Starting Strength

the bar down to the hang position – you actually drop the bar and catch it . Some people actually let it slip from their grip before they figure this out. Just catch the bar at the hang, with no attempt at all to lower it with the arms. This step teaches two important things. First, the bar path in a clean must be as close to vertical as possible for physical efficiency, and when you drop the bar down from the rack position close to your chest, you are practicing the vertical bar path on the way down that you will use on the way up. If you un-curl the bar to put it down, you are pushing it away from the vertical balance line; dropping the bar close to the chest keeps it directly above the mid-foot. Second, the arms do not interact with the weight during a clean – what makes the bar go up is the jump, not your arms performing an upright row (perhaps the most unfortunate exercise ever invented, for several reasons). If you learn immediately that the arms do not either raise OR lower the bar, you will help solve the arm-pull problem before it has a chance to develop. And when you practice this way, you double the amount of bar path practice you can get when you clean. So we’ll start the process from the first rep. Just drop it and catch it.
     
    Get back in the hang position, and then unlock your knees and your hips. Do this by sticking your butt back as you bend your knees. Let the bar slide down your thighs to a position somewhere in the middle of your thighs. This position we will call the jumping position because it is the same position you would drop into to perform a vertical jump ( Figure 6-13 ). Your elbows will be straight and internally rotated, just as in the hang position; your arms will be vertical; and your knees and hips will be unlocked. The bar will not be too far down the thighs; it will be at about the middle of the thighs – possibly higher if your arms are short or lower if you have long arms – and in contact with the skin, actually touching the thighs .

    Figure 6-13. The jumping position. Note the position of the bar in contact with the thighs. In all cleans, the bar must touch this place on the thighs before the jump occurs.

    This last point is very important, so much so that the jumping position can be thought of as both the knees-and-hips-unlocked position and the place where the bar touches the thighs. You find this place by positioning your hips and legs to jump. It is always the last place you should feel the bar until you catch it on your shoulders, and if you don’t feel the bar on your thighs when you clean, it is wrong .
    This point cannot be emphasized enough: the bar being in contact with your thighs means that it’s in the proper place in balance over the mid-foot, and that you are in the correct place to jump. Make it your policy to touch your thighs each time you clean.
     
    Now, from the jumping position, with straight elbows , jump straight up in the air with the bar hanging from your arms. Don’t bend your elbows. Concentrate on the fact that you are jumping and leaving the ground. Jump as high as you can, enough that you have to fully extend your knees and hips to do it. Focus on your jump the first few times, and then focus on keeping your elbows extended. It will be normal at this point to shift your feet from the stance used for pulling into a stable position for catching the bar in the rack position. For most people, this racking stance will approximate the squat stance because it will be familiar from squatting, and because the bent knees are used to absorb the weight of the dropping body and barbell best distribute the load to the ground in this position. Don’t worry about the stance at this point unless your feet move laterally wider than your squat stance.
    Think hard about not bending your elbows as the bar slides down your thighs to the jumping position. Many people will try to bend their elbows instead of letting the bar slide, but don’t you be that person. If you find that you’re bending your elbows anyway, use your triceps to lock the elbows in hard extension, and think about this for a few more jumps.
     
    Once the act of jumping with the bar in your hands and with your elbows straight is firmly embedded, jump and catch the bar on your shoulders in the rack position. Catch it in the same place you had it before, with your elbows up. The bar should stop on your shoulders, not in your hands. Slam your elbows up into the rack position from the top