I hear you on this.

Doing a comp this saturday and its a full clean (ie squat clean from the ground) I have barely ever done these in classes, even when we were supposed to.. Whoops

I started a few weeeks ago trying to do them and was stuck at 95 for a while getting the form. I was able to just recently get 120 up with good form.

I would look at what your front squat max actually is compared to this. I am proportionately week on the clean with my one rep max of 120 vs my front squat of 150ish last time i maxed, and recently did 135x10 so should be more.

Good luck with it, its more of a Skill than ability to lift it or not. Coordination in the movement is key.

I've been doing crossfit for about 9 months now. There are times when I am able to go 3-4 times per week and other times where I can only make it 3-4 times per month. I am an avid runner and am currently training for a marathon in October.

Last week I went to class and then skill work was clean & jerks. I've only done this movement 1 other time so I was pretty excited to work on it. Then, they said the clean portion needed to be a squat clean. Uhg, squats are my weakness. I think it's due to tight hip flexors and general tightness from running and no stretching. I had never done a squat clean before and man was it difficult to drop down into that squat.

I ended up only being able to work up to 95lbs. I could have "jerked" more but there was no way I was getting up from that squat with more!

I was wondering if this is a pretty "average" starting point in terms of weight. (Also, read: please validate me and make me feel good about myself).

I'm new and still suck at squats but I found this super helpful:

http://youtu.be/WOLyHSIsPk0

I try to get to the box early and do a few of these before class and I think it's really helping! Good luck!

At my gym whenever we do cleans or snatches it is the full movement, so much so that there is no such thing as a "squat clean" instead it is just a "clean."

To the OP; unfortunately, the only way you're going to improve on your squats is to keep doing them. Squats are super easy to do but also super hard to do properly. Years of sitting in chairs has messed up our hips and lower back. The good news is that 95 lbs is still a great weight and you should be proud of yourself. :flowerforyou:

At my gym whenever we do cleans or snatches it is the full movement, so much so that there is no such thing as a "squat clean" instead it is just a "clean."

Sorry to highjack, but this is something I don't understand. If I can power clean or power snatch the barbell high enough so I only need to dip my hips to a 45 degree angle, why would I continue downward into a full squat? It's still a full movement: I'm still ending with the bar in the rack or OH position. Is it more of an old school Oly lifting thing that you always want to practice the movement that you'll be using with maximal weight?

It's also one reason why I'm not a huge fan of WODs with higher reps of Oly lifts--If I'm doing 21 or 30 reps, I have to use something like 60% of my 1RM, which means I can power clean/snatch that weight

Because at some point you're going to hit a weight that will require the full drop into the squat to get under.

I'm horrible at squat cleans because my rack position is bad and throws me further forward than I need to be. I can probably squat clean about 135 and it's very ugly. I can power clean 185-190.

I always thought my legs were really strong because I run so much. However, my PR on back squat is only 135lbs and I don't think I've ever actually found my front squat 1RM.

One thing I would caution you against is saying that you can "only" do this or "only" do that. Take pride in your own abilities and accomplishments. You can still strive for improvement while being happy with your current level of ability.

I always thought my legs were really strong because I run so much. However, my PR on back squat is only 135lbs and I don't think I've ever actually found my front squat 1RM.

One thing I would caution you against is saying that you can "only" do this or "only" do that. Take pride in your own abilities and accomplishments. You can still strive for improvement while being happy with your current level of ability.

Also, people who have been lifting for a long time have learned how to recruit all of their muscles: core, stabilizing muscles, etc. You have to learn lifting form and build your body up around the movement pattern, not just transfer strengths from other activities. The only reason you are not lifting as much as you would like is probably because you haven't learned how to get better at it yet. Once you start working on it and get a good lifting coach, you are going to noob gain so hard it will make the rest of us cry with envy.

To the OP:

In my personal experience, I've learned I need to front squat (or do something with the bar in the front rack position) at least once every 10 days or so to maintain a minimum level of mobility. If I go 2 weeks+ between front squat sessions, my form looks and feels like garbage. It's a simple fix because if front squats or cleans aren't programmed for a week or so, then I throw some in before or after class one day.

I see your point. We do a lot of things at my box with lower rep cleans in the WOD. If higher rep, they are lower weight, power versions. If lower rep, they are higher weight, full versions.

Working on higher weight, "full cleans" has allowed me to move my mindset from "lifting" the most weight possible to developing speed under the bar. So when I am doing a higher weight, I think "fast elbows, fast feet" and focus on getting under it.

I would say though that when I work on power clean form for a while, my clean goes in the toilet and visa versa.

Yeah we did we did a complex last week that was I think 3 squat cleans, 6 thrusters, 9 STOH (push presses for me).

I guess for my purposes, my goal is to be semi-competent and snatch and C&J by my competition on Oct 18. Based on the rules for the comp, I don't *have* to attain a full squat so that isn't necessarily my focus. Hell, I can start from the hang if I want to.

I definitely get that true competitive Oly lifters must catch the bar as low as possible simply because of the magnitude of weight involved. But as far as I know, nothing in the rules at the Olympics requires a below parallel squat.

To the OP:

In my personal experience, I've learned I need to front squat (or do something with the bar in the front rack position) at least once every 10 days or so to maintain a minimum level of mobility. If I go 2 weeks+ between front squat sessions, my form looks and feels like garbage. It's a simple fix because if front squats or cleans aren't programmed for a week or so, then I throw some in before or after class one day.

I see your point. We do a lot of things at my box with lower rep cleans in the WOD. If higher rep, they are lower weight, power versions. If lower rep, they are higher weight, full versions.

If you are like me and you are currently power cleaning the same as you squat clean, it means you have unrealized potential to deal with heavier weights if we were to develop our speed under the bar and proper receiving position.

Working on higher weight, "full cleans" has allowed me to move my mindset from "lifting" the most weight possible to developing speed under the bar. So when I am doing a higher weight, I think "fast elbows, fast feet" and focus on getting under it.

I would say though that when I work on power clean form for a while, my clean goes in the toilet and visa versa.

Yeah we did we did a complex last week that was I think 3 squat cleans, 6 thrusters, 9 STOH (push presses for me).

I guess for my purposes, my goal is to be semi-competent and snatch and C&J by my competition on Oct 18. Based on the rules for the comp, I don't *have* to attain a full squat so that isn't necessarily my focus. Hell, I can start from the hang if I want to.

I definitely get that true competitive Oly lifters must catch the bar as low as possible simply because of the magnitude of weight involved. But as far as I know, nothing in the rules at the Olympics requires a below parallel squat.

It's not just that you want to receive the weight and take the impact down, it's that you don't have to get the weight up as high if you can get under it. "What if I told you it's not the weight on the bar, but your speed under it?"

If you are currently power cleaning what you squat clean, you have unrealized potential to be putting up more weight with faster speed under the bar and a better receiving position.

I don't know my 1RM on almost anything since I've only been Xfitting for a few months, and I tend to PR even on high rep WODs (for instance I PR'd my deadlift today in the middle of a huge 30 minute Metcon... that's just where I'm at, I'm still playing around a lot)

That being said, I can "only" clean and jerk 75lbs. I just really got the form down recently, so I'm sure I could do better, but I think 95lbs is pretty badass. I just front and backsquatted 105 this week for the first time, which is the first time I lifted anything over 100#, and even though that's "light" for most people, I felt pretty badass getting over 100 up on anything since I'm 5'2" and 128lbs.

"Only" is a state of mind. 95lbs rocks. Work on that squat mobility and don't be afraid to receive the weight low.