Posted: 1/4/2010 1:39:36 PM EDT
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Who does power cleans as part of their weight lifting routine?
If you do, do you use bumpers? (those rubber weights that look are the same circumference as a 45lb plate but are wider) Does you gym have a special place (Platform?) for you to do these on? My gym has no bumpers or platform. I'll be lowering the weights with caution. |
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Forget putting them down carefully...just slam 'em down, in fact THROW them down so they sound much heavier than they really are...at least that's what I see guys doing all the time.
Seriously...power cleans are a great exercise but don't do 'em if you want to get big. One of my gyms does have platforms with bumper plates, one doesn't. |
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Quoted:
Forget putting them down carefully...just slam 'em down, in fact THROW them down so they sound much heavier than they really are...at least that's what I see guys doing all the time. Seriously...power cleans are a great exercise but don't do 'em if you want to get big. One of my gyms does have platforms with bumper plates, one doesn't. Can you elaborate on the red text above? I'm not interested in getting big but I do want to get stronger. |
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Quoted:
Forget putting them down carefully...just slam 'em down, in fact THROW them down so they sound much heavier than they really are...at least that's what I see guys doing all the time. Seriously...power cleans are a great exercise but don't do 'em if you want to get big. One of my gyms does have platforms with bumper plates, one doesn't. Huh? Coach Rip just groaned. You might have a different opinion but don't post misleading "facts" because some of us want to learn. Cleans are a great exercise with great carryover to DL. Bumpers aren't required but your gym might frown if you start slamming weights around. Solution: buy your own and work out at home. FYI - www.wannabebig.com has a decent vid for cleans: click here |
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i do powercleans in my back yard in this pit of sand thing i have.
i don't go real heavy on power cleans mainly because i use them in a circuit for explosion. powerclean - front squat- military press = 1 rep 3 sets of 8 and they can still add bulk to you as powercleans alone. but since they are a lift requiring alot of full body momentum and explosion they are going to increase cordination and strength more than mass probably. I would say slower more controlled things for mass adding are better. |
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Hopefully your gym at least has a padded floor. Not sure how much experience you have doing them but once you get the technique down you wont be slamming the weights as much. Just lowering them down from the dead lift position. The only time I really lost control was when I was maxing out and it was never on the power clean but the push press that did it for me. That is usually where the big slams come from.
Great for sports if you need power and exposion in quick bursts. You will hump higher, accelerate faster and be able to use your weight more effectively. Also great cardio especially when doing in a set with dead lifts and puch presses. Bad for gaining mass. |
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Quoted:
Hopefully your gym at least has a padded floor. Not sure how much experience you have doing them but once you get the technique down you wont be slamming the weights as much. Just lowering them down from the dead lift position. The only time I really lost control was when I was maxing out and it was never on the power clean but the push press that did it for me. That is usually where the big slams come from. Great for sports if you need power and exposion in quick bursts. You will hump higher, accelerate faster and be able to use your weight more effectively. Also great cardio especially when doing in a set with dead lifts and puch presses. Bad for gaining mass. Yes my gym has padded floors and I've been deadlifting for 20yrs so I've got the controlled decend under control but it's funny that in all the youtube videos I've been looking at of the big power clean lifters they all seem to just drop it from the chest/shoulder position. |
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Quoted: Who does power cleans as part of their weight lifting routine? If you do, do you use bumpers? (those rubber weights that look are the same circumference as a 45lb plate but are wider) Does you gym have a special place (Platform?) for you to do these on? My gym has no bumpers or platform. I'll be lowering the weights with caution. Yes I do. I have bumpers at home, about 300# worth. I built a platform out og plywood and horsestall mats. I've been in gyms with no bumpers though, and you just have to go a little lighter so you can control the descent as I'm sure you know. I love cleans. |
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Many of those guys are olymipic weight lifters. They are probably lifting one to one in a half times their weight. At that weight controled decents are difficult if not impossible at times. Plus you dont score any more points in the controled decent. I have lifted my body weight in a power clean and come within 10 pounds my weight on the push press. I always try and slow the bar down and go into a deadlift but sometimes I dont have the grip left or my balance is off center and I have to bail.
Needless to say I stopped doing max lifts and instead do sets. |
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I thoroughly enjoy doing olympic lifts, and regardless of what your goals are they have their place. I have seen many bodybuilders use these and similar variations as a way of building upper back thickness and girth. I know of power lifters who use them as dynamic effort training to improve their deadlift. I also think they are an excellent lift to use if your goal is weight loss. They are tremendously taxing if you do sets with higher repetitions.
I do them at home so I don't have to worry about people in the gym getting upset. I use regular iron plates so they are loud, but I do try to control the descent so they aren't too ridiculous. I put down foam squares underneath the plates that you should be able to pick up at any fitness place. Maybe check with your gym to see if they would mind if you brought in a few to put down so as not to damage their flooring. You can get about 8 square feet of padded mats for about $20. |
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Well I did my first workout with power cleans today. I started light to make sure that my form was good.
I did: 95x5 105x5 135x5 145x5 155x3 135x8 I could easily have gone heavier but the workout I'm following has me slowly progressing in weight so I want to give it a chance to work. One thing I noticed was that on setting up my feet were about shoulder width apart but when I exploded past the thigh level with the bar my feet wanted to spread out to about 6" wider than shoulder width so I was sort of popping and spreading my feet. It felt a little awkward. Scratch that, it felt normal but when I consciously tried to not spread my feet it felt awkward. Also - 8 reps of power cleans will really get the upper back pumped. |
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Quoted:
Who does power cleans as part of their weight lifting routine? It increases neuro-muscular efficiency, ie, increases the % of muscle fibers you are able to recruit for a given task, & trains your body to move explosively rather than doing a slow static lift. If you do, do you use bumpers? (those rubber weights that look are the same circumference as a 45lb plate but are wider)
Yes, I use bumpers. Does you gym have a special place (Platform?) for you to do these on?
Yes, my garage. My gym has no bumpers or platform.
I'll be lowering the weights with caution. It's not as satisfying or useful, but an alternative might be to do hang cleans in a rack. The explosive part of the movement is in the hang clean anyway, you are basically doing a dead lift prior to that. |
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It's not as satisfying or useful, but an alternative might be to do hang cleans in a rack. The explosive part of the movement is in the hang clean anyway, you are basically doing a dead lift prior to that. You know after my workout yesterday I was thinking the same thing. Especially now when I'm using light weights the dead portion of the movement is just wasted movement. When I get up higher in weight I'm sure that I'll be needing the momentum to get the weights up to shoulder height. |
| Power Cleans are one of the best lifts for overall body strength, I did a lot of them while in high school training for football and wrestling. That is one lift where you can start separating the men from the boys in regards to total body strength, as it does a great job of working everything out. I haven't done them in 5+ years, but I should. I used to be able to do sets of 6-8 reps with 185 lbs (a bit over my then body weight) and had a 1 rep max of 250 lbs once, fat chance of that happening again with my current work ethic. |