poor balence for cleans

Do you play other sports? Good defense in sports like basketball starts with a balanced position. Turn sideways in front of a gym mirror, drop your butt, and make sure that your torso is locked in (chest wide, lumbar curve present, upright upper torso.) Now, both feet should be FLAT on the ground. If you are falling it may be because you are on your toes.

Now, stand in the fully upright position (without the bar) that represents the end of the initial drive upward. You should be on your toes, all leg joints fully extended, and VERY tall, with your shoulders slightly shrugged. At that point, snap quickly to that “defensive balance” position I talked about earlier. How quickly can you do it? Are you dropping your butt and being dynamic through your hip joint, or are you simply bending your knees and throwing your shoulders back and out of balance? You must drop to that balanced position, otherwise you should expect to struggle and fall backwards.

Now, go through the motions of a lift without the bar. Is the path of the imaginary bar vertical and staying close to your body the whole time? At no time should the path of the bar deviate much from vertical. If it does, it may be throwing you off balance. Watch that you don’t split your feet excessively. That’s not a balanced position. Rely on a dynamic drop of the but through vigorous hip flexion to drop your center of gravity, rather than a wide foot split. YOU must move athletically under the bar, into that balanced position rather than pulling the bar out of that vertical (or near vertical) path, otherwise you may fall.

A good drill to do is to lower an adjustable squat rack so the bar rests between your navel and sternum. Without moving the bar, step up to it and practice going from the initial drive position to under the bar…quickly. Watch that you don’t drop so much that you crack your jaw on the immobile bar. 🙂

Finally, check the way you rack the bar. Are you doing a reverse curl to get the bar into position? Or are you snapping your elbows through? The latter is your goal. After finishing each rep, no matter how heavy or light, work on your flexibility by relaxing your hands, letting GO of the weight a little, and pressing your elbows up so they point straight at you if your are facing a mirror. Relaxing your grip and letting go a little is the key, as this allows your elbows to rise into a more stable rack position. The weight of the bar should be on your deltoids, not your wrists.