Sports Institue Northern Ireland

CLEAN PULL	BY PETER SMYTH
The clean pull is an assistance exercise of the clean designed to teach the athlete to correctly initiate the first and second pull of the clean. It is a multi joint movement that effectively uses all the major muscle groups in the body specifically the quadriceps (vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, rectus femoris) hamstrings (semimembranosus, semitendiosus, biceps femoris), gastrocnemius, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids, and finger flexors. The clean pull is a useful exercise to help athletes improve vertical jump height. As the ground reaction forces between the clean pull and vertical jumping are similar. The clean pull involves an extension of the ankles, knees and hips a similar movement pattern that occurs when jumping.
1. STARTING POSITION The starting position is the same as the deadlift as shown in picture 1 and described in greater detail in May’s 2003 Exercise of the Month. For the clean pull instruct the athlete to point the elbows along the barbell, this ensures that the bar is pulled straight upwards which is important when developing clean technique. It is extremely important to ensure the athlete can assume the correct position to lift the barbell correctly and safely before starting the clean pull.
2. FIRST PULL Once starting position has been perfected the lift is initiated by pushing against the ground with the legs in a slow and controlled fashion until the bar reaches knee level (Picture 2). The back should stay in its neutral curve ensuring that the hips and knees rise at the same rate. The legs should primarily perform this movement, not by the back. The load on the bar should be kept low until the coach is happy that this is occurring.
3. SECOND PULL Upon passing knee level the athlete should generate the most power at this stage by explosively driving the hips forward as this happens more force is created by rises up on the toes and finishing the movement with a powerful shoulder shrug as shown in picture 3. Return the barbell to the ground in a controlled manner as previously described in the deadlift.
COMMON MISTAKES The common mistakes for the clean pull are the same as the deadlift as previously mentioned. The major difference between the clean pull and deadlift is the speed of the movement. Athletes should be instructed to keep the first pull slow and controlled when passing knee level the speed of the movement should become more explosive. Novices typically perform the first pull too quickly, what this does is the barbell starts to decelerate quicker and ultimately the bar is not pulled as high. Therefore this makes it more difficult to reposition the body under the bar when progressing onto the clean at a later stage. With instructing novices with weightlifting (i.e. clean and jerk/snatch) movements if they understand the parts of the movement then they will be in a better position to understand the whole part of the lift this should speed up the learning process for the athlete. As with all movements the back should be in its neutral curve and technique should be 100% at low loads before increasing the weight lifted. View the video>> (FILE SIZE 176KB - PLEASE ALLOW TIME TO DOWNLOAD)