Tall power clean
Tall Power Clean (Stand Power Clean, Drop Power Clean) — is a Power Clean variation in which the athlete starts with the bar hanging slightly lower than the hip crease and does not use his hips and knees during the extension. This exercise skips the initial pull from the floor and focuses on arm and foot work, catching the bar, and balance. This can be a useful variation to improve turnover, footwork and closeness. This is a great exercise for an athletes who struggle to pull with arms in the second pull, crush their chest during a turnover or lose their balance while splitting feet.
performing
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Deadlift the barbell until stand straight. Brace your core muscles and hold the barbell with straight arms, keeping your back straight and balance on mid foot.
Begin the lift by shrugging trapezius and standing on toes. Pull the bar up, using your arms to generate upward momentum.
While the barbell reaches its highest point, slide your feet to the sides and catch the barbell on your deltoids. The bar should be aligned with your mid-foot, your chest up, and your elbows pointing in front of you.
Stand up from partial squat and extend hips and knees fully while stabilizing barbell. Control the descent of the barbell back to starting position.
The Tall Power Clean is a full-body exercise that engages multiple muscle groups.
- During the initial deadlift, the glutes and quadriceps are activated, providing the force to lift the weight off the ground.
- In the beggining, the calf muscles play a crucial role in plantarflexing the foot, and the upper trapezius muscles lift the shoulder blades, while the biceps and deltoids help keep the bar close to the body and pull even higher.
- Afterwards, the glutes and quads become the main muscles that drive the transition into a partial squat. Rising also requires the use of adductors.
- The erector spinae, abdominals and other core muscles that support the spine are responsible for the safety and stability of the lift.
- The stabilizers in the pull are also the calves, lats, and hamstrings. The rotator cuff, serratus anterior and rhomboid muscles stabilize the shoulder and scapula.
Muscles working
Programming
Programming Clean variations can vary depending on an individual's goals, experience level, and overall training plan. For beginners, it’s crucial to focus on learning proper technique and gradually increasing the weight. More advanced lifters may incorporate specific Clean variations into Olympic weightlifting routines and vary the intensity and volume over time.
Tall Power Clean excludes lower body except the calves from the first part of movement and is usually performed with a lower weights — 20−40% of the best Clean. In this variation, programming repetitions usually vary from 3 to 5. Sets can vary from 1−2 for a Clean warm-up to 5 for a balance or technique work.
The main reason for doing the Tall Power Clean instead of the Tall Clean is that it has less range of motion and works on quick turnover. It can be used as a warm-up before the Clean or as a light weight finisher for technique work.
Variations
Different variations of the Clean used to train specific aspects:
Hang Power Clean above the knee. Start the lift from a hanging position, focusing on the second pull and catching.
Hang Muscle Clean above the knee. Lift the barbell without a squat from a hanging position, targeting the arm work and turnover.
Clean Turnover. Lift the barbell using only your arms, targeting the upper body and turnover speed.