is hard to diagnose the problem on your own, unless you video the lift yourself and know what to look for.
Bum too high - in the set-up position, the bum is too high relative to the shoulders. This is not optimal because it will not allow the correct torso angle to enable you to set up successfully for the 2nd pull.
Bending the elbows - bending the elbows before the end of the 2nd pull. This will mute the power output going through the system - from the floor, to your feet, to your hands, to the bar. Thereby reducing the vertical movement potential of the bar.
Knees - when the knees are in the way of the bar. From a side view, this looks like the bar going out and around the knees, not straight up, as it should. If this is a problem, it will likely cause you to move your weight onto your toes, with the bar being ahead of the shoulders, which is not a powerful position to begin the 2nd pull.
Extending the hips - not completely extend the hips, to complete the 2nd pull. This will result in the same problem as bending the elbows early - muted power output. Also, likely causing you to land forward (on your toes) when the bar is on your shoulders.
Low elbows - landing the bar on your shoulders with the elbows well below the height of the bar. This will cause you to miss a max effort lift, because it increases the chances of the bar falling forward in the catch position.
Feet width - ending the 3rd pull with the feet wider than your squat width. This requires more time to move the feet out from the initial set-up position, resulting in missing high load lifts, and taking more time to complete your task in a workout which may require multiple lifts for time.

These are the most common issues I have to deal with when coaching. The movement takes lots of practice to master, so if you are technically sound with the power clean - awesome. If you have issues - "clean it up".