What is a Clean (AKA Squat Clean or Full Clean)? | Olympic Weightlifting Technique

What is a clean? How is it different from a power clean or hang clean? What is a squat clean? What is a full clean? Let’s dive in, and for a demonstration with explanation, watch the included (and short) video near the end of this article.

the lift starts with the bar on the floor (since “hang” is not present).

No “Hang”
We begin by looking at the words present or - in this case - not present in the name of the lift.

The word “hang” is not present, so the clean doesn’t start with the barbell hanging in the hands. Instead - by default - the lift starts with the bar sitting on the floor.

the lift is received in a full depth front squat (since “power” and “split” are not present).

No “Power” or “Split”
The words “power” and “split” are also absent, so the lift will not be received in the power position (i.e., a partial depth front squat), nor will it be received in the split position (i.e., with one foot in front of the torso and one foot behind the torso). As a result, and again by default, this means the lift will be received in a full depth front squat.

The fact that the clean is received in a full depth front squat is why the lift is also sometimes referred to as a full clean or a squat clean.

So . . . What IS a Clean?
Thus, a clean is a lift wherein the bar starts on the floor and is then accelerated upward, imparting enough momentum to the bar that the bar continues upward, whereupon it is then racked (AKA “caught” or “received”) in a full depth front squat position before it is then stood up.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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The Bench Press: You're Forgetting to Do This - Part 1

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 04/22/22)

You’re all set to bench - your grip is pronated, your shoulder blades are pinched back, and you’ve got your focal point nailed down, but you’re forgetting one thing . . .

Use. Your. Legs.

Don’t worry - Dave is NOT forgetting to do this.

When benching, drive up the bench with your legs. In other words, use your legs to drive your body in the direction of your head (i.e., “up the bench”). You should be driving in such a manner that - if the barbell wasn’t pinning your shoulders to the bench - you might actually start sliding up the bench.

Make sure you’re driving horizontally and not vertically - remember that the rep doesn’t count if your butt comes up off the bench. Drive with your legs throughout the entire rep - drive hard on the descent and drive even harder on the ascent.

Leg drive is easy to forget about - especially if you’re new to the bench press - but it’s important. Your legs give you lateral stability (the bench doesn’t help much here as it’s not very wide), they support your arch, and they help make everything between your feet and your shoulders that much more rigid, which makes for a more stable platform from which to bench.

So use your legs next time, and if you find that you keep forgetting, write “leg drive” down in your training log as a cue for yourself next time.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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EASY Way to Open Your Barbell Packaging | How to Unbox Your New Barbell

Historically speaking, unpackaging a brand new barbell has been a fairly horrific experience. The method covered in this article, however, is going to change your life (better yet, watch the included video for a demonstration).

If you’ve bought a new barbell, you already know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t bought one but are going to purchase one soon, you’re about to experience this cardboard-and-metal terror.

A new barbell comes in a thick cardboard tube, and it has a metal end cap or insert at each end of the tube. Each manufacturer does things a bit differently, but typically, the end cap will be anchored in place very securely with staples or some other fastener.

On one hand, this is good - you want your barbell safe and unscathed while traveling to you. On the other hand, it’s a pain to open the tube as a result of this packaging. The manufacturer’s recommendation is usually to grab a utility knife, cut along one of the seams in the cardboard tube, and then twist to open the packaging (picture yourself opening a tube of Pillsbury dough, and you’ll get the idea well enough).

Don’t do this. I write - unfortunately - from personal experience, and this is a terrible way to open the packaging.

You can see the torn section where I had started the process with the old “screwdriver-and-pliers” method before looking for a better option.

Many people settle on using a flathead screwdriver to pry the staples open and out a bit, whereupon they use a needle nose pliers (or something similar) to finish pulling out the staples. This method works reasonably well, but it takes a while, which is annoying.

The last time I opened a barbell, I had used this screwdriver-and-pliers method on the first of several staples when I thought I’d take a look on the web and see if anyone had come up with a better method . . . and indeed someone had. This method comes courtesy of Colin Burke and his video, and here’s how to do it:

Step 1
Grab a nail punch and a hammer. A flat head screwdriver will probably work if you don’t have a nail punch.

Note: This is the part where I should tell you not to use a flat head screwdriver for this task as you might damage the screwdriver. With that said, if I didn’t have a nail punch, I would certainly have used a flat head screwdriver.

step 2: Use a hammer and nail punch to tap the staples through.

Step 2
Set the tip of the nail punch on top of a staple and then use the hammer to tap that staple several times until the staple has broken through the cardboard (at which point it is no longer anchoring the end cap to the cardboard tube). Repeat this process with all of the staples.

After step 2, all staples have been pounded through.

Step 3
Once the staples have all been pounded through, the end cap is still wedged into place but is no longer attached to the tube, so use a pliers (needle nose pliers or otherwise) and simply pull the end cap out.

step 3: Use pliers to pull out the end cap

Step 4
Set the open end of the cylinder on the floor, lift up the other end, and pull the tube up and back until the barbell is completely out of the packaging (don’t let the bar drop to the floor).

Step 4: allowing barbell to slide out of tube

This process requires only a few tools, it’s quick, and most importantly - it’s easy. After unpackaging a barbell with this method, you’ll never go back to the cut-and-twist and screwdriver-and-pliers methods again.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Get the Most Out of Your Warm-up

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/27/19)

You know - sage lifter that you are - that the purpose of your warm-up is to prepare you for the work ahead of you that day. You know it’s important, and you know that whether you’re going to squat 145 lbs or 345 lbs for your work sets, it is neither prudent nor productive to simply load the work weight on the barbell and have at it without the appropriate warm-up.

But . . . there is an additional purpose to the warm-up. Perhaps it’s not even an additional purpose, but rather a purpose that is merely hidden in the concept of preparing for the work ahead. Put simply, you can (and should) use your warm-up to become a better lifter.

The weights are (relatively) light when warming up, so this is a great time to work on refining your technique. Because you haven’t yet reached the soul-crushing, mind-altering load that is your work weight for the day, the warm-up is when you can spare some mental bandwidth and put into practice any changes or cues that you and your coach have recently discussed.

Maybe you’re trying to fix some pesky knee slide in the squat. Break out the TUBOWs and get to squatting. Perhaps you’re attempting to improve the bar path in the press or the bench press. The warm-up is a great time to do exactly that. Are you inconsistent when it comes to hitting depth in the squat? Grab a coach (or a fellow well-informed lifter) and ask him or her to check your depth as you warm-up.

The warm-up is a precious time. A magical time. Don’t just plow through it - get the most out of it. You can finish your warm-up a better lifter than when you started. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.

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WORST Deadlift Ever?! How to Set Your Back: Part 5

Still Having This Problem?
Do you have a nasty-looking, rounded back when you deadlift? That’s no good, so let’s fix it. Welcome back to our series on how to set your back in flat, rigid extension when you pull from the floor. In the previous four articles, we covered the cues “squeeze your chest up” (Part 1), “push your belly down between your thighs” (Part 2), “wrinkles in your shirt” (Part 3), as well as the anatomically blunt cue, “point your rectum at the wall” (Part 4).

Figure 1: Joy demonstrates a back set rigidly in extension.

If you still struggle to set your back correctly, then the drill presented in this article (the last article in the series) might just help you out. Specifically, you’re going to set your back incorrectly to then help yourself set it correctly. In other words, you’re going to do it wrong to help yourself get it right.

Don’t Jump the Gun
Before we dive into that process, however, be sure to read the previously mentioned articles and try out the relevant cues first. Executing a cue is a simpler and quicker process than performing a drill, so if a cue will do the job, all the better. If cues aren’t working for you, and your back still looks like a camel’s hump, then it’s time to try the following drill (and I’d recommend watching the video below to see this drill in action).

The Setup
Set the barbell on the safeties (Figure 2) inside your squat rack at such a height that the bar sits just below your kneecaps (if you need to start slightly higher, that’s fine as well).

Figure 2

Load a very manageable amount of weight on the bar. You don’t need a lot, but you need enough weight that the bar doesn’t easily move when you start to apply upward tension.

Set up as you would for a deadlift or rack pull, i.e., with the bar positioned over the midfoot, so you’ll need to stand very close to the bar. At this below-the-knee height, you’ll have roughly vertical shins in contact with the bar if you’re set up correctly.

figure 3: his back is in flexion (i.e., rounded).

“Round the Back”
With your hands gripping the bar in their normal deadlift spacing, start with your back in flexion (Figure 3). In other words, start with your back rounded, which is usually an easy position to achieve, especially if you’re struggling with the problem of extending your back anyway. To do this, cue yourself, “round the back.” If it helps, imagine making your back look like a mountain. 

Note that the bar is over the middle of your foot, your shins are touching the bar, and here’s the important point for what you’re about to do next: everything from your hips on down does not move. Your butt doesn’t drop, your knees don’t move, your shins don’t move, and the barbell certainly doesn’t move. 

“Flatten the Back”
Now, tell yourself to “flatten the back,” “extend the back,” or “push the belly down between the thighs.” It’s easier to achieve a flat back (Figure 4) when the bar is higher up from the floor than a normal deadlift, so you’re in a position where you’ll actually be able to accomplish this.

figure 4: his back is in extension (i.e., flat).

If necessary, you can use the cue “arch the back” or imagine making your back look like a valley, i.e., the opposite of the mountain image you used when rounding the back. An arched back (or “overextension”) is not actually what you want - this is an example of an overcue - but it can be a useful mental picture when trying to achieve a flat back.

Alternate
Perform a set of five reps wherein each rep consists of you starting with a rounded back, moving to a flat back, and then back to a rounded back. In other words, you are alternating between the incorrect position (rounded back) and the correct position (flat back).

By starting each rep with a rounded back, you’re allowing yourself to then simply do the opposite movement to get into the correct position.  As stated earlier, you’re doing it wrong to get it right. You learn where you don’t want your back to be, and that helps you get your back into the correct position.

Moving On Down
If you can achieve a flat back for a set of five reps from this initial height - and you’ll need to record yourself on video to check if you are doing so - then you graduate to the next, lower pin setting. Do another five reps, and when you can achieve a flat back at that pin height, keep going lower, repeating the process until you’re pulling from the floor with a straight back.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Get Thee to a . . . Gym?!

In Shakespeare’s day, “nunnery” was simply another word for “gym.”

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 04/08/22)

When it comes to getting stronger, you know that technique is important. You know programming is important. Nutrition is important (that’s right, if you’re eating 75 grams of protein per day, you might be a very strong 8-year-old . . . someday). The equipment you lift with and on is important. So many important things!

But, do you know what is most important?

Consistency. It ain’t sexy, but it’s the truth. And you know it’s the truth. You know that you’ve seen people doing silly, ridiculous stuff in the gym for years, and some of them have even gotten pretty darn strong. Know why?

They. Do. Not. Miss.

In other words, they don’t miss a training session. You might have the greatest technique ever seen and the greatest program ever written, but if you only show up to train once a week, or if you train for two weeks and then skip the gym for three weeks, it doesn’t matter. It’s like having a billion dollars on the moon - it doesn’t do you any good.

If you’ve been inconsistent, then here’s your new mantra: Just show up. That’s it. Don’t miss a training session. Starting back up again after a lay off? Start light - do whatever you need to do to get your butt back in the gym, even if it’s just for one lift that first day. But get your butt there (the rest of you will accompany your butt, of course - that’s how this works).

Start with one day, and Just. Show. Up.

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?