Strength Report: The Power Clean and the Squat

The two main lifts we habitually do that are the core of what we do are the squat and the power clean. We will then adjust those main lifts for athletes with different body types and/or limitations. 

Two reasons why we regard these two exercises as the most important are because they test lower body strength and also total body power. There is a very high chance that our players performed these lifts in high school, and the results of their max efforts in those lifts give players and coaches familiar feedback as to where the players are from a strength standpoint. With all of that being said, all of those lifts are important, and if an athlete has a physical limitation, we have to make an adjustment for him.

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What we’ll see every year are guys that bend differently. There is a very good understanding by our strength staff of what our veterans can or can’t do, what their deficiencies are, and what they’re proficient in. The newcomers (freshmen and transfers) are the guys we have to identify what they can or can’t do before they pick up a weight, or they will get hurt. First, run our guys through the Functional Movement Screen during their first minute in the weight room, then run them through a series of bodyweight exercises that we feel we need to see in order to understand each starting point for all of our athletes at our comfort level. 

Squat Adjustments

This exercise is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to developing football players. This exercise has a ton of moving parts and virtually every muscle in the body is involved. There is a tremendous amount of total body time under tension that occurs, and when you have your guys step on the field, they know (one way or the other) who’s done their work in the off season. 

A few of our athletes may be treated differently with this exercise.  Let’s start from the top and work down.  Each athlete must have the shoulder mobility to ‘pull’ the bar down and across their shoulders. If in any way we have an athlete that cannot put their elbows in a proper position as a result of poor shoulder mobility, we will have our players perform a Front Squat (or some other kind of squat) until we can correct the problem. 

If there is a hamstring tightness issue that is causing a ‘butt wink’ or low back rounding, then we may use a high box so that we can still axial load the athlete. Coming from high school (or somewhere else) doesn’t mean that each athlete was coached or was able to squat at least parallel to the floor. And if that’s your standard, then there has to be a plan to get the athlete to, or as close to, that goal as possible. This is where the ‘eye of the coach’ comes into play.  We will have that athlete squat onto a high box, and prescribe weight that when done correctly, looks exactly like everyone else in the room. From that point, we will evaluate through the strength staff, our top non-athletic training staff, and through video analysis to then make a decision to keep that athlete at that box height, or progress him to a lower box. Then, ultimately take the box away and have the player squat to parallel.

Power Clean Adjustments

In ranking most important exercises, this is a very close second to the squat - the Power Clean. This exercise will undoubtedly develop explosive power in everybody that performs these movements. One of the biggest issues is that when the bar is on the floor, everyone’s knee angle is different when picking it up off the floor. 

We have offensive linemen that range from 6 feet tall to 6 foot 8 inches tall, and we have running backs from 5 foot 7 inches to 5 foot 11 inches. The one thing they all have in common is that they need to be explosive and strong to play football, and the power clean will help them. 

One thing we all have to ask ourselves is, ‘Is everyone picking the bar off of the floor the safest option for the entire team’? The answer is most certainly, NO. When those tall offensive linemen (or any other player) squat down to pick up that bar, and their knee angle is equal or greater than 90 degrees, it puts your athlete in a much better position to achieve the lift. Once that knee angle gets less than around 90 degrees, the athlete then puts their lower back in a prime position to be injured.

What I had to learn over time was that the reason we perform the Power Clean to enhance explosiveness for football players is that we are not competing in the Olympics for weightlifting. So what we’ve done is take each athlete and have them start in a deadlift position to see what their lower backs look like when they are about to pick the bar up from the floor. If the lower back looks compromised, then we immediately put the barbell (with light bumper plates on the bar) on 4 inch blocks to see if that makes the lift a safe one. And if we have to put another set of blocks on to make it an 8 inch lifting platform to Power Clean off of, we’re making it happen. 

Your Players Deserve It

The best part of our job is helping people. And it’s not just any part of the population, it’s motivating athletes and all they want to do is have people help them to achieve their goals. When an athlete cannot perform an exercise a certain way or even the same way as the rest of the team, they deserve our very best to helping them achieve that exercise in some way, shape or form.  When you make an adjustment like a back squat to a box or Power Cleans from lifting blocks, it shows that individual player and the entire team that you’re looking out for their best interest, which is to be as strong as possible without putting them at risk.

Our players understand why we make all of the adjustments we do for each of them. Once we give them the parameters in which they can work under, they go at it full steam ahead knowing that we’re putting them in the best position to be successful in the weight room each and every day. 

It is with great satisfaction that we expect the athletes’ best effort every day they walk into our room, and we expect it from them. But as a strength staff, we know our players can’t be at their best if we don’t create the environment for them to be successful. 

About the Author: David Feeley joined the Ball State staff as Director of Football Strength and Conditioning Coordinator in 2011. He previously coached at both Florida International University and UNLV. Feeley has a Bachelor’s Degree from Plymouth State and a Master’s Degree from UNLV.