Get ready for some quick and easy weightlifting tips from our guest blogger and friend, Dan Dodd. Dan is not only a CrossFit Regional Athlete but also a star physical therapy patient who keeps his body healthy with regular tune ups in the clinic. His USA Weightlifting certification and Health & Exercise Science degree make him an expert Head Coach at TriState Barbell so he’s well qualified to help you take your power clean to the next level. Find him on Instagram @danimaldodd

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5 Key Tips to Improve Your Power Clean

By Dan Dodd

CrossFit and weightlifting have been a major part of my life for the last 5 years, whether it be as a coach or a competitor. As a coach at TriState Barbell in Oakland, NJ, there is one weightlifting movement I do with all of my athletes, no matter the sport they do. That’s Power Cleans!

The Power Clean entails a fast explosive lift of a barbell from the floor to the shoulder in one fluid motion. This movement demonstrates your maximum power output and is also a great way to engage all the major muscles in the body.

Here are my 5 key tips to increase your power clean:

1. Don’t Skip the Warm up

I like to do a full warm up from the bottom up for myself and my athletes.

• We start with some pause squats to loosen up the hips and ankles.

• After that, we progress to a lower back and ab warm up with a combination of banded Good Morning and Paloff presses.

• To warm up that front rack, I have found that barbell presses and rows are a nice way to prepare both your shoulders and upper back.

• We don’t get into clean progression until we finish this full warm-up! 

2. Remember to Keep Your Knuckles Down in Set Up

When setting up for any Olympic lift, hand position is very important. A simple fix to a soft start position is “knuckles down”. Turning your knuckles down engages shoulders, lats, and upper back before the lift starts while also improving the bar path by keeping the bar close to your body. 

3. Keep Control of First Pull Off The Floor

For a lot of lifters, the first pull off the floor, floor to your knees, is the most important time to stay in control of that bar and body position. Speed will not improve your chances of making the lift but maintaining appropriate body position will. By slowing this part of the lift down, it will be easier to push into the floor and keep your chest up while maintaining your shoulders over the bar. 

4. Use Your Whole Foot to Achieve Maximum Bar Height

Here comes the fun part! After you finish that pull to your knee, you need to accelerate the bar to get it as high as you can. While pulling up, drive your power down into the floor through your whole foot. The longer you can do this, the more potential power you can create into the bar. As the drive comes to its peak, you will naturally extend to your toes. Don’t shift your weight to your toes, but let the transition to your toes happen when you physically can’t keep the whole foot down any longer.

5. Think of Getting Under The Bar as “Meeting The Bar”

Meeting the bar makes for the safest and most efficient lift possible. When you do a Power Clean, you will still need to pull yourself under the bar. However, I like to tell students to think about it as pulling yourself TO the bar. You want to meet the bar at its peak high to be able to receive it with minimal impact.