Dumbbell Clean and the Dumbbell Jerk-

The clean & jerk is the king of all lifts. It is the movement that allows you to take a more weight from the ground to overhead than any other exercise. Its function in everday life is closely mirrored by its application to the expliveness of the hips inherent in any athletic movement.

The clean takes the weight from the ground, propels it upward through a jumping movement to be caught in the “rack” at shoulder-level in a full-squat (video coming soon!). A clean caught in a half-squat is a power-clean , and a clean that starts from thigh level is a hang-clean .

A jerk takes the dumbbell from the rack at shoulder-level and propels it overhead by dipping into a partial squat, driving the weight upwards via-thigh and hip power, then dipping under the weight to catch it with fully-extended arms. A push jerk accomplishes this with your feet remaining side-by-side, while a split-jerk finishes in a split-lunge position. All of these aspects of the clean and the jerk are hugely beneficial to strength, speed and power as they use the hip extensors to explode a load through a jump into a dynamic catch. All of the above can be performed unilaterally (with one arm) to further challenge balance and coordination.

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