Overcoming the fear of the power clean

[JessFit]

Hi all,

   I typically currently do Starting Strength at the gym. SS calls for powercleans. I've learned most things from the book and then checked my form with good youtube vids ect. but I'm terrified to try the power clean. I'm 5'6 and fairly small and my upper body is not particularly strong (although much stronger than two months ago when I started the program) and I'm terrified of doing the power clean. I've contacted an SS trainer to teach me but I'm even afraid to meet with him because I'm so afraid that I'm such a klutz that I'll seriously hurt myself. Anyone who does olympic lifts, how and why did you get into them and what, if anything, did you do to cope with any fear that you felt about trying them?

 

Thank you!

[bigm141414]

When I first transitioned into doing the olympic lifting my fear was based on safety. At the time I was in a big box gym with hexagonal plates in a small space. Those conditions are not at all ideal for learning a clean or a snatch. I had to find a gym that allowed me more room and the ability to safely dump the bar if I missed a lift. Once I found a gym where that could happen, I gladly started (and failed, oh so many times) learning the clean and jerk and the snatch. 

 

Also, as much as I have respect for Rip I prefer the tutorials by Cal strength to be way better. 

[andygates]

You gotta just get on that horse and see that it's not a dragon (unless you'd prefer a dragon. dragons are cool).

 

Power cleans aren't all that scary.  They're a bit noisy, but that's half the fun.  And even klutzy, badly-done power cleans aren't going to kill you.  At worst you'll, what, tear a callus or fall on your ass or tweak your back for a day or pull the bar into your mouth (that one was me).  None of those things are existential threats: remember, you'll be starting at newbie weight - the bar on blocks, or the bar with light bumpers.  Nothing to worry about.  

 

Now, for coping with doing terrifying things, I plan what I want to do afterwards.  It makes the planned session seem less like the end of the world when there's something afterwards.

[JessFit]

I've read HP, LOTR, and the Dragonlance Chronicles and I've come to accept that in msot situations dragons aren't something that I want to mess with (even if they are pretty). Thanks all, I have some issues with the ss chapter on it, it doesn't seem to properly cover the jump or catch. It breaks down the deadlift part, but I already read the deadlift chapter, and it just says "jump and catch" for the rest of it. Something about catching the bar on the fleshy part of your shoulder and throwing the bar straight but I can't figure out where the fleshy part of my shoulder is! I'll have to look into other methods like the Cal strength one posted. Any reccomendations on the jump or catch or how they should work? Thanks again!

[jdanger]

You should receive the clean in the same rack position as your front squat. If you don't front squat, start. It will help. The fleshy part the bar should be on is the front of your delts. If you put an arm straight out in front of you, you should feel a round chunk of muscle at the front of your shoulder, that's your front delt. If you get the bar in the right place on your delts you should be able to front squat with your arms straight out in front of you and feel secure doing so. This video has a little more to do with the jerk than the clean but the bar position on the body should be the same for both the clean and the jerk. The main difference is that you want to keep the elbows high when recovering from the clean and not drop them until you're ready to jerk. If you aren't jerking just ignore that for now.