Mr.
@Abdul Rasheed ,
+1 to all pre-posters!
I have a few tips, none of them original as I got them all from the SF Community (aciampa , Anna C, Steve Freides, Steve W., Brett Jones, MikeMoran, Keep Lifting , and probably more than a few others.)
- Your clean looks powered by mostly arm. I had the same problem. KeepLifting made a great point about squeezing the glutes and driving the hips forward. A heavier bell might help to highlight this, as it would be harder to do with just your arm.
- Al Ciampa made a great comment about "compressing the spring" during your hike, which helps power your hip drive. Maybe a bit more flexion at the hips and tiny bit of sit will help this.
(I took a break and went to do my C&P Ladders so these would be fresh in my mind for you, sir.)
Mr. Spezzano and Keep Lifting both spoke about tension, and LOTS of it, so I wanted to share with you some great cues I've been clued into by the SF Commuity.
Mental Checklist of Tension
- Pull your kneecaps to your belly button. Pretend there is a hook sticking out of your navel and there is a super strong elastic band attached to your knee caps. When you drive your hips forward from your hike, hook the elastic and keep it there, pulling your kneecaps up to your chin if need be. =] Hold that until you drop the bell from the rack to re clean.
- Cramp your glutes. CRAMP your Glutes. Like you have on short shorts and you want to show off. Cramp the glutes from the instant you initiate forward hip drive. TighT. For the entire movement. Hold that until you drop the bell from the rack to re clean.
- "Muscular corset" (From ETK) Braced abs, tight low back, a cummerbund of tension which stays on for the whole dance.
- ETK talks about "force pool" and stored tension. Getting things TIGHT Everywhere before the bells lands softly in the rack will "store" tension that can be applied quickly to the Press. It is not a "bounce" so much as a redirect of the bell.
-Now that you are TIGHT in the rack, Crush Everything Everywhere. I believe Steve W. (or maybe Ms Renata Music) gave me the cue to make a Tight fist with the non-working hand, which you can see that you already want to do, in one of the videos from the front, right hand out to the side, almost curling into a fist. Do it. The irradiation and sympathetic muscular contraction will help keep things Tight. Crush "both" handles.
-Fire the bicep! Fire the lat! Fire the palm! (Attack! Fire at will! FIRE!!) From ETK, firing the grip, CaaaRUSHING the handle will make the bicep tense from tension spilling over. Up goes the bell, fire the lat. Making the lat tight will spill tension into the obliques which bounces off the tension from your quads (kneecaps pulled up to your ears at this point) and your glutes. Its tension bouncing off tension and multiplying! And all this tension will help the bell go up smoothly to lock out.
- Stay tight! DRIVE the bell down, keeping that lat engaged, keep the forearm vertical and execute a downward elbow strike of crushing proportions! (Mike Moran) This brings you back to rack.
- Breathe where you need to. HsssssT. "Behind the shield", breathe into your belly. Just make sure you breathe. All this tension can be taxing.
Some things that folks here say help with tension
- Bottoms Up Presses: You Have to stay Tight in order to keep the bell stable. You press groove is already great, but these might help cue and key in the tension you are looking for.
- Attempting One Arm Pushups: Tension is a must for this (Aleks Salkin). Just keeping your body tight for a One Arm Plank is a war with gravity and your body.
Mr. Rasheed, I hope you find some of this useful or helpful. This is all stuff that I have come across in my ROP journey. Good luck and Pressing Power to You! I(ETK)