"The bear"

weighted bb in front of you.

clean the bb. do a front squat. push press / push jerk. bring it back down to your back. do a back squat. / push press / push jerk. that's one rep. don't just put the bar down. bring the bar back down only long enough to reset your grip.

playing with 95# while fresh albeit still a little sore, i'm able to do 5 'reps' of this in a row before i'm out of breath, exhausted, unable to see straight, and since i'm not using bumper plates, unable to continue without fear of destroying something, so i have to drop the bar for a few seconds and catch my breath.

but oh man is it awesome. i saw this circuit on crossfit. it's pretty compound. i like doing it with higher weights and less volume than they prescribe though.

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459657

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459657

That guy's "rack" position is horrible in those pics :)

That guy's "rack" position is horrible in those pics :)

I noticed that too, haha, WTF is he doing?

That guy's "rack" position is horrible in those pics :)
Jeeze, he's going to screw up his wrists and forearms.

I've seen those pics in another article over there. Makes me wonder who's doing the editing to include such bad form shots.

Kinda reminds me of how bad some of the BB.com videos are for form. The power clean IIRC is more of a muscle clean than power for instance.

HAHAHA that was the first thing i noticed as well... lack of flexibility maybe?

but yeah.. these are no f'ing joke.

I would laugh, but I have seen a couple people front squatting last few months with the weight racked like that. Then they wonder why they have trouble doing any real weight. Kind of like the people doing overhead squats with the bar a foot in front of their heels. Nice to see FSQ and OHSQ gaining popularity, but sucks that it's at the expense of doing it properly.

:eek:


... T-nation would lead me wrong?? Who is a noob to trust!!??

Can anyone tell me the purpose of a power clean? Like, for what muscles, and stuff... just curious... I've never done one.

:eek:


... T-nation would lead me wrong?? Who is a noob to trust!!??

Can anyone tell me the purpose of a power clean? Like, for what muscles, and stuff... just curious... I've never done one.

The entire body. Name a muscle, and it's probably involved. Glutes, legs, hams, hip flexers, abdominals, and boy oh boy is the back really nailed hard with this movement. In fact, I'll say it's one of the best overall movements for the back. :nod:

Can anyone tell me the purpose of a power clean? Like, for what muscles, and stuff... just curious... I've never done one.
The purpose of a power clean is to develop a squat clean. One use for the power clean is to develop overall strength and power, especially through the posterior chain and in coordinated total body movement. If you're thinking about it in terms of particular muscles, you're kind of missing the boat.

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459657

They do the short version of the bear. The long version is:

Deadlift from the floor
Lower bar and hang clean
Front squat
Push press, eccentric behind the head
Change grip, snatch grip thruster
Overhead squat
Back squat
Thrust back over and lower the bar to the floor.

EDIT: Sorry about that this description is actually called "the beast". I got that confused with the bear which is a lot shorter.

It's basically all cardio so it doesn't really matter what the guys rack position looks like. You cannot do this exercise for any reps with a heavy load. The hard step is the Overhead squat.

Frankly I don't like the behind the head parts of this; probably it's better to do the whole thing in front. The back squat is basically vacation time in the bear.

The purpose of a power clean is to

be able to mount enough weight to do meaninful Bulgarian squats when you don't have a squat rack.

The purpose of a power clean is to develop

a huge back and gorilla traps. :nod:

a huge back and gorilla traps. :nod:

:nono:

It's all about the Bulgarians...

:nono:

It's all about the Bulgarians...

:rolleyes:

Ha, you and chic are the antithesis of bodybuilding.

I hereby dub zenph and chicmeister the "Anti-Bodybuilders" of JSF

:bow::bow:

How do you guys perform power cleans? I've seen them demonstrated in some places where you list the bar from the floor, pull as high as you can and then position the bar like you were doing a front squat. In other places I've seen where you lift the bar, and then kind of jump down and squat up before getting the bar into its final position. I just don't know which is the true power clean.

How do you guys perform power cleans? I've seen them demonstrated in some places where you list the bar from the floor, pull as high as you can and then position the bar like you were doing a front squat. In other places I've seen where you lift the bar, and then kind of jump down and squat up before getting the bar into its final position. I just don't know which is the true power clean.
VnDLZtLhsiw

That's a power clean (followed by a bad jerk). When the context is Olympic style weightlifting, the word "power" means "catch in a shallow squat," whether your cleaning, snatching, or jerking.

:rolleyes:

Ha, you and chic are the antithesis of bodybuilding.

I hereby dub zenph and chicmeister the "Anti-Bodybuilders" of JSF

:bow::bow:
Fine with me. :D

chic you have really really really really good form (as far as im concerned lol), and a REALLY nice place to oly!! what gym is that

are Power cleans more for intermediate/advanced lifters ? as it looks quite tricky to perform.

are Power cleans more for intermediate/advanced lifters ? as it looks quite tricky to perform.
The Olympic lifts and their variations are probably the most technical lifts you can learn -- that doesn't necessarily mean that they're for intermediate or advanced lifters. Rather, it means that they take time and the proper resources to learn correctly.

chic you have really really really really good form (as far as im concerned lol), and a REALLY nice place to oly!! what gym is that
It's a private gym.

a huge back and gorilla traps. :nod:

http://www.gorillahub.com/dreamstime_gorilla%206.jpg

(Visualize this when getting set to BB row, :tu:)

Decided I would try the mighty "bear" today. I'm cutting, and have been doing full-body, compound moves 3 - 4 times per week. I tried it with relatively light weight because I wanted to nail the form for smooth transitions.

Awesome, awesome move. Thanks for the idea. These forums always rock for shaking up the average day at the gym!

Best,
E.