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.

Image via Wikipedia

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.

These aspects are a must for any vertical jump training program. Get to work and jump up to the sky.

If you want to jump higher and become explosive for any sport, you need to understand a few basic principles.

Not everyone has great natural jumping ability, but we can all improve our vertical jump by training smart and safe.

Speed + Strength=Power.

This is the basic formula of vertical jumping and all around explosiveness. Power. It is the measure of force in the shortest time.

If you want to jump higher, you need to train your body to apply as much force as possible, as fast as possible. Power.

The best way to increase the force you generate while jumping is by strength training (lifting weights).

While strength training, you should focus on lifting heavy weights, and lifting them explosively (fast). **SEE MY WEIGHTLIFTING ARTICLE**

To reduce the time to generate force as quickly as possible you need plyometric training.

Exercises such as depth jumps, plyometric pushups, hopping, and bounding are examples of plyometric exercises that will increase the reactive abilities of your muscles and nervous system. The basic Jump rope is a light form of plyometric exercise that can do wonders by itself if done correctly.

Only you know your own body. Most athletes fail to improve their vertical leap because they don’t know which muscles contribute most to jumping. The most important jumping muscles are located in your posterior chain – lower back, glutes (butt), and hamstrings.

The other muscles that help are your quadriceps (front of thigh), core (abs, lower back) and calves.

Also, the shoulder, upper back area, along with arms is very important. Try jumping with arms to the side vs using arms. Arms help the lift and generate momentum. Just increasing upper body strength without leg training can increase your vertical just because of torso power to generate the lift.. Train the whole body to achieve maximum height and explosiveness.

Very important: Understand your strength and weaknesses. If you’re quick and explosive but can’t lift much weight in the gym, focus most of your time on strength training. If you can lift heavy weights in the gym, but you are slow, focus most of your training time on improving your speed. You can do this by performing plyometric exercises and sprinting.

Most athletes believe that the more they train, the better the results they will see. Wrong! Gains are made during the rest and recovery phase. Always make sure to give your body adequate rest from an intense training session. If you are active playing sports, training specifically for jump and speed should be done 3x a week at max. You will get training just by playing your respective sport. Overtraining is the enemy of all athletes.

These basic points of Vertical Jump Training will help any athlete achieve their goals.

Image via Wikipedia

Time for some school and the basics. Most of you trained athletes are familiar of the different types of muscle fiber types and how it relates to explosive movements – sprinting, jumping – but for you beginners, my good Friend Vince Delmonte, a popular fitness expert and creator of a successful muscle building system, gives some insight about the types and benefits of each muscle fiber type. Check it out and check out Vince’s muscle building program.

Type A Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

The first type of muscle fibers are known as Type A Fast Twitch and are responsible for the most forceful contractions generated, however, will fatigue the fastest.

For example, if you were to perform an all out set of 3 reps for bench press, you would predominately be using these type A muscle fibers.

They tend to have very large motor neurons and very low mitochondrial density. They also have a low oxidative capacity, meaning they will not be able to utilize oxygen very well. It is for this reason that they are not suited to endurance type of activities, because during these exercise variations, oxygen must be present in order to sustain the muscular contractions.

The major type of fuel that these muscle fibers are going to rely on is creatine phosphate and stored muscle glycogen (glucose). They will not utilize stored body fat at all due to the fact that they are only able to continually contract for between one and about 20 seconds.
Type B Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

The next muscle fiber is also classified as a fast twitch muscle fiber but not to the extent that type A are.

This muscle fiber type is mostly utilized in activities that are relatively short in duration, but are not at an all out pace.

For example, if you were to sprint 100 meters, you’ll be using mostly type A. If on the other hand, you are to do a running interval at about 80-90% of your max capacity for 30 seconds, this would utilize the type 2A more.

Some of the characteristics of the type B muscle fibers are that they still have a large motor neuron (not as large as Type A though), they are on the intermediate scale as far as being resistant to fatigue, and they have a high degree of mitochondrial density.

These muscle fiber types are also able to use oxygen to a great extent, as demonstrated by their higher resistance to fatigue and longer duration of contraction abilities.

Slow Twitch

Finally, the third type of muscle fiber that you have in your body is classified as slow-twitch.

This is the muscle fiber type you would use if you were to run a marathon or any other extended duration, medium-to-low intensity activity.

These muscle fibers have a very high ability to resist fatigue and have a large oxidative capacity.

They are also relatively slow to contract, therefore you cannot expect a great deal of force generation from these muscles, and thus, will not be intended for exercises requiring a high degree of power.

They are very high in terms of mitochondrial density and have a large number of capillaries running throughout their bodies. This is to enable sufficient oxygen to get to the muscle tissues so that they can carry on the extended duration of muscular work they are intended to do.

These are also the muscle fibers that will also rely more on fat as fuel, as opposed to strictly using carbohydrates or creatine phosphate.

Training The Muscle Fiber Types

So, now that you’re familiar with the three major classes of muscle fiber types, it’s time to recognize how you would train each effectively.

Since type A are your primary force generators, if you wish to get a higher performance from them you’ll need to train using exercises that require you to max out your effort for a short period of time. (JUMPERS AND SPRINTERS)

Think sprinting at full speed, 1-5 rep sets for lifting, and any type of plyometric activities.

Next, to train your type B muscles fibers you’ll want to slightly decrease the force with which you are to contract while simultaneously increasing the time over which you contract ever so slightly.

For example, perform 30-45 intervals repeated ten times with about a minute or a minute and a half at a low to moderate pace. For your weight training activities, aim to target the 6-10 rep range to utilize the fact these muscle fibers have a higher oxidation ability.

Finally, to improve your slow twitch muscle fibers, think endurance. This type of fiber will usually require the greatest amount of time to train for improvement because you’ll want to focus on simply going ‘longer’.

If you’re a runner, try and run longer. If you’re a biker, bike longer. If you’re a swimmer, swim longer – you get the point.

This type of muscle has the ability to go for extended periods of time so this is exactly what you want to train it to do.

So, next time you are trying to sort out your training plan make sure to take the various muscle fiber types into consideration.

Doing so will allow you to make the most out of your training program so you get the exact results you’re looking for.

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