Power Clean Complex

The power clean is one of the most technical lifts an athlete can do, it is also a great way to develop power for your sport. Teaching Olympic lifts can be challenging, but here is a great way to teach power cleans using segmentation.

Power Shrug

Start by teaching a power shrug. The athlete’s hands should be about shoulder-width apart. Have your athlete start with a shrug coming from either the ground or hang position. The power of the shrug should come from the athlete’s legs.

High Pull

Once you feel that your athlete has perfected the shrug you can move on to the high pull. The high pull can also start from either the ground or hang position depending on your goal for your athlete. The high pull will be initiated from the legs. The athlete should perform triple extension by extending the hips, knees, and ankles while pulling the bar high, very similar to the upright row.

The Catch

After your athlete has mastered the shrug and high pull the final movement is the catch. The catch can be most difficult as the athlete has to rotate the bar in their hands and drop under the bar. Teach the athlete to roll their elbows underneath the bar while quarter squatting underneath the bar. This can be challenging if the athlete has tight shoulders. If that is the case, have the athlete work on their shoulder mobility. Some exercises that may help with this are the dowel shoulder stretch, shoulder dislocates, or banded elbow pulls throughs.

Spencer Haywood
M.S. CSCS