[sho88]

sho88 on March 3, 2008 at 4:08 pm #14393

Hi guys,

I went to train on the track on Saturday doing some speed work (30metres *3 point start* 80metres gradually building to 95% max) followed by the weight room. This was my second time doing cleans and I was shocked at the fact that I could manage 40kg! I can bring the bar up really high, it’s just getting underneath the bar that I have problems with.
Would you say this is something to do with having weak core?
Usually, I can tuck jump almost half my height with one leg in plyometrics, yet, I struggle to get underneath the bar whilst doing CLEANS! 🙁

I was speaking to an athlete who recently graduated from Texas A&M;, and he was implying that cleans are a lot more beneficial than plyometrics. Can anyone explain the reason why? and what are the main differences in the benefits of doing cleans and plyometrics?

Thanks
Sho

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 14, 2008 at 8:24 am #68903

I don’t think that one is necessarily more beneficial than the other. They have many shared training stimuli. In fact, I think heavy or fast OLs can be a decent lower-impact form of training that produces similar results to plyos. As for why you can’t get under the bar, it could be a number of things….if you’re leaving the bar out in front of the body, if you hold on to the bar with a death grip, if you lack insufficient wrist or shoulder flexibility, etc.

ELITETRACK Founder

[sho88]

sho88 on March 14, 2008 at 7:11 pm #68907

Thanks for the reply.
I think it’s because of my lack of wrist and shoulder flexibility…
my wrist hurts a bit after bringing the bar up…..

I’ll check out some wrist flexibility exercises on the Internet…..

Thanks 🙂

[mortac8]

mortac8 on March 14, 2008 at 8:38 pm #68908

This might not be the best advice, but sometimes I have guys just kinda bounce the bar off their sternum and not really catch it. It saves some wrists for those who don’t take the time to work their wrist flexibility.

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 14, 2008 at 8:48 pm #68909

This might not be the best advice, but sometimes I have guys just kinda bounce the bar off their sternum and not really catch it. It saves some wrists for those who don’t take the time to work their wrist flexibility.

My wife does this because after 2 shoulder surgeries she can’t catch the bar in a stable position and when she does it pulls the humerus out of the socket.

ELITETRACK Founder

[lorien]

lorien on March 20, 2008 at 5:16 pm #68977

I also think it’s preferable to just bounce the bar off (maybe catching it on the last one if it’s easy); when there’s enough weight on the bar, people often tend to do all kind of funny and dangerous excursions in order to keep the bar in a catch position. What’s happening after the pull is only cosmetic anyway, unless you go for a whole weightlifting deep squat catch. Furthermore, it seems that when the athletes are instructed not to worry about catching the bar, they actual pull often becomes faster and more explosive- until a kind of hubris kicks in and then the whole movement breaks down (as if the athlete is bouncing off the bar rather that the other way around).