Should I Power Clean On Starting Strength?

Starting Strength Coach Grant Broggi explains who should do the power clean and what benefits you get from it while doing Starting Strength.
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[@xyzct]

For those considering adding it, be aware that there are 10# full-diameter bumper plates that place the bar at the right height and allow you to work on form at a very manageable weight.

[@Jositoooo]

Also beware that the cheap ones are flimsy and will bend if you add more than about 5 extra lbs. 😂 I thought I could just get a set of cheap 10lb bumpers to use as a height base until I built up to full sized iron plates. I should have either gotten better ones, or gotten at least 4 (I’m guessing 2 on each end would be stable enough).

[@robinwinterhoff785]

​@@Jositooooyeah If you dont have quality ones, you shouldnt combine them with Iron plates and/or drop them.

[@tonysanchez1000]

Jeff from The Strength Co. Gym taught me how to power clean in 1 session, and he is an excellent coach.

[@reynardvanderwalt8251]

I'm going into my 6th week of the novice progression program. I have an old groin tendon injury that resurfaced and is causing difficulty with my squat and deadlift. Should I let it heal, or should I go lighter and let it stronger with lighter weight?

[@user-vu7rx8oy5s]

Yes. Yes, you should!

[@kllrbee69]

I added it back in. Stopped for awhile cuz thought I was getting too old (49). Even use my power bar with the center knurl like you. That knurl tears me up sometimes if I dont watch it....haha.

[@josephdickerson9902]

On week 3 of trying to let my back heal from my first go at Power Cleans in the SS plan...

[@AbuMaxime]

I never managed to do the triple extension right. What I end up doing is more a muscle clean. Finally I had to give up this move. When you reach intermediate level, your hands are more than full (so to speak) with 4 lifts anyway.

[@jeffreyabelson7171]

those 225 cleans look great! I've backed away from power cleans at 61 as I'm concerned they may be hard on my shoulders

[@kw12784]

They might be....but they also might not. Start light, get the technique, and then if your shoulders start to get pain after this or after you increase the weight, stop. It won't break your shoulders forever, you're not made of glass

[@Dankdalorde]

I’ve been doing the Arnold Bodybuilding Program (not the 2x a day one) and Clean and Presses are on the 2nd and 5th day - what are your thoughts on this as a bodybuilding exercise? I used to do 8-10 reps but recently dropped them to 3-5 reps.

[@dw5523]

I have pretty sever wrist extension issues from previous injuries and the catch position isn't possible. Is the power snatch a viable alternative, or would high pulls work better?

[@A1pha_anthony]

Try the high pull. It’s basically a power clean without the rack.

[@richtheunstable3359]

Tried it big snapping popping sound. Still in pain 18 months later😢. Anyone found any good tutorials feeling brave and might try again.

[@johngutierrez2687]

Man. That form. Ooof.

[@dieselviper7811]

I have never been able to get in the catch position I just don’t bend that way

[@rizwan1983]

I can't quite rack the bar properly because my forearms are too long, and if I raise my elbows to the proper level the bar goes behind my neck. For guys like us the book recommends the Power Snatch. Could you say a thing or two or about the Power Snatch someday? It's more complicated, and there is so little material on it on vids and forums.

[@A1pha_anthony]

You could try the high pull, too. I do instead of power cleans.

[@andrewpeterson5882]

Maybe this is dumb, but what are the signs that I can't recover from 3x a week deadlift? Starting to miss reps? Or just general fatigue?

[@dan6163]

Personal experience is you just feel like shit and have no strength to hit last weeks numbers let alone add weight

[@cdcaleo]

Why would you need to deadlift 3x a week?

[@chrisp9500]

​@@cdcaleoif you're a novice, you should. This is part of the STARTING strength program. You can run up the weight quickly at first.

[@chrisp9500]

If you've been running the program for a little bit, you'll know. Missed lifts and mental fatigue thinking about another heavy deadlift. As it gets harder, start dropping Wednesdays. Then alternate deadlift workouts with the power clean (like the upper body lifts).

[@paulcharlwood702]

What's age got to do, got to do with it? (apologies to Tina Turner). I'm 60 and I power clean, squat clean, clean and jerk, power snatch and snatch. Not a problem. And I only started about 5 years ago so not like I've done them all my life. Wts are not all that heavy, 62.5kg for my various cleans (137.5lbs) and 45-50 kgs for my snatches (100-110lbs). Limiting factor is technique at the moment but all the weights are going up (slowly).

[@A1pha_anthony]

Ask Rippetoe that question and he’ll shatter your ego. Some men lived hard in their youth; competitive fighters, soldiering, etc. Not all of us lived a softer existence and then decided to lift in our 50’s.

[@paulcharlwood702]

@@A1pha_anthony 1)you have no idea what sort of 'existence' I have had. 2) you have missed the point of what I was saying. 3) you clearly missed the context as well.

[@knife1406]

2:41 Miles Teller??

[@JordyLong]

Yes I’m actually miles teller

[@djhmax09]

How many reps? 5 still?

[@bryanjones8886]

Not fives ... do triples.

[@kevinveld8891]

The only problem with the power clean as taught in Starting Strength is that it is not a power clean. I understand the main focus in starting strength for the power clean is power development, but how to get under the bar is completely omitted in the guide. As seen at 2:13 this is absolutely NOT how you should catch a clean and even dangerous. Even how the setup is taught that it should be the same as the deadlift is even up for debate. Also why power cleaning may be a waste of time over 40+ years old is mainly because of atrophy of fast twitch muscle fibers. Mobility is still something that can be trained so that shouldnt be a problem.

[@DanielMOFO]

Power cleans do not work on your power development. I omitted them for a while to work on my deadlift more. When my deadlift reached a point where it was high enough for me I tried power cleans again. My clean also went up. It's a waste of my time. I also got biceps tendonitis in the shoulder (same as you). It hurts in the rack position for me.