Olympic lifting ?

I belong to crossfit but occasionally I end up going to a regular gym. I like trying to do a xfit workout there but run into problems with the weights. I'm still new to lifting so my weights are low (ie 65-85 for cleans depending on reps). The gym has standard bars so it is 45 lbs - this means I'm often only putting 5-10 lbs on it - which makes the bar pretty low to the ground. Any suggestions from Oly lifters out there - should I stick to hang cleans and just avoid lots of reps from the ground or is dropping that extra 4-8" ok as long as I'm careful about keep my back straight and chest up as much as possible?

Thanks!

The classic solution for that problem is to just stack other plates on the ground on both sides and put the weight in there.
Or if you have a rack with switchable low safety bars you can put the bar on those at about the same height as the big olympic plates.

The classic solution for that problem is to just stack other plates on the ground on both sides and put the weight in there
[IMG]http://www.cuinsurance.org/zhangwei1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.cuinsurance.org/zhangwei2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.cuinsurance.org/zhangwei3.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks!