The clean and its variations are what many strength and conditioning coaches use to develop explosiveness in their athletes. One of the common errors I see when I visit with coaches and watch their athletes is a lack of a true progression to get their athletes to be fundamentally sound in performing the lift. It takes a sound progression and constant emphasis on technique to reap the benefits of what the clean can do for your athletes.
I often see athletes performing the clean and its variations with little or no hip extension. This defeats the whole purpose of why you are doing the lift! In the rush to muscle up heavy weight, coaches lose sight of why the lift is being performed in the first place. Triple extension is the goal of this lift (extension at the ankles, knees, and the hips) which mimics what we do when we run and when we jump. An athlete is going to benefit much more when he gets hip extension with proper technique and proper load as opposed to heavier weight and poor technique that does not emphasize triple extension. Coaches must be careful to make sure they are getting what they want out of their chosen clean variation. The correct movement pattern is what really matters here and this is how to get the most bang for your buck. Our progression is as follows:
1) Our 8th grade students learn the technique with broom sticks while at the same time learning to pick the bar up from the floor using a hex bar.
2) As 9th graders, on our white program we hex bar the dead lift with our athletes. We still continue to work clean technique using our 3 Position Clean (Hang, Knee, Power) with a training bar. It is very important to make sure that your athletes can efficiently pull the bar from the floor. Doing this part of the lift incorrectly is a recipe for disaster in training.
3) The next phase of our program is our gray program and our athletes learn to do the clean pull from the floor using the hex bar. The hex bar allows them to keep their body in proper position while at the same time they can work the explosive triple extension of the pull. We also continue using the 3 Position Clean in this phase to continue to work on our Olympic technique. At this stage, we are using the bar and very light weight. Technique and speed of the bar are an emphasis at this level.
4) The next phase is our gold phase. We will work the barbell clean pull and begin to work the power clean + front squat in this stage. Our athletes will be proficient in pulling the bar from the floor before progressing to this stage. They will understand the proper movement pattern from their foundation of training the hex bar dead lift, hex bar clean pull, and light 3 Position Clean work.
5) The last phase which is called our blue phase is where we transition to performing the full Olympic clean lift. We work the power clean + front squat in order to prepare our athletes for this movement. We continually work on getting into the front squat faster and faster until we are performing the full clean.
I am a huge fan of the full clean because of the triple extension combined with an explosive change in direction (puling yourself under a bar). I feel performing the full clean provides an added benefit because of how quickly you must get under the bar in order to receive the bar. I work with every type of athlete and I have found that this progression will help even the lowest level athlete learn clean technique effectively. We progress our kids through the phases according to when they are technically and physiologically ready. This progression has built a strong foundation in our athletes to perform the clean correctly and move the bar efficiently to maximize results and minimize risk in training our athletes.