Starting Strength

forearms relative to the upper arms is one where the humerus is externally rotated. This means that the forearm is really beside the humerus, as opposed to stacked on top of it ( Figure 6-43 ).

    Figure 6-43. Right , The rack position, with arms rotated such that the forearms and upper arms are beside each other, as opposed to stacked ( left ).

It is helpful to think about lifting the elbows up and in toward the middle. In this position, the bar is lying on more muscle mass, and the elbows can finish their rotation in a higher position than they can if the bones of the forearm and the humerus are merely stacked on top of each other. This external rotation upon racking the bar proceeds from the internally rotated position of the elbows that you used to reinforce the straight-elbow position when learning the clean. The process of externally rotating the arms happens in the transition from the jump to the rack and adds to the “snap” that the movement should display.
    Many people will catch the bar with their elbows pointing at the floor. This error is due to a misunderstanding of the concept of the rack position, a lack of flexibility, or a grip that is too narrow for the length of the forearms. A sufficiently flexible trainee using a grip suitable for his anthropometry should be physically able to get his elbows into the correct position, although he may be reluctant to do so for various reasons. If you rack the bar incorrectly a few times and feel it bump your sternum because your elbows were down and the deltoids were not up enough, you may become gun-shy and try to hold the bar up with your hands, exacerbating the problem. Rack the bar once and then move your elbows up into position, very high so that the bar comes up off of the sternum. In this way you can feel where your elbows should be. If you can’t do this, you need to stretch, or adjust your grip to a width that facilitates the position.
    Many times, a lack of wrist and tricep flexibility prevents the quick, complete rotation needed to rack the bar. Wrist flexibility is the more obvious of the two, but tight triceps may also prevent the elbows from coming up high enough to permit a good deltoid contraction. To extend your range of motion, you can stretch your wrists and triceps, using the bar or a stick in the rack ( Figure 6-44 ).

    Figure 6-44. This stretch in the power rack enables the training of racking-specific flexibility.

    If your flexibility is not sufficient to permit the full rotation of the elbows into a good rack, the fingers under the bar are the expendable part of the chain. After the pull has stopped, their function as the last element of force transfer to the bar is over. This concept is sometimes the source of confusion; the hands do not hold up the bar, and they stop being critical to the clean after the elbow rotation starts. So the fingers can do what they want to as you rack the bar. They can hang on, or they can release to the extent that only the index, middle, and ring fingers are in contact with the bar.

    Figure 6-45. Under ideal circumstances, the best grip for the rack position is with four fingers under the bar ( top ). Flexibility limitations may make it necessary to use fewer fingers, but the most important consideration is elbow position. Do what is necessary to get the elbows up.

    If your flexibility is sufficient but you still cannot rack the bar quickly, you might just be reluctant to let go of the bar enough to permit the elbows to come up. All you need is a little relaxation of the hands and a willingness to quickly rotate all the way up into position a couple of times to see how it feels to do it right. Several mental tricks can help with racking speed. Imagine slamming your elbows into the hands of your coach. Sometimes it helps to aim your shoulders at the bar, or to hit the bar with your shoulders, like you’re trying to strike a blow even as the elbows come up. The crucial concept here is that the bar is not racked until the elbows point forward, and stopping the elbow rotation before it reaches this position is not acceptable.
    At the same time the bar racks, the feet stomp the floor. Since the feet must break contact with the floor if a jump occurs, they must set back down on the floor, and thinking about stomping is a way to make this happen explosively – like everything about the top of the clean needs to be. This foot movement causes everything happening simultaneously with it to synchronize better.