How To Quit Bumping Your Cleans Forward
Here’s what you need to do to quit bumping your cleans forward off your thighs:
Make sure your grip isn’t excessively narrow, which will mean lower contact on the thighs. Generally the widest grip that allows a comfortable and secure rack position is a good choice.
Keep the arms relaxed in the pull—never lock them straight. That will encourage the bar to swing away at the point of contact.
Ensure whole foot balance in the pull. This means always actively bringing the bar back toward yourself without shifting to the heels.
Keep the bar as close as possible without dragging prior to contact—again, this means actively using the upper body to force the bar to come toward yourself.
Stay over the bar long enough in the pull—in other words, don’t start opening the hips too soon. When is ideal to start hip extension varies, but generally we’re looking at lower thigh.
Push vertically with the legs through the top of the pull—as long as the hips are extending, the legs should be driving into the floor. This helps prevent the hips and thighs from pushing forward through the bar and driving it away, and maintains maximal upward force on the bar.
Finally, as you finish the pull and transition down, actively use the shoulders and arms to guide the bar as close to your body as possible. This means shrugging up and back and pulling the elbows up and out to initiate the pull down.
To train these things, start with clean pulls from power position. Let the bar hang on the thighs where it naturally contacts instead of artificially rowing it up into the hips. Drive vertically with the legs and focus on keeping the bar in very light contact all the way up by actively bringing it back toward yourself.
Next, add cleans from power position, with the same focus on leg drive and actively keeping the bar in. A smart way to do it is as a complex of 3 pulls + 1 clean from power position.
You can then do the same complex from the floor. Using a relatively slow first pull initially will allow you to better control your positions and balance to ensure ideal movement.
Make sure your grip isn’t excessively narrow, which will mean lower contact on the thighs. Generally the widest grip that allows a comfortable and secure rack position is a good choice.
Keep the arms relaxed in the pull—never lock them straight. That will encourage the bar to swing away at the point of contact.
Ensure whole foot balance in the pull. This means always actively bringing the bar back toward yourself without shifting to the heels.
Keep the bar as close as possible without dragging prior to contact—again, this means actively using the upper body to force the bar to come toward yourself.
Stay over the bar long enough in the pull—in other words, don’t start opening the hips too soon. When is ideal to start hip extension varies, but generally we’re looking at lower thigh.
Push vertically with the legs through the top of the pull—as long as the hips are extending, the legs should be driving into the floor. This helps prevent the hips and thighs from pushing forward through the bar and driving it away, and maintains maximal upward force on the bar.
Finally, as you finish the pull and transition down, actively use the shoulders and arms to guide the bar as close to your body as possible. This means shrugging up and back and pulling the elbows up and out to initiate the pull down.
To train these things, start with clean pulls from power position. Let the bar hang on the thighs where it naturally contacts instead of artificially rowing it up into the hips. Drive vertically with the legs and focus on keeping the bar in very light contact all the way up by actively bringing it back toward yourself.
Next, add cleans from power position, with the same focus on leg drive and actively keeping the bar in. A smart way to do it is as a complex of 3 pulls + 1 clean from power position.
You can then do the same complex from the floor. Using a relatively slow first pull initially will allow you to better control your positions and balance to ensure ideal movement.
