Exercises.

The clean pull is the most common clean-related strength exercise. Execution. Set your clean starting position tightly and initiate the lift by pushing with the legs against the floor. Keep your weight balanced over the whole foot, and maintain approximately the same back angle until the bar is at mid-thigh.

The hang power clean is a simple variation of the hang clean in which the bar is received above a parallel squat. Execution. With a clean grip, lift the bar to the standing position. Lower the bar under control to the chosen hang position (most often mid-thigh, knee or right below the knee).

There are many variations of the Olympic lifts. The qualifier “hang” describes the starting position of the bar. The hang clean emphasizes the second and third pulls of the clean, from the hang position with the bar at the hip, to the full squat receiving position, and finally to the end of the lift with the bar in the front rack. The timing, powerful hip extension, and coordination remain similar to the clean. However, the technical demands of arriving at the correct position are reduced compared to pulling the bar from the floor.

The muscle clean is an Olympic weightlifting clean variation that can help all level lifters develop greater upper body pulling strength, balance in the leg drive of the pull, and proper racking positioning in the clean.

The power clean is the perfect training exercise for the violent hip-leg extension of the second pull. It has great application to explosive sport movement, but those sporting movements are not going to develop maximal hip-leg explosiveness. Only weightlifting can develop this explosiveness due to the unique posture and dynamics of the second pull.

The clean is a pure bit of functionality. It builds immense strength and power but this is only the more obvious part of the clean’s story. This complex movement actually contains within itself two princely exercises – the deadlift and squat. With the clean we take ourselves from standing over an object pulling it, to under it and supporting.The clean is unique among weight training exercises in that it demands extraordinary athleticism beyond strength and power.

The most common variation of the Clean and Jerk typically has the athlete receiving the load in a full front squat, then using the split position in the jerk. For most athletes, these positions allow for the greatest loads to be lifted. During the clean, the athlete must only pull the weight as high as needed to move themselves into the bottom of the squat. During the jerk, the torso can remain vertical while demanding less shoulder and thoracic flexibility than a squat or power jerk.

The Olympic lifts and their variations are well known for increasing power, strength and speed. This classic movement is traditionally an excellent test of overall strength. Performed at higher reps it becomes an extraordinary metabolic challenge as evidenced by max heart and respiratory rate. Every major muscle and joint in the body must work together in a coordinated effort to be successful.

Split Jerk

The clean deadlift is a pull variation with a controlled speed into a standing position rather than a complete extension onto the balls of the feet like the clean pull. The body should be extended slightly behind vertical to maintain slightly more pressure on the heels than the balls of the feet.

The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press.

The snatch deadlift is a pull variation with a controlled speed into a standing position rather than a complete extension onto the balls of the feet like the snatch pull.

The sumo deadlift high pull builds on the deadlift, but we widen the stance and bring the grip inside the knees to facilitate a longer pulling motion. We also add velocity to the movement. The sumo deadlift high pull replicates the upward movement pattern of a clean or snatch and serves as a bridge between the deadlift and the faster lifts.

Powerlifting is the sport of three lifts: the bench press, squat, and deadlift. It is a superb start for a lifting program and can be followed later by the more dynamic clean and jerk and snatch. The neuroendocrine response to major lifts like the bench press is so potent that it will increase your strength for other exercises as well. In other words, the general strength gained through improving your bench press will carry over to dips, pull-ups, and many other movements.

With the push jerk, you will be able to move overhead as much as 30 percent more weight than with the push press. Similar to the push press, the push jerk employs the hips to create upward momentum on the bar, but the athlete then pushes against the bar with the arms and dips a second time to receive the push jerk in a partial squat. With the arms locked out, the legs complete the lift. After mastering the push jerk, you will find that it will unconsciously displace the push press as your method of choice when going overhead.

In the push press, the core-to-extremity principle is obvious as the muscles of the power zone—including the hip flexors, hip extensors (glutes and hams), spinal erectors, and quadriceps—assist the arms in driving the barbell overhead. With the push press, you will be able to move overhead as much as 30 percent more weight than with the shoulder press. Regular practice of the push press—and the push jerk—develops power and speed, which are critical to effective and efficient athletic movement.

Never is the stabilizing role of the abdominals more critical than when attempting to drive loads overhead. We train our athletes to think of every exercise as an ab exercise, but in the overhead lifts it’s absolutely essential to do so. It is easy to see when an athlete is not sufficiently engaging the abs in an overhead press—the body arches so as to push the hips, pelvis, and stomach ahead of the bar. Constant vigilance is required of every lifter to prevent and correct this postural deformation.

The cluster is a combination of a squat clean and a thruster. A single rep counts once the bar touches the ground.

There are many variations of the Olympic lifts. The qualifiers “hang” and “power” describe the starting and receiving positions of the bar, respectively. The hang power snatch emphasizes the second and third pulls of the snatch, from the hang position with the bar at the hip to the finish of the lift with the bar overhead. The timing, powerful hip extension, and coordination remain similar to the power snatch. However, the technical demands of arriving at the correct position are reduced compared to pulling the bar from the floor.

There are many variations of the Olympic lifts. The qualifier “hang” describes the starting position of the bar. The hang snatch emphasizes the second and third pulls of the snatch, from the hang position with the bar at the hip to the full overhead squat receiving position and finally to the end of the lift with the bar overhead and the athlete standing. The timing, powerful hip extension, and coordination remain similar to the full snatch. However, the technical demands of arriving at the correct position are reduced compared to pulling the bar from the floor.

The muscle snatch is a skill-transfer exercise. It is used primarily to build capacity and positional awareness for the first and second pulls of the snatch. Note that the legs do not flex after the pull is complete. Instead, they remain straight as the bar continues overhead.

The power snatch is simply a snatch without a full-depth squat to receive it. Notes. Coaches and athletes sometimes have different definitions of what constitutes a “power” receiving position. Most commonly, anything received with the thighs horizontal or higher is considered a power lift.

The snatch balance is a dynamic snatch receiving position exercise that adds more demand on technique, precision and speed to the overhead squat. It is one of three snatch balance exercises whose names are often confused with each other or used interchangeably.

The snatch pull is the most common snatch-related strength exercise. Set your snatch starting position tightly and initiate the lift by pushing with the legs against the floor. Keep your weight balanced over the foot, and maintain approximately the same back angle until the bar is at mid-thigh.

The olympic lifts train athletes to effectively activate more muscle fibres more rapidly than through any other modality of training. The explosiveness that results from this training is of vital necessity to every sport. Practicing the snatch teaches one to apply force to muscle groups in proper sequence, i.e., from the center of the body to its extremities (core to extremity). Learning this vital technical lesson benefits all athletes who need to impart force to another person or object as is commonly required in nearly all sports.

There are many variations of the Olympic lifts. The qualifier “below the knee“ describes the starting position of the bar. The squat snatch below the knee emphasizes the second and third pulls of the snatch, from the below the knee position with the bar at the hip to the full overhead squat receiving position and finally to the end of the lift with the bar overhead and the athlete standing. The timing, powerful hip extension, and coordination remain similar to the full snatch. However, the technical demands of arriving at the correct position are reduced compared to pulling the bar from the floor.

The thruster is a well-known compound exercise that’s part of the CrossFit workout program. This exercise is a combination of a front squat and an overhead press. Thrusters are deemed to be one of the most beneficial exercises since they’re a full-body movement that’s useful in daily life.

The back squat requires the structures of the lower body and core to work synergistically to accomplish the task. Optimal performance requires an adequate range of motion at the ankles, hips, and knees; superior lower-body strength; and a tremendous amount of core stability.

The front squat builds exactly off the mechanics of the air squat. All that is added is a load supported in the front rack position where the weight sits squarely on the upper chest and shoulders, and the elbows point forward to bring the upper arms parallel to the floor. This “rack position,” critical to weightlifting, both demands and improves wrist and shoulder flexibility while the load, supported by the torso, both demands and improves midline stability.

The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts and improves functional flexibility. Similarly, it develops the squat by amplifying and cruelly punishing faults in posture, movement, and stability. The overhead squat is to midline control, stability and balance what the clean and snatch are to power—unsurpassed.