Take The
Clean and Press Challenge
By Mike Mahler
My favorite exercise by far is the Clean
and Press. I like many of the variations such as the Barbell Clean and
Press, Dumbbell Clean and Press, Sandbag Clean And Press, Resistance
Band Clean and Press, and my all time favorite the Double Kettlebell
Clean and Press. What makes the Clean and Press so great? It works the
entire body from head to toe. You use the lower body to get the bells
to the shoulders and the upper body to get the bells overhead. Moreover,
the Clean and Press teaches coordination, transfer of power, and teaches
the body how to work as one unit. Executed with heavy weights and low
reps, the Clean and Press is an incredible strength developer. Done
for high reps (12-15) the Clean and Press is an incredible strength-endurance
builder. Done with heavy weights and high volume the Clean and Press
is a great size and strength developer.
Regardless of what your goals are the
Clean and Press has a place in your program. It is a great exercise
for both men and women and if you only have time to do one exercise,
you cannot do much better than the Clean and Press. One additional benefit
of the Clean and Press is it does not require much equipment. All you
need are two dumbbells, two kettlebells, or a barbell. It can be done
just about anywhere so there are no excuses for missing out on the benefits
of the Clean and Press. (I cover the Clean and press in great detail
on my speed and explosive strength DVD, check it out at: www.mikemahler.com/store/Speed%20DVD.htm)
In an issue of Brooks Kubiks' "Dinosaur
Files", (www.brookskubik.com) Brooks mentioned that old-time strongman Sig
Klein considered the Dumbbell Clean and Military Press to be one of
the best exercises for measuring all around strength. Sig stated that
twelve reps with two 75lb dumbbells separated the men from the boys. While
Sig did not mention women, I do not want the ladies to feel left out.
A great dumbbell Clean and Press goal for ladies is twelve reps with
two 30lb dumbbells.
For those of you that are not familiar
with the Dumbbell Clean and Press here is how it works. Place two dumbbells
on the floor just outside of your feet. Rip them off of the floor and
get them to your shoulders in one motion. This is the lower body portion
of the drill. If you swing the dumbbells back behind your feet to initiate
the clean you place the focus on the hamstrings. If you rip them straight
up the quads come more into play. Once your legs are locked out press
the dumbbells overhead until your arms lock out. No leg drive is permissible.
The legs must be locked out during the duration of the press. Lower
the bells back to your shoulders and take the dumbbells back to the
starting position. You just completed one rep. Huffing and puffing already?
You are in big trouble as you have eleven more reps to go. Get your
puke bucket ready!
What should your goal be with the Clean
and Press? Simple, take the Sig Klein challenge and work on achieving
twelve reps with two 75lb dumbbells. If you are a fan of kettlebell
training like me, work on pressing two 70lb kettlebells fourteen times.
Ladies, work on pressing two 26lb kettlebells fourteen times. While
achieving the goal will not get you a ticket to compete in the world's
strongest man contest, I doubt that is one of your goals. What you will
accomplish is a nice combination of strength, endurance, and mental
toughness. No doubt you will achieve some nice physique composition
improvements as well. If you want to lose fat, clean up your diet. Get
all carbohydrates from low glycemic fruits and veggies. Cut out all
starches and sugars. Have a balance of protein, healthy fat and low
glycemic carbs at each meal and you are ready to go. If you goal is
to add some mass, ramp up the calories. Just focus on healthy food as
well to ensure you add muscle not blubber.
Whether you choose to use dumbbells or
kettlebells for the Clean and Press challenge, avoid using the pre-swing
to get the bells off of the floor. Clean the bells from a dead stop
on each rep. Why? To make it harder and to ensure that momentum is not
being used to press the bells. When you swing the bells between your
feet on each rep you make the clean easier and you may find it hard
to avoid bouncing the bells off of your upper body. Moreover, to ensure
that the Clean and Press is a comprehensive full body exercise we want
to make the lower body work harder. Cleaning the bells from a dead stop
will certainly make the lower body work harder. In
addition to cleaning the bells from a dead stop, pause
in the rack position for a second before each press. This will ensure
you are not push pressing the bells overhead. Being forced to clean
the bells from a dead stop on each rep you will not only teach you how
to develop tremendous explosive power, it will develop mental toughness
as well. You will know what I am talking about when you give it a shot.
Also, pressing the bells after a pause is going to amount to some nice
dividends in upper body strength and power. The Clean and Press will
soon be on your short list of exercise you love to hate. Lets cover a
few performance tips:
Clean and Press
Performance Tips
• Breathe out in the lock out position and breathe
in as you lower the bells back to the rack position.
Well, you have the goal, now figure out
how to get there on your own and let me know how it works out. Just
kidding, I would never leave you hanging like that. Well, maybe just
not this time. All right, lets look at some effective battle plans for
ramping up your Clean and Press numbers.
Greasing The Groove
(GTG)
Those of you that are regular readers
of my articles now that I am a big fan of Pavel Tsatsouline's GTG program.
In fact I used the GTG protocol when I trained for a Kettlebell Clean
and Press contest I hosted earlier this year. It worked like a charm
and I knocked out an all time best of 19 reps with two 70lb kettlebells.
Many of my online clients use the GTG system to dramatically improve
their numbers on exercise such as pull-ups and pushups.
Here is how it works, take 50% of your
one set rep max and do several practice sets through out the day. For
example, if you can Clean and Press two 70s for ten reps, do several
sets of five through out the day. Leave at least thirty minutes in between
each set. You want to be as fresh as possible for each set. If any of
the sets of five come close to being difficult you are doing way too
many sets or you are not leaving enough time in between each set. Each
set should feel relatively easy. The point is to get better at the skill
of the exercise. The more you practice the better you get. The better
you get the more reps you can do. Sounds crazy? Look at how you learn
any other skill such as playing the piano. Would you play the piano
for three hours every Monday and then take the rest of the week off?
Of course not. Daily practice of playing the piano is how you get better.
Productive strength training is no different. Get great at the skill
of executing the exercise and you will be amazed at what happens. Practice
without burning out also makes your central nervous system (CNS) more
efficient. The CNS has a great deal to do with productive strength training.
Make the CNS more efficient and you will get stronger. This is one of
the reasons why it is possible to get stronger without making the muscles
bigger.
Here is a sample GTG plan to take a 10
rep max up to 20 reps. Scale the numbers up or down depending on your
current strength levels:
Week 1: 50% of one set max done five
times per day.
Week 2: 60% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 3: 70% of one set max done four
times per day
Week 4: 80% of one set max done three
times per day.
Week 5: 60% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 6: 70% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 7: 80% of one set max done four
times per day.
Week 8: 70% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 9: 80% of one set max done four
times per day.
Week 10: 70% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 11: 80% of one set max done four
times per day.
Week 12: 90% of one set max done three
times per day
Week 13: 50% of one set max done five
times per day
Week 14: take a few days off and do a
one set max test
A few more key points about GTG. Wait
at least two hours after waking up to do your first set. The body is
generally stiff and tight in the morning. Wait until you have moved
around and gotten some blood moving to get the ball rolling. The last
thing you need is for your first set to suck. How you feel on the first
set will set you up for the rest of the day so make it a good one. On
the other hand, your last GTG set should be no later than four hours
before bedtime. The last thing you need is a CNS boost before hitting
the sack. Do the GTG program a maximum of six days per week and for
most five days per week is better. For example, do the GTG program Monday
through Friday and then take the weekends off.
Since the GTG program is based on taking
short "exercise breaks" through out the day it is a perfect
fit for busy professionals. You could even bring two kettlebells to
your office. Every hour or so take a break from pretending to work and knock
off a set of Clean and Presses. By the end of the day it will add up
and by the end of several weeks you will wonder why you did not think
of taking exercise breaks sooner. There are no excuses for not training
when you are cognizant of the GTG program.
For those of you that cannot knock off
sets through out the day, try doing two to three sets of Clean and presses
with five minute breaks once per day. While this is not as ideal as
sets through out the day, it is certainly better than nothing.
One final point about GTG, it is a great
program for increasing one set strength. However, it may not carry over
to well to multiple set strength. In other words, while it is a great
program for taking your 10 rep max to your 20 rep max, you may find
that five sets of 12-14 reps are not happening. What is the bottom line?
Training has to be very precise. If you want to increase your one set
strength, GTG is the way to go. If you want to get better at multiple
sets strength you need to practice multiple sets (Density Training below
will work well for this).
For more information on the GTG program,
check out Pavel's website at www.powerbypavel.com
Ethan Reeve's "Density
Training"
I learned about "Density Training"
from top Wakeforest University Strength Coach Ethan Reeve. Ethan is
one of the best around and his "Density Training" program
is a real winner. The Density Training program builds incredible work
capacity and increases strength dramatically. Here is how it works.
Pick your target goal. For example if you want to press two 70lb kettlebells
20 times, you will need to do 40 total reps per workout. This can be
done one rep at time. For example forty sets of one with 30 second breaks.
Or you can start with twenty sets of two or ten sets of four. Where
you start is up to you. Regardless with "Density Training"
all roads lead to the same end. And the end is more work achieved with
less sets. Here is a sample program:
Week 1: 20x2 (twenty sets of two)
Week 2: 13x3 and 1x1
Week 3: 10x4
Week 4: 8x5
Week 5: 6x6 and 1x4
Week 6: 5x7 and 1x5
Week 7: 5x8
Week 8: 4x9 and 1x4
Week 9: 4x10
Week 10: 3x11 and 1x7
Week 11: 3x12 and 1x4
Week 12: 3x13 and 1x1
Thus with Density training the sets go
down over time and the reps per set go up dramatically. In addition
to developing strength you will increase work capacity and strength
endurance tremendously. Mental toughness is also a strong component
of Density Training so get ready to work hard. Leave at least 48 hours
in between each session. For example, do your Clean and Press workouts
on Monday and Thursday. When in doubt take an extra rest day where ever
necessary. Do not do less than two Density workouts per week though.
If you cannot handle it, stick with the GTG program, which is, not any
where near as brutal.
Well now you have two proven plans for
reaching your goal of achieving the Sig Klein Challenge and taking it
even further. Of course there are numerous ways to achieve the goal.
How do you incorporate the Clean and Press into your program? That is
for you to find out on your own and for me to keep to myself ;-) Just
kidding, I will cover that in the next issue and also go over some variety
programs for the Clean and Press.
FYI, cover the Clean and press in great
detail on my speed and explosive strength DVD, check it out at: http://www.mikemahler.com/store/Speed%20DVD.htm
About the Author
For more information on Mike Mahler go
to www.mikemahler.com