3 Tips to Improve Your Clean & Jerk
Most of us like the clean and jerk because it’s a much simpler movement to master than the snatch. That is not to say that it is an easy movement by any means, but one that the majority of us are naturally more comfortable with when we start training the olympic lifts.
Here are three tips that can help you add pounds (or kilos) to your clean today:
MASTER THE FRONT RACK
A nasty front rack position can kill a good lift! The better your front rack is the better chance you have of standing up out of the whole with a heavy clean. If you struggle to maintain a good front rack position than we need to address any potential mobility issues we may have in our lats and triceps.
KEEP YOUR SHOULDERS OVER THE BAR
We want our legs to be the primary movers of the barbell. As long as our shoulders are over the bar we can continually drive our legs through the ground. If we allow our shoulders to fall behind the barbell we transfer its weight from our legs to our back. When initiating the pull make sure you drive your knees back only enough to get them out of the way of the barbell. During the first pull the angle of your back to the ground should not change.
DON’T GET BURIED
Have you ever pulled so hard underneath the bar that it comes crashing down on us as you wait for it in the bottom of our squat. More times than not getting buried by the bar will cause our torso to come crashing forward resulting in a failed lift. In any lift, timing is an important factor to keep in mind. The next time you are working your cleans think about meeting the bar just as your hips go below parallel and riding the bar down to the bottom of your squat.
Keep these three things in mind the next time cleans come up in a WOD and remember that if you really want to make improvements in your clean that our barbell course is just a few weeks away. Spots are filling up fast – see a Coach for more details!!