Stop Using Your Hands to Catch Your Cleans!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/22/21)

The clean is racked (i.e., caught or received) on the shoulders. Not in the hands.

This is the correct way to rack a clean.

Figure 1: This is the correct way to rack a clean.

When you rack a clean, you do so by rapidly punching your elbows forward and up so that the barbell can sit on the shelf provided by your delts (Figure 1). This shelf is extremely strong, stable, and it can support a lot of weight - more than you can clean, in fact.

On the other hand - or rather, hands - if you receive your cleans by supporting the bar in your hands (Figure 2), your poor, tiny, bent wrists will hate you for it, and it’s possible that your collarbones will too.

Don’t rack your cleans like this. Your wrists will despise you.

Figure 2: Don’t rack your cleans like this. Your wrists will despise you.

To rack the bar properly, jam the elbows forward and up and receive the bar with a loose grip - be sure to let the thumb slip out of the hook grip as you punch the elbows forward.

Elbows forward and up and a loose grip on the bar

Figure 3: Elbows forward and up and a loose grip on the bar

It’s possible that your pinky finger (maybe even your ring finger) will slip off the bar during the catch, and while this is not ideal (especially if you need to jerk the barbell overhead yet), it’s not the end of the world. Do whatever you need to do with your grip to permit the receiving of the bar on your shoulders.

Your wrists will not be straight when you catch a clean, and that’s perfectly fine. Whether a lifter receives the bar correctly on the shoulders or not, the wrists will be bent backwards in extension, but a bar caught on the shoulders (with elbows forward and up) is supported by the shoulders, so the wrists - although bent - do not take any of the load. A bar caught with low elbows, however, cannot be successfully supported by the shoulders and is instead supported on bent - and usually painful - wrists.

Tommy doesn’t even need hands to rack his cleans. (We do NOT recommend trying this at home, folks)

Tommy doesn’t even need hands to rack his cleans. (We do NOT recommend trying this at home, folks)

Be kind to your wrists and commit to catching your cleans on your shoulders. You’ll enjoy the lift far more when your wrists aren’t screaming at you.

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

-Phil

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The #1 Rule for Strength Training

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

What's the most important thing in strength training? It might not be what you think it is. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Testify Register - December 2, 2024

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video WRIST WRAPS: The Complete Guide and how NOT to Put Them On! (Lifting Gear Series) (click the title to watch):

Rafael Brum
Yo, totally underrated YouTube channel. Amazing work. This also helped me with my wrist pain when I do the bench press.

Phil
That’s excellent – I’m glad to hear that it helped with your wrist pain. Also, thanks for the kind words!

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Want to get stronger working remotely with one of our Starting Strength Coaches? Click here to contact us and learn more.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

FIX Your Bench Press in under 2 Minutes: STOP Benching Vertically
Are you bench pressing with a vertical bar path? Don't. We cover why this is a problem and how to fix it. Click here to watch.

 

"This Made Him Look STUPID!" | Squat Mistake
Are you making this mistake when squatting? Well . . . don't. It's unnecessary, inefficient, and it makes you look like a newbie. We explain. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Training with Injuries: Should I Train or Should I Quit?!
When dealing with an injury, the right questions can make all the difference. Phil discusses the difference between "Should I train?" and "How can I train?" and gives some useful tools for training when injured. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: The Press: Make the Bar Go DOWN?!
Not sure about the hips movement in the press? Phil gives a useful way to approach and solve this problem. Click here to read.

TESTIFY BALL CAPS ARE AVAILABLE!

Represent your favorite gym and keep the sun out of your eyes in style with this cap.

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

Reminder: Testify members! Don't forget - the annual Testify Christmas Party is on Saturday, December 14, and it will begin immediately following the end of the Barbell Blizzard. We'll be running this year's party in an appetizer/potluck fashion, so bring an appetizer to pass around and something to drink, wear something outlandishly Christmasy, and let the festivities begin!

We're guessing a start time of around 5:00 p.m., but if you're not participating in the Barbell Blizzard, your best bet is probably to show up earlier than that, cheer on your fellow lifters at the Barbell Blizzard, and then we'll segue right into the party (tableware provided by Testify).

Below is the information for the upcoming Barbell Blizzard, and you can always find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.

Barbell Blizzard! A Winter Wonderland of Weights

  • December 14, 2024

  • Barbell Blizzard is a team strength meet wherein the contested lifts will be the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors will form teams of 2-4 lifters/team and perform all 4 lifts; each lifter will receive 3 attempts for each lift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2024.09.30.

Option 2
Bike/row:
8 x 30 sec on/2:00 off

Score = least distance covered in any 30 second interval

Compare to 2024.09.09.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2024.08.12.

Option 4
1. 5 yoke carries @ 30 yd (15 yd downback) – work up to heaviest carry
2. 5 rounds of 5 reps on the axle “clean and press away” – work up to heavy set of 5

Compare to 2024.08.12.

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

"This Made Him Look STUPID!" | Squat Mistake

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Quit making this mistake. It looks silly, it’s pointless, and it can cause a problem, so let’s fix it fast.

Figure 1: don’t do this.

The Mistake
What’s the mistake? It is that of looking for the hooks (AKA “j-hooks”) when racking the squat. After all, unless you have an incredibly cruel training partner, the hooks didn’t go anywhere while you were squatting, so there’s no need for you to look sideways for them when racking the barbell at the end of your set (Figure 1).

Why is This a Problem?
Looking for the hooks is unnecessary, it’s a waste of time and energy, and it makes you look like a newbie. Additionally - and most importantly - it increases the chance that someday (probably not today, but someday), you’re going to end up as a great candidate for a YouTube fail video because - while you’re going to make the hook that you’re looking for - you’re eventually going to miss the hook that you’re not looking for.

You Don’t Really Care About the Hooks Anyway, Right?
It’s useful to remember that you don’t aim for the hooks anyway - you simply want to get the bar to hit the uprights and then stay in contact with the uprights as you slide the bar down a few inches until it’s resting on the hooks.

figure 2: this . . . is much better.

How to Fix the Problem
With this in mind, when you finish your set of squats, keep looking at the same focal point you used when squatting (on the floor roughly four to six feet in front of you) and walk straight ahead until the bar runs into the uprights (Figure 2). You’ll know because . . . you’ll stop moving.

Once you’ve hit the uprights, and assuming that you’ve set your hooks at a reasonable height (and if you’re not sure, be sure to watch the included video below), maintain bar contact with the uprights while you use your legs to dip down slightly until the bar is sitting in the hooks.

This last point is worth repeating - as long as you maintain contact with the uprights, you’ll end up with the bar correctly resting in the hooks every single time.

Put simply, be smart. Looking at the hooks when racking the bar is unnecessary, it’s a waste of time and effort, and it increases the chance that you’re going to do something silly like end up with half a barbell still on your back when you think it’s completely back on the hooks.

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

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Training with Injuries: Should I Train or Should I Quit?!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

When dealing with an injury, the right questions can make all the difference. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers discusses the difference between "Should I train?" and "How can I train?" and gives some useful tools for training when injured.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 09/05/22)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Press: Make the Bar Go DOWN?!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/25/22)

Not sure about the hips movement in the press? Maybe you can “reach and bounce” just fine without the barbell, but when you add the bar to the movement, everything turns to garbage. Perhaps you just don’t know what it’s supposed to look like. Let’s fix it with a simple cue.

Becky in the start position (note the bar’s position relative to the horizontal barbell in the background)

Bar Cue vs Body Cue
Cueing yourself to “reach and bounce” with your hips is a perfectly good approach, but if the timing of your hips and pressing is still off, trying using a bar cue instead of a body cue, i.e., try telling yourself what you want the bar to do, and let your body figure out the rest.

Becky demonstrates the initial downward movement of the bar (again, note the bar’s position relative to the horizontal barbell in the background)

The Bar Goes DOWN First
When the hips reach forward, you get a bit shorter (since you’re no longer standing up straight), and since you are getting shorter - briefly - the bar should go down, so remind yourself of this. Simply tell yourself to make the bar go down before it goes up.

When the hips go forward, the bar goes down, and as the hips bounce back into place (i.e., as you stand up), the bar starts to go up. The cue is: “Make the bar go down.” More simply, you can cue yourself: “Down-then-up.”

Try this out the next time you press and see if it helps. Additionally, watching this motion in action can be very helpful, so I’d recommend watching the video at the end of this article. In the meantime, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?