Oly Lifts: Power vs. Squat

Olympic lifts are one of those movements that pop up every now and then in our training and are a great tool to improve our overall strength and conditioning. Olympic lifts are a very technical movement and difficult to perform. We have the ‘clean’ and ‘snatch’ with both the power variation and the squat variation.
So, what is the difference?

Let’s keep it simple and talk purely about the ‘Clean’ lift. The clean is the barbell starting at the floor, and in one swift movement, we catch the bar in the front rack position. The ‘clean’ is performed with a squat unless otherwise specified. If it is intended to be a power clean the programming specifies this.

For this lift to be classified as a ‘power clean’ we need to catch the barbell with our hips higher than our knees. (Shown in photo above.)

The full clean allows us to go lower, into the bottom of the squat before standing it up. (Shown in photo above)

Yeah cool but why?

Let’s say for example, that you have 50kg on the barbell. A power lift will mean you need to be more explosive, getting that weight a lot higher before you can transition yourself underneath the bar. On the other hand, a squat variation allows you to get lower to receive the bar if you move fast enough.

What this means is that the barbell doesn’t need to travel as high for a clean compared to a power clean, which potentially allows you to clean more weight, than the power clean variation.

– Coach Pang.