hey Joe are you allowed to deadlift the bell, put it on your knee and clean it from there or does it have to be cleaned directly from the ground to the shoulder without touching anything else? i've always wondered that.
If you clean it, then it must be clean/clear of body touch until reaching the shoulder.
If you continental it, then it can touch, even rest on,sections of your body.
The first time Phil Pfister tried to lift it at The Arnold, he deadlifted it to his right knee, knelt down so his thigh was parallel to the floor, then dragged the bell closer to himself, stood, used a knee kick and got it to the shoulder. While the bell was upright on his thigh, it started to lean over, so he simply touched it with his other hand for a split second to balance it. At that point, of course, technically, it abandoned being a one hand lift, and the judge told him to stop the attempt, a commandment Phil either did not hear or chose to ignore, and the crowd was screaming encouragement, so he finished the lift.
By the way, someone who is said to use the continental clean style is being described as contradiction- like saying he is using the touch/don't touch method to bring the bell to the shoulder.
Simply deadlifting an Inch is a feat for a man with a hand length of less than 7.5 inches.
