The Hang Clean Breakdown and other Olympic Lifts
When it comes to coaching Olympic lifts and exercises to young athletes there are a few key points to remember.
Keep it simple: All to often strength coaches want to give young athletes the newest exercise on the block. Just because you see a pro athlete doing battle ropes, Turkish get up, or using chains it does not mean a thirteen year old should follow suit. Don't get me wrong a TGU is a great full body movement but there is a time and place when you apply them to a program. You want to make an athlete strong stick to the simple core exercises.
Develop power the right way: I am constantly approached with the same question by parents and coaches "How can we make Timmy faster and more powerful?" They always expect the same answer too. "Ladders and quick feet exercises". However they always get the same answer from me "Olympic Lifts for power and Squats variations for strength." I immediately get the rebuttal "aren't they to young for Olympic lifts and won't they get hurt?"
No, Timmy is not too young to learn how to Olympic lift and if taught properly he will not get hurt.
All Olympic lifts require a lot of attention to technique but with proper progression and repetition a young athlete can learn how to clean or snatch just as fast as learning how to take a wrist shot or kick a ball in the net.
That being said, the hang clean is an exercise I use quite often with my athletes so I thought it would be a great idea to explain how I breakdown the clean into simple steps.
Before I get into the teaching dynamic of the clean there are a few points I want to mention when coaching young athletes 12 years and up.
1. When it comes to prescribing weight always start light. I stress this for a few reasons.
- Since the Hang clean is such a technical movement, it means there is a lot of room for error when first learning. No athlete that is new to lifting knows how much he or she can actually move at high speed. All Olympic lifts are performed in a fast and powerful rate. That means you should move the bar from point A (mid quad) to Point B (Shoulders) as fast as possible. If the bar moves slow from Point A to point B that means
o 1. The weight is too heavy for the athlete
o 2. They have not mastered technique
o 3. They have not neurologically adapted to weight yet.
Anyone of these reasons may increase chance of injury and technique will suffer.
- When dealing with athletes' especially male athletes, you want to boost up their confidence in performance. You will never hurt an athletes' ego if you tell them to go up in weight after performing what you would consider great technique. However it is a harder battle to tell an athlete who has 95 lbs on the bar to drop down to 85 lbs.
- When it comes to the hang clean there are two motions: Pull to catch position (concentric motion) and Lowering bar from shoulders to starting position (eccentric motion). Many young athletes quickly learn the pull to catch component. I believe this is because it is easier for athletes to grasp the notion of generating force. However the eccentric component of the clean takes more control, strength and energy. There have been many times where an athlete can catch 200 lbs but as soon as they reset the bar it looks like they are going to throw their backs out. I believe this to be a clear indication to keep the weight low and work on both aspects of the lift. If not you are only increasing the chances of injury.
Hang Clean Breakdown
1. Hands free Squat: Whether you like to front squat or not. It is important for all athletes to understand the dynamic of a squat. Front Squat technique is essential because of its similarities to the catch phase in a clean.
o Erect tight torso
o A neutral head position
o Flat feet
o Hips back
o Elbows point forward, parallel to ground
o Reinforcing ankle and hip mobility
o Eccentric strength
Place a bar or dowel on the front of your shoulders (clavicle, deltoids), than extend both arms in front of your body (parallel to floor) to make sure the bar does not roll off shoulders. Maintaining a tight erect torso lower the body by flexing at the hip and knees. You do not necessarily have to lower your hips to be parallel with the ground. I tend to only ask athletes to perform a quarter squat. The main concern is keeping the bar from falling forward off your shoulders. Keeping the bar from rolling also means that you keep your torso from falling forward. This will reinforce proper squat technique.
2. Rack grip Front Squat: The next step is learning to hold the bar in a parallel arm position. I feel teaching this will be crucial to a successful clean.
A few reasons:
1. Many young athletes lack the flexibility in their wrist.
2. Reinforce proper positioning of the hands when placing the bar on shoulders. Shoulder width or slightly wider than shoulder width.
3. Teaching an athlete the importance of elbows up when you catch the bar. This will help athlete keep an erect torso.
Once an athlete can properly hold the bar in a closed pronated grip, they will perform a squat. Maintaining the same form stated in hands free squat. I won't stress much if an athlete goes parallel or below parallel in their squat. It actually demonstrates good hip and ankle mobility. As a side note if an athlete is strong and/or has tight shoulder/wrist, I find it better to use a barbell rather than a dowel. It tends to be harder to keep a light dowel on shoulders and keep elbows up.
3. Squat jump with bar: This is an important exercise to teach:
- Initial high hang clean position
- Triple extension of the lower body (ankle, knee, hips),
- Shoulder shrug on the upward movement phase- Pull
- Reinforce scapulae retraction.
Start technique:
§ Place bar mid thigh of legs, pull the bar into legs
§ Flex (curl) wrist towards body
§ Arms fully extended, keep elbows facing out
§ Hips Slightly flexed forward with slight knee bend
§ Flat back with scapulae retraction
Moving technique:
§ Jump vertical driving through your ball of feet.
§ Triple extension through hips, knees, ankles
§ Keep body vertical
§ While keeping your arms straight shrug your shoulders so you slightly move the bar up your legs
Landing technique:
§ Feet land ball of feet to heel
§ Land back into hip and knee flexion
§ Bar placed back to mid thigh
§ Maintain flat back
Teaching athletes proper triple extension will help them understand that power is coming from the lower body not just the arms. It will also help with body rhythm. Many young athletes especially male tend to use their upper body. This will eventually restrict them from progressing in weight. I have used a jump squat with no bar approach in the past, that technique will also work. However there are times that an athlete will develop improper rhythm with triple extension when they do reach the hang clean phase. I also feel holding a bar reinforces a flat back curled wrist, and scapulae retraction. Opposed to relaxed shoulders and rounded back.
4. High hang clean (Point A to Point B):
I took this progression from Dan John and Michael Boyle. The purpose of the clean or any Olympic lift is to develop speed and power. The worst thing you can do is put heavy weight on a bar and perform a repetition in a slow manner. Speed is the name of the game here. Teach young athletes that moving the bar fast with great technique is their number 1 priority.
This is where the idea of point A to point B comes in. Most athletes who have great motor skills will grasp the Hang clean right away. However that may only be a small percentage. Before putting an athlete into a "low" hang clean position, try a "high" hang clean position. This means placing the bar higher than mid thigh creating less hip flexion and decreasing the ability to move more weight. The main purpose is to teach speed in the Pull phase. Point A- starting position and point B- catch position.
Since hip flexion is decreased there is less total body rhythm involved in the pull motion. Starting with a low percentage of weight will help the athlete focus on pulling the bar to shoulders as fast as possible.
5. The Hang Clean (The final Phase):
Athlete with good motor control will reach the final phase of the hang clean by 1 - 2 sessions. If an athlete takes longer then 2 sessions, then stay positive and work on movements that are most difficult for athlete. Acknowledge and praise an athlete for making progress. It will raise their confidence resulting in faster learning. Break movements down and make sure to keep coaching cues to a minimum. If you try to over coach and go over ideal number of sets/reps the athlete will become flustered and burnout.
Hang clean:
Start position
o Barbell Placed mid thigh of quads
o Back flat, scapulae retracted, hip flexed, slight knee flexion, curled wrist, and tight core
Upward movement phase
o Forcefully (drive) extend hips and knees. Pushing feet through floor.
o Pull bar upward, keeping bar as close as possible to body.
o Shrug shoulders and keep Elbows out
Catch phase
o Once hands reach chest drive (punch) elbows forward under the bar.
o Catch bar on clavicle, deltoid
o Erect torso
o Flat feet, hips and knees flexed back to starting position
o Stand up by extending the hips and knees
Downward phase
o Lower bar to high quad
o Move back into beginning position
Variations of Olympic Lifts:
o Jumps Squats: Great exercise for young athletes. Perfect if you want to keep athlete from using heavy loads but still practice triple extension and force through the ground.
o Kettlebell Swings: Great power exercise for the posterior chain. Good for flexion and extension of hips, also enforces shoulder stability.
o Vertimax: Jump squats with resistive bands. When you jump the bands create resistance, increasing the eccentric load of landing. This is an advanced movement and would only use it for athletes with an older training age. Athletes with a young training age are recommended to start with jump squats.
o Barbell Snatch: The barbell snatch is has the same concept as the hang clean with movement. I.E. power generated from the hips. However there are a few differences that must be considered.
o Grip width is slightly wider then the hang clean.
o Load will be lighter then a hang clean to maintain speed. The bar is traveling a further distance. The shoulders and core must be able to handle heavy load overhead.
o The snatch requires more movement, strength, and range of motion from the shoulders.
o Thoracic mobility is very important to reduce potential injury. A tight thoracic spine keeps the bar from becoming perpendicular to ground and forces body to compensate proper technique.
o Dumbbell Snatch: Unilateral Olympic lift. Single arm version of a barbell snatch. Very similar to clean motion however the dumbbell finishes above your head. I believe the Dumbbell snatch is easier to teach then a hang clean. So I incorporate it immediately into my programs.
o MVP shuttle: An alternative for older clients/athletes. It will take gravity away meaning less impact on knees and back.
Overall I want to stress that Olympic lifts are extremely technical Lifts. Breaking down a hang clean into simplistic movements may drastically accelerate an athlete's comprehension of a difficult lift.
Exercises like the hang clean and snatch are easily taken for granted. Performing an Olympic lift incorrectly will only increase an athlete's chance of injury. Make sure if you are teaching an athlete an Olympic lift that you are always present to coach and critic technique. The same goes for athletes, do not perform an Olympic lift unless an experienced coach is there to polish your development.
Reference:
- Essentials of strength training and conditioning.
Editors: Thomas R. Baechle, Roger W. Earle
- Functional Training For Sports. Michael Boyle
Developing a safe squatting style
