3rd annual "Are Power Cleans Good for Football" Debate

[boogerred]

Well, it's time once again for this debate. So here we are.

Do you think power cleans are good for football players? and why or why not?

[jiveturkey]

football players need to bench press to get stronger in the upperbody and do squats for their legs to get faster.

cleaning is for olympic pretty boys and janitors

[Boonedawg]

Heck yes they are! I'd rather be hit by a dude who benches 400 than a dude that cleans 300.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Once again it depends on who you talk to. At one time I would have argued that you had to do Power Cleans but now not so much. After watching several kids get hurt doing them you start to change you tone. Was once said that if a kid could power clean 250 they would be an allstate football players. Well guess what, seen players do over 250 and they simply were not very good football players. It is about the total package. So did I have my kids power clean-yes. Would I do it again-no. Results vs risk! There is no exercise that you can do in the weightroom that will simulate playing the game!

[The Riepo Man]

Power cleans work both upper and lower body muscles and builds coordination at the same time so who wouldnt like those? Youre basically dead lifting it then shrugging the bar while jerking it upwards and then squating the weight to finish...its an all-around great workout

[Tigercannon71]

Power cleans are a great exercise for football. It gives you that explosive ness that you need for coming off the line. Your legs, hips, arms, and hands gotta work as one to get the weight up quickly. That being said you need to do them in good form and as part of a workout program that includes bench, squats, and deads.

[OVCfan32]

If you had to do one single lift. . . . .it would be the clean. .
use low weight for safety. . . .do the full clean and you work chest and legs.. .
Its the only lift you really really really really should do. . . .
bad foot, bad knee, tweeked back . . . . out of the question

[boogerred]

I would most definitely have them as one of the core lifts in a weightlifting program unless I had a Hammer Strength Jammer.

[The Riepo Man]

I know wheelersburg has them as a core lift along with bench, squats and incline

[madpolecat]

Ricky Vaughn's answer comes pretty close to my takeon this issue.

I do believe that using the power clean as a training tool will help make make athletes stronger, and probably have a positive outcome on speed and explosiveness.

By extension, I would say cleans are good for FB because improving strength, explosiveness, and speed would seem to be good attributes to improve for football players.

I don't think that cleans are that risky, though. It is kind of curious to hear football coaches -- who are teaching kids to run into each other at full speed -- express concerns about the safety of performing an a lift involving a barbell that starts on the floor.

[boogerred]

People talk about cleans being dangerous, but I have only ever seen one injury from power cleaning. Mtswngrvsg probably witnessed the same injury that I am talking about.

[jiveturkey]

I would think only an idiot wouldnt want his players learning to clean.

[Tigercannon71]

Any exercies is dangerous without the proper form. Thats why players in the weight room should be highly supervised and stopped and corrected if they are using incorrect form.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Some food for thought, do with it what you want.

What's wrong with the power clean?
Coach and Athletic Director, Feb, 1999 by Dan Riley, Jason Arapoff


Twenty-five years ago, the weight-lifters - the only tutors of the era - "sold" the power clean to our track and football coaches as a means of developing explosiveness. A generation has passed and many strength programs continue to incorporate some form of the clean.

It is a demanding and complicated exercise. We admire the technique and proficiency demonstrated by skilled lifters. However, the inherent dangers unique to this movement can make it a potential hazard.

In the starting position the athlete goes from almost no load on the body to sudden impact. It places the muscles, lower back, tendons, and joints, in a vulnerable position. Throwing a heavy weight into the air and catching it is a difficult task.

Who is Dan Riley?

http://www.houstontexans.com/team/coach.asp?coach_id=5

[boogerred]

But I am sure there are others who are in favor of it.

[madpolecat]

Now we have some debate going on !!!

From the Riley article:

It is a demanding and complicated exercise. We admire the technique and proficiency demonstrated by skilled lifters. However, the inherent dangers unique to this movement can make it a potential hazard.

Substitute the word "Jumper" or "tackler" for "lifter" in that quote, and it is still a true statement. Yet we still have basketball, high jump, and the great sport of football.

I have read some of Riley's stuff before. However, we still run crossing patterns over the middle of the field, despite the fate of Darryl Floyd Stingley.

"Every enterprise has a certain particle of risk" -- Allardyce T. Merriwhether

[boogerred]

Driving a car is potentially dangerous but we do that also.

[madpolecat]

We let TEENAGERS drive cars...

[MTSWNGRVSG]

You want to argue just to argue, that is fine! Oh well, here is the whole article.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _n18608442