EXERCISES
The Front Squat
Leg strength is increased by doing rock bottom, ass on the heels, upright, elbows high, Front Squats. Dick Notemeyer felt that “you can’t Clean and Jerk it unless you can Front Squat it for a triple.” High repetition Back Squats could supplement leg workouts, but the key is Front Squats.
Down Slow, Up Fast
One Arm Lifts
It may seem odd, but it all happened while we were doing our last total before the State Meet. Dave Turner, one of the real coaches who live in the trenches, was watching my lifts. “Your pull is strong, watcha been doing?” Dave asked.
“You won’t believe this one.”
“No really, you look strong. More pulls?”
Hyperextensions
When I was in junior college, Dick had me do lots of hyperextensions. You really never see people do them anymore but my spinal erectors looked like my butt went up my back.
Warm Up: It’s More than Switching on the Radio
Daily Warmup at the Pacifica Barbell Club
After weighing in, general stretching would begin the day. Two interesting stretches that we used at the Pacifica Barbell Club were shoulder dislocates with the “shoulder stretching machine,” a broomstick, and ankle stretches on the “ankle stretching machine,” a step. Sit ups and hyperextensions followed stretching. After stretching, we used an unloaded bar to practice snatch and warm up the bottom position. Moving up to 95 pounds, then 115 pounds to repeat the movement and get the bottom position ready. With 135 pounds, Dick would push the bar down while the lifter sat in the overhead squat position trying to squeeze the knees wider and wider apart. Now, you’re ready for anything.
The Power Clean Quotes
The Soviets did a study about the correlation between maximum Olympic lifts and assistance exercises. The first four lifts with “highest correlation” for helping on the competition platform were:
Power Clean
Power Snatch
Clean
Overhead Squat
An article on one of America’s lifting superstars once summarized his secret with this wonderful line: “through extensive work on the powerclean had laid the foundation for John Terpak’s versatile athletic success.”
The Russians noted in the 1970’s that, simply, “A lifter must do many power cleans and squats to succeed.”
I’m also convinced that power cleans are one of the “secrets” to gaining muscle weight.
Solutions for Stalled Cleans
Cleans top off quickly, so consider dropping them (heresy!!!) for a couple of weeks and either try doing snatches, in their place on the program you are using or maybe something as esoteric as sled dragging. Or BOTH.
Hoffman Standards
Tabata Exercises
The exercises that “work” for me on Tabatas are:
Military Press: but you will do 11 reps in the first 20 seconds and be praying for 3 in the 8th. Maybe the muscle groups are too small. You could add more legs as you go through, but I found that then the weights are too light. It is a tough one on the lungs as you just can’t seem to hold your chest in one place, breath that heavy, and push through your chin.
Clean Grip Snatch: good idea on paper, bad in practice.
The Deadstop Front Squat
The germ of the idea of this lift came from my conversations at the “Old School” site. It is simply a variation of Brooks Kubik’s bottom position squats.
Here is my original post:
After I posted that “little gem” from Strength and Health, I have been struggling with finding an alternative (for those who know me, read “cheap”) to using the rack for those Deadstop front squats.
Well, a while ago, someone mentioned sawhorses, so I picked up an “adjustable” set. Along with, “Easy assembly,” adjustable is the biggest lie next to “world’s most beautiful women inside.” (I just got back from New Orleans and…well, I tell you later).
Dave Turner noted that I got stuck at a certain point recovering from cleans and we measured the bar about 36inches off the ground. Fortunately, the “easily adjustable” sawhorses did get to 36 inches.
I tested the height with a bunch of easy ones. I just put the bar across the two and did 135 and 205. Then, I moved to 255, 275 and smoked a 295 and stopped. That is 90 percent of my goal for my next O meet (a 330 clean and jerk) and I want to build up to 330 over time.
I think the sawhorse might be a great idea for any O lifter, or any one who has problems in the deep position. I get stuck after a lot of cleans, some say it is because I am a great cleaner, others say it is because I am a crappy front squatter. But, this exercise seems to fix the problem at the source. I know Jason just finished the six week Soviet squat, which I have done before. It helped me, but a sticking point is a sticking point and this sawhorse thing seems to fix the problem. Plus, it seems that this lift is not hard on the knees. I don’t think squats are hard on the knees, but some of the programs I have done just start to make me ache due to all the reps.
So, thumbs up for this exercise.
The article referred to in this piece is from the May 1970 Strength and Health:
“Roman Mielec has been having trouble lately with his knee. He needs leg work badly, but the heavy full squatting necessary for strength irritates his injured knee. Taking a tip from Team Trainer Dick Smith, he has begun working on sticking point squats in the power rack. The lifter figures out his “sticking point” by doing a heavy full squat in strict form, while a bystander tells him exactly what point the bar moved the slowest.
The pins are inserted in the power rack at this point, and the lifter does his squats from this point. This means he is working from his weakest point and the weight he can use is much less, usually approximately the same as his best clean. And this is a top figure, for a single.
There are two ways the lifter can use this exercise. He can do sets of three, with two warm-up sets and three heavier ones, during a period when he has no contests for a couple months. An example for a person capable of cleaning 350 would be: 175 for 3, 250 for 3, 275 for 3, 300 for 3, 325 for 3. These are best done twice a week, and once a week do front squats in sets of three for positioning.
The other method is one that is used when the lifter is training for a contest and wants to develop peak strength. After a warm-up with 175 for 3, assuming the same 350 clean, the lifter does: 275 for 1, 325 for 1, 350 for 1, 360 for 1, and increases his top set poundage as rapidly as he can, as long as he does not break form. The lifter does not have to maintain an absolutely erect position in this exercise as a slightly leaned-forward position throws the stress on the old gluteus maximus, the muscle for cleaners. Eight weeks on this exercise will do wonders for anyone having trouble coming up with cleans, and its value for people with knee trouble is unquestioned, as no stress is put on the injured joint.
Could be the exercise of the future as far as the clean is concerned.
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