Why I love the power clean and why you should too.
Very simply, the Power Clean and Press will develop your overall body power, and this power translates to athletic performance, increasing your vertical jump and speed.
The power Clean and press is one exercise I can do at one full session all day, as it builds your entire body from head to toe. From the pull to chest, and press up from the hips, your body will develop into a explosive force of speed and power.
It also one of the few exercises that will boost your natural growth hormone output and increase metabolism, You will lose fat and gain muscle very quickly incorporating power cleans and press into your workout.
clean & jerk (Photo credit: Amber Karnes)
This exercise is to be done in a flowing movement as stated.
Bend your knees to pick up the bar, standing with your feet hip width apart and with good posture (tummy tight; shoulders back; chest out; chin in), hold the bar with your hands shoulder width apart and palms facing into you. Take a small step back so that you have one foot in front of the other, by doing this you take the pressure of your lower back and give the body more stability.
Stage 1
Leading with your elbows bring the bar up to shoulder level in an “upright row” movement, when you have reached the highest point rotate your arms quickly whilst bending your knees so that your elbows are now below your hands and supporting barbell (your forearms should be vertical). Bending your knees allows you to rotate your arms at the shoulders without putting too much strain through your shoulders. Do not try and do it without bending the knees.
Stage 2
This is the shoulder press stage of the movement. Push the barbell up above your head, avoid locking your arms out and keep a small bend in your elbows at the highest point.
Stage 3
Now reverse the movement by lowering the barbell to your shoulder level flip the bar back over quickly so that your elbows are above your hands again and you are in the “upright row” position again. You may bend your knees to protect your shoulders during this movement as you did on the way up. Now lower the bar down until your arms are straight keeping the bar against your body. source
The video below is a good example of performing the power clean and press.
Always start with light weights to learn technique and movement, and add weight gradually.
I would always perform power cleans and press 2x a week at the beginning of a session, no more than 4-5 sets. Keep the reps low 3-5. You are training to teach the body to explode as one unit.
This learned motion will convert to greater vertical jump height and faster running speed and total movement.
The funny looking bird may have something going for it in relation to Human Athletes, and it has nothing to do with Protein and a nice dinner.
Picked up this Article about Ostriches running speed and how it compares to human running speed.
It seems like our feathered friend uses less energy when running at a high velocity and that a good proportion of its speed is generated from elastic energy stored in its powerful tendons.
Australian and U.S. researchers studying the movement of ostriches have discovered the giant flightless birds can store double the elastic energy per step in their tendons than humans can. This considerably reduces the effort needed by the muscles, and enables the ostrich (and perhaps also the emu) to run twice as fast as humans while requiring only half the energy.
What can we learn from this in regards to training for explosive jumping and sprinting?
One of my earliest form of training to develop a good base of strength and spring was to combine powerful squats with explosive rope jumping. Spring with strength is the key.
Exercises such as calf raises and dorsiflexion exercises help develop not only the calf but the Achilles. Training the Achilles for Vertical Jump and Sprinting speed is very important not only for development but injury prevention. Tear an Achilles, and kiss your hops and speed goodbye.
Some argue that speed does not come from the lower leg – true..in a way…Speed and Jumping ability comes from the entire body. But from my conclusion, the feet/lower legs is the key to what I like to call Powerful Forwardness. I break it down like this regarding sprinting speed: The Hips and Shoulders generate the force. The Quads and Hams guide the force. The Calf/Lower Leg spring the force forward. This may not make sense to you, but read the article in question about Ostriches who run on two legs like humans.
This article needs to be explored further and I believe training benefits can come from it. That is why I believe explosive rope jumping can help with developing that ‘spring’ in your step. It will carry over well when combined with explosive hip and shoulder movement.
What about Vertical Jumping? Same concept, but rather going forward, you are going up/vertical. From a standstill jump, the spring in the calf will be used sparingly, but from a running start – look out! A good example is NBA player Derrick Rose who has a mediocre 33″ standing vertical, compared to a 44″ running vertical. The spring in his step to the basket makes him jump higher from a running position. Stored elastic energy exploding.
Variables in a vertical jump program work together to form a successful effect.
When you train one variable, it might help you in another. As you improve each aspect of a jump training program, you’re going to notice that all of the components will work together. We call that synergy. A complete athlete needs more than one component of physical ability to succeed.
The parts a jump training program working together will create a whole that is greater than each one working individually. Combining these 3 aspects will take your vertical jump height to a new level that may even shock you!
The first vertical jump training aspect is strength; The ability to generate force.
There is more than one type of strength. In order to jump higher, we’re working on fast twitch muscle strength; not just the ability to lift something up, but to do so quickly with much force even though you are using heavy weight and the movement feels slow.
The second vertical jump training aspect is quickness.
The first aspect is strength; the second is quickness. How fast you are able to generate force is going to create explosion.
If you’re able to generate a thousand pounds of force but you can do it in a split second, it’s going to create force of movement. Think of the torque of an automobile or Olympic weight lifters who use as much quickness with strength to lift enormous weights over their head. To do it slowly they would fall flat. Quickness with strength generates power, and power is the key to a high vertical jump
Strength and quickness are the top two facets of a vertical jump training program. But there is another….
The third vertical jump training aspect is neurological recruitment.
The third one you may never have heard of; it’s called neurological recruitment. For example, when you do any type of exercise, your body is recruiting a certain amount of muscle fibers, and is recruiting them in a certain way, so you can generate your force and quickness. You can train your body to recruit more muscle fibers and you can train them to do it quicker. A lot of this action is generated by heavy weight to failure (low reps 2-3 and should be done only when a good strength base is developed and used sparingly, once every 2 weeks). In addition to weight training, the mind can help with recruitment. See your muscles in your mind, while training, firing like rockets. Feel each strand of muscle fiber contract with force. Keep this image right before a set and during, and you will be surprised at the results. Mind over Muscle.
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