Here is one of our video responses to a remote athlete regarding elbow positioning during a clean pull.
When pulling under the barbell, we want to use the largest and strongest muscles available which are the traps and shoulders. Pulling primarily from the arms uses weaker muscles, by comparison. Correct arm action should:
✅Begin from the upper back/shoulders
✅Guide the barbell close to the body
✅Keep the elbows and wrists inline as long as possible
Incorrect and weak positioning:
🚫Pulling with wrists at 90* angle
🚫Elbows behind the body
🚫T-Rex reverse curl
To feel the sensation of pulling with the upper back and shoulders, pull up on an empty barbell as you would a pull and hold for 5-10 seconds and see which muscles are trying to support the load.