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The Clean and Jerk is a pivotal exercise if you're looking to improve performance in any sport or area of your life (wink wink). Not only will this Olympic lift look cool in the gym (when you start throwing around some serious weight), but it has several health benefits as well.https://youtu.be/E4Re-fhWZNsThe video will cover a few of these, but one thing that it doesn't mention is that the Clean and Jerk will prime your central nervous system for other important movements such as the squat and deadlift. We always give credit to the muscles for doing the sexy work. Our nervous system is just as important, if not more so, ensuring that the signals from our brain get to those muscles.
The clean portion of the lift involves explosively pulling the weight up from the floor and racking it on the front part of the deltoid. This portion of the lift targets the posterior chain. The posterior chain consists of everything from the calf muscles all the way up to the middle/lower back. It is an often neglected area for many American's due to our sedentary lifestyle. The hamstring and the butt muscles (gluteus maximus and minimus) are usually tight in American's because of how much we sit. Make sure that in addition to the Clean and Jerk you get plenty of static stretching after you complete your lifts.The Jerk portion involves driving the weight up over the head. This portion of the Clean and Jerk focuses on the upper body while utilizing the power of the quadriceps. Teaching the body to move in unison, generating power from the bottom of your toes to the weight being driven overhead. An important consideration to not forget is shoulder health. Before doing any overhead lifting, you should ensure that your rotator cuff muscles (Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, Subscapularis) are properly warmed up and properly conditioned as well.This lift is highly technical and may be difficult to learn. If you want more precise instruction, check out these subject matter experts on Olympic lifting.
