A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get asked what an athlete’s backsquat should be in comparison to their snatch or their power clean in comparison to their clean. Therefore, I wanted to take this post to give some ranges for where those numbers should land in relation to the full lifts. This is just an estimate and some will be different based on leverages, body composition, and strengths vs weaknesses. However these are good guidelines.
Power Snatch should be between 75% and 80% of the full snatch. If you are strong puller this will be higher.
Power Clean should be at or very near 80%. The bar simply doesn’t have to travel as high as the snatch.
Snatch should be about 60%-65% of max backsquat and about your clean should be between 75%-78% of max backsquat.
The Snatch should be about 70% of max front squat and the Clean should be closer to 85% or even 90% of max front squat.
If you’re into the deadlift, your clean should be about 70%-75% of your clean style deadlift.
Again these numbers are guidelines for the generic athlete. If you’re not a very strong squatter but are super fast under the bar this might be slightly different and I would then suggest to get your squats up. If you are a strong squatter but your technique leaves something to be desired or you simply don’t utilize ALL that strength in the lifts I would encourage you to focus less on strength and more on the technical side.
These are guidelines I hope yall will use and evaluate yourself with. Everytime I look at these I remember how weak I am and how much better I need to be a squatting.
Developing Power & Strength through the use of the Olympic Lifts.
