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    C21H30O2 WCC's Avatar
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    Long legs + short torso = good for power movements?

    I am a relatively long-limbed lifter. My legs are about 3cm longer than my upper body and my reach is 6cm longer than my height. As such, I am mechanically disadvantaged when it comes to squatting movements; in particular the back squat.

    That said, I've always had a very strong power clean (72-75% of my back squat). Last time I maxed out I hit a 165kg back squat and a 120kg power clean: this was right after completing Smolov - during which time I did no Olympic lifting movements whatsoever.

    My power snatch isn't quite as good (probably because of my long arms), but at 92kg is still a little high relative to my back squat.

    I was discussing this with my coach earlier. He told me I seem to have a natural propensity for speed/power over strength and that my long legs might actually be an advantage in the second pull, allowing me to drive the bar higher.

    Thoughts/experiences?
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    Registered User Gwybodaeth's Avatar
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    Personally, I have quite long arms relative to my height (185cm tall but my armspan is almost 200cm), but my femurs are pretty normal, so squatting isn't a real problem. Jerks can be shaky, though...things like squat jerks caused me problems until I really worked on my shoulders. I'm not sure about long limbs giving you power, but there are plenty of people like that who still excel. Kołecki was clean and jerking 235kg as a teenager, and his back squats weren't much higher.

    Still, I don't like power variations, especially power cleans.
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    C21H30O2 WCC's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Gwybodaeth View Post
    Personally, I have quite long arms relative to my height (185cm tall but my armspan is almost 200cm), but my femurs are pretty normal, so squatting isn't a real problem. Jerks can be shaky, though...things like squat jerks caused me problems until I really worked on my shoulders. I'm not sure about long limbs giving you power, but there are plenty of people like that who still excel. Kołecki was clean and jerking 235kg as a teenager, and his back squats weren't much higher.

    Still, I don't like power variations, especially power cleans.
    Jesus! Have you ever done boxing?

    I agree with you about jerks being shaky. My jerk is currently the same as my power clean (so nowhere near my full clean). Consistency is a real problem for me. And don't even ask me about squat jerks... they are the work of Satan.

    For me there is just something about the power clean... it feels so natural. I'm absolutely convinced I have some sort of mechanical advantage for this particular lift. Been weightlifting for 18 months and I can power clean 125kg now (weighed in at 83.5kg this morning, so 1.5x my bodyweight). It seems I don't even need to train it to get stronger at it. When my squat goes up, my power clean automatically increases.

    In the past 19 weeks, I have completed two squat programs: Smolov and RSR. The day after Smolov, I found my power clean had increased by 10kg (despite the fact that I didn't perform a single power clean during the entire 13-week program). The day after RSR, I found it had increased by 5kg (during RSR I only did light power cleans off the blocks a couple of times per week).
    Overall I added 30kgs to my back squat (142-172) and 15kgs to my power clean (110-125). How the **** can I STILL be disproportionately strong in the power clean after 19 weeks of focusing on my back squat???
    Last edited by WCC; 10-27-2017 at 12:19 PM.
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