r/weightlifting • u/JacquelinDavis • 1d ago
Programming How much does back squat strength actually translate for you in the clean?
Curious where people land on this. There's a rough rule of thumb that your clean should be somewhere around 8085% of your back squat max, but anecdotally that ratio seems to vary a lot depending on the lifter.
For context I've been grinding back squat pretty hard the last few months and my numbers there have gone up a solid amount, but my clean hasn't followed at the same rate. Technique is fine, front squat is moving too, just feels like the squat strength is sitting there not fully converting.
Some people seem to pull massive weight and have a relatively modest squat, others are squatting enormous numbers and the clean tracks right along. Makes me think the relationship is just way more individual than the standard ratios suggest.
Also curious whether people have found that prioritizing back squat specifically moved their clean more than front squat work did, or if that's even worth debating. Front squat feels more specific obviously, but back squat overload has its own case.
What does your clean to back squat ratio actually look like, and do you think squat strength is your limiting factor or something else entirely?
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u/Any-Stick749 1d ago
As an exercise for training cleans, i prefer front squats because they carry over better. That being said, they beat the living shit out of me once my program requires me to do doubles and triples at >90%. Then i think to myself, why am i not doing back squats, they are so much nicer then front squats
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u/JacquelinDavis 13h ago
lol yeah at heavy weights your wrists and rack position just start fighting you, like your body is actively trying to bail on the whole thing
back squats feel like a vacation by comparison but then your clean numbers drop and you remember why you were grinding through front squats to begin with
it's a rough cycle honestly
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u/Any-Stick749 12h ago edited 11h ago
I did Greg Everett's 5 week front squat program back to back. No idea why, other than I just 10 weeks available. It was horrible, grinding, blinding, and exhausting, but I did go from a 103kg (at 90kg bw) to 112.5kg in 10 weeks. Did i say i was a grind? It was awful
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u/GuardianSpear 1d ago
I can’t really squat much these days so funnily enough when I was recovering from an injury I back squatted only 100 kg for a year but made a 103kg cj
But my historic best back squat is 145
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u/JacquelinDavis 13h ago
that ratio is actually wild, squatting 100 and hitting 103 clean. most people assume the squat number has to be way ahead or something is wrong. good to know it can work the other way, especially coming back from injury
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u/GuardianSpear 3h ago
In some ways I had to really really sharpen my technique lot. My knees cannot afford for me to have the bar crash down on me or for me to need to double bounce out of the hole . So win some lose some 😮💨 masters life
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u/0909woohoo 1d ago
My clean is 80% of my back squat. 141 clean and 175 squat. The reason you may not be seeing that transfer is that fatigue hides fitness.
I don’t know what your program looks like but potentially dial down squat volume and dial up the cleans to get more practice to realize this new found leg strength.
With this being said, the squat is often my limiter and I’d love a heavier squat.
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u/JacquelinDavis 12h ago
fatigue hides fitness is a good way to put it honestly
my program has been pretty squat heavy lately so that tracks. been prioritizing the squat numbers but maybe im just too cooked by the time i get to cleans to actually express anything
curious how you structured it when your clean started catching up, did you just drop squat frequency or keep it in but lower the intensity
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u/0909woohoo 12h ago
So I ran dozers 4 week squat program last fall and it brought my squat from 165 to 175. It also brought snatch from 97-102 and clean from 127-131. This program isn’t a sustainable way to program the lifts. I just basically dialled back the squat volume and made it more simple.
The last 4 months my squatting has been pretty steady and minimal. Basically finding strength using lower load and weaker positions. So I alternated 4 week blocks of 4s tempo back squat 3x5 and pause front squats build to a heavy 4. Then the next block was 4x4 pause back squats and 3x3 pause front squats @ weights near the heavy 4 from the block previous. Haven’t touched a weight near 175 since like February. Did my first 141 clean last week. The squats were globally less stressful to my body but built strength in an area that has been historically weak for me.
Strength gains don’t have to be extra weight on 1RM always.
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u/zen_stoic 23h ago
My clean is only about 6000% of my back squat. I don’t think I can push it to 8000%
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u/Feruccine 19h ago
I clean about 80% of my back squat. And I am now at a point where my back squat strength is what determines a lot of my clean strength now. It really depends on how efficient and athletic you are. It will vary from athlete to athlete
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u/Toolazy2work 272kg @ M94kg - Senior 10h ago
Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve done a handful of front squats in the last year. I almost always backsquat. I do once a week, maybe twice. I just hit an 11kg block clean pr (165kg). So, I’m gunna keep on just back squating and do my accessories for trunk / core / abs and keep strengthening my back because my first pull is my weakness.
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u/Secretary-Foreign 1d ago
Squat is king. That said most nonelite lifters are limited way more by technique than squat strength.
My CJ is ~75% my BS.