Heatonminded

Strength Sports and Strength Supplements

Why Do You Power More Than You Squat?

The idea for this article came from personal curiosity as I used to be one of those people that could power clean or power snatch more than I could squat clean or squat snatch. Luckily my full snatch is now 30 pounds heavier than my power, but my power and full clean are still the exact same.

For anyone that has been practicing olympic lifting for some time now knows that this is an issue that needs to be resolved in order to gain legitimate strength as you should always be able to squat more than you can power. Theres a reason why weightlifters in the Olympics never power during competition.

So why do newer lifters power more than they squat?

rogue rubber dumbbells
Rogue Dumbbells – Only $60 for a 35lb Pair

#1 MOBILITY PROBLEMS

From what I’ve seen this is definitely the number one reason why people can power more than they can squat especially in the snatch.

If you look at the mobility demands of a full snatch vs the demands of a power snatch it isn’t even close. A full snatch requires excellent mobility in the thoracic spine, lats, hips, ankles, shoulders, and hamstrings while the power snatch requires practically none of that.

Anyone can stand with an empty bar over their head, but its very common to see new lifters struggle to even hold a plastic pipe over their head in the bottom of a squat while keeping their chest up.

The full clean also poses some problems for people with poor mobility as it requires all aspects of a good squat as well as excellent front rack mobility that comes from the lats, triceps, and thoracic spine. If you can not keep your elbows high and chest up during a full clean then you will lose that bar forward every time.

What makes the power variations of the clean and snatch so attractive is that you don’t have to have any of that required mobility. All you have to do is pick the bar up off the ground with speed and catch it on your shoulders or overhead. You will get stronger by doing this but eventually you will become limited.

SOLUTION: Fix mobility

rogue echo bike

#2 FEAR AT THE BOTTOM

I know a number of women I train with that have phenomenal mobility and strength, yet they remain stagnant on their progress in the olympic lifts because of their fear of catching at the bottom.

Again we see this problem occur most often with the snatch as the movement ends with the bar overhead and they are afraid that the bar will come crashing down on their head and neck if they miss the lift. A lot of this fear comes from them watching videos on social media showing that exact thing happening, however that is rare. Stop watching these videos and get those thoughts out of your head.

You can not be timid or slow when performing the olympic lifts, by doing that you actually put yourself in more danger than if you just lifted aggressively. It is just like in other sports, if you run up softly to tackle someone because you are worried about getting hit hard you will actually put yourself in more danger than if you just ran up aggressively.

Your body will always try to protect itself so pull yourself under the bar fast and press up into the bar strong and then even if you miss it won’t fall on your head.

SOLUTION: Be aggressive

Nike Romaleos 3 Red and Black
“Great solid shoe! Lighter but still provides stability like any other lifter out there in the market!” – Ariel

#3 POOR SQUAT

If you have a weak front and back squat you’re not going to feel all that confident dropping under a bar full of heavy weight.

When you see the pros squat cleaning gigantic amounts of weight with ease it is likely that the weight on the bar is around 50+ pounds lighter than whatever their max back squat is. By having a powerful squat they know they have the ability to stand up the weight on now all they have to do is focus on the catch.

A person who power cleans often likely doesn’t have the strongest squat and so they keep doing powers instead of squats so that they look strong and not weak.

SOLUTION: Build raw squatting strength

For more information on How to Fix Powering More Than You Squat, check out that link by Catalyst Athletics.

Follow Heatonminded on Facebook

9,175 responses to “Why Do You Power More Than You Squat?”