Time to Learn Weightlifting

slimsim said:What have you got against 87.5kg? I nearly always work on percentage increases in weight and not absolutes so to go from 85 to 90 is nearly a 6% increase. You wouldn't expect your deadlift to increase by 12kg without a fairly well structured routine......

Personally, I'd be surprised if the problem is not getting your elbows up enough. If the bar is in the perfect position on the clean then you should be able to rack it without having to have your elbows perfectly horizontal. I reckon it could be that the bar is just slightly in front of you. This would mean that you'd fail because your elbows aren't high enough to stop the weight slipping off your delts but the low elbows are not the primary fault.

If that makes sense?

PS. Good work on plugging away at the 90kg. A guy I used to train with recent snatched 102.5kg on his 17 attempts.....YEP, 17 tries, so it can be done even after numerous failed lifts.

Luke27 said:
Well 85 went so easily!! Kicking myself afterward though.
And i think your again (as always) right, however i think it could be both, as anything after 80 i always catch with 3 fingers and i have to like stretch my lats and forewarms for ages before i can even rack the bar properly.
I will try to keep it much closer. I am getting bruises on my legs so maybe the bars is banging my legs to hard and moving away from me ???

slimsim said:
Yeah, to be fair you're right, it probably is a combination of both factors, as it'll always be difficult to rack a clean with low elbows.
I think the bruises on your legs are a pretty telling sign that something isn't right cos really the bar should brush your thighs, not smash into them. What I used to do a lot was smash my thighs into the bar but at the same time throw my shoulders back from the bar as well. These opposing movements don't produce much upward lift either. Basically, you can get away with banging your thighs into the bar (to a degree) as long as your shoulders are staying over the bar as long as possible.

Luke27 said:
So do you think that starting my shoulder a little more over the bar would help this? it doesnt happen at all with my snatch, snatch only brushes my legs

kirkynick said:Well done on the 70kgs PB LOL! It's amazing what the presence of a woman can do
How's the Russian coming along?

Luke27 said:Many thanks mate. 90 went up quite easily relatively wasn't a particularly good rep so i'm confident i've got more. My jerk always feel best after a clean.