Just one thing

Just one thing

What is the best exercise? If you had to do pick just one, what would you do? Lots of people will quote the squat as king and just as many would say the deadlift.  Both are undoubtedly big movements that call a lot of different musculatures into play. Me though, I’m inclined to agree with the American weightlifter and bodybuilder John Grimek. If I could only choose one exercise to do, it would be the clean and press. Lots of musculature covered, in one exercise that can be performed with just a barbell, or a dumbbells or kettlebells.  If you’re limited on time, equipment or both you could definitely benefit from this.  When I was still young and living alone (around 20 years old) I had a period of time where I was struggling to make ends meet.  I was in a low paid job (this was the late nineteen nineties, before the introduction of the minimum wage, so I was earning somewhere in the region of £3.50 an hour) working every hour I could.  I couldn’t really afford a gym membership so I just had an exercise bar and some 20kg plates, maybe a couple of smaller plates too.  During that period (about six months before my luck changed and things started to move in a better direction for me) I trained the clean and press.  Three to four times a week I would just do sets of five until I was tired. Simple, but effective. I was able to maintain a good degree of strength, so much so that when I got back to a gym and a normal routine I hadn’t lost much in the way of strength.

If you don’t include this lift now you should consider it.  It works well as a general warm up or as main pushing exercise (with a bit of power and pull in for good measure).

To perform this movement set the feet as you would to deadlift, hip width apart, and hinge down to the bar. The bar can grasped with an overhand grip,  but I would recommend the hook grip here. The width of grip should be just outside the legs, I usually place my hands about thumbs length from the centre knurling. The elbows should be pointing somewhat out, armpits over the bar. I would normally start with the hips dropped a bit lower than you would for a deadlift, and a more upright torso (the goal is to achieve extension, to get the bar high so you can get under it). The initial pull will need to rapidly accelerate, the back remains in a neutral alignment and at the same inclination until the bar reaches knee height. Shoulders and hips are moving upward at the same pace.  As your knees straighten there is a forceful hip drive with a shrugging of the shoulders and you come up on your toes. This is a key position and is referred to as triple extension (ankle, knee and hip are all in an extended position). The arms will bend, but this is a result of momentum from the hip drive, not an active pull from the biceps. As the bar reaches its apex, (around the bottom of the rib cage)  you drop into a shallow squat and receives the bar across the shoulders. The key is to move rapidly from extension to a partially squatted position to get yourself under the bar. Simultaneously, the elbows must drive up and forward so that the bar can come to rest with just the tips of the fingers securing the bar in position resting across shoulders and chest, bar sitting right in front of the throat. Obviously, that will require some relaxation of the grip, which occurs as the elbows drive upward. Note, it’s important to get under the bar, not have the bar come crashing down on you. The bar must be received on the deltoids and chest not merely caught in the hands. The latter is usually a result of trying to maintain a tight grip, and will put undue stress on the small bones in the wrist, which will quickly make themselves known through pain.

Once under the bar, stand fully erect and reset the grip so you can press. Tense the legs, squeeze the glutes together and brace the core as one does when squatting, by inhaling deeply and then bracing the abs. This is now the point from which to press. Drive vigorously upward; a common sticking point is as the bar passes the chin. You will want to keep the torso upright, resist the urge to bend backward. Drive the bar upward until the elbows lock out. You can inhale with the bar overhead, or you can inhale at the bottom position; the choice is yours. That’s one repetition. Lower the bar under control to the shoulders and then with a quick dip of the legs to receive the bar on the thighs (the leg deep is to aid the declaration.)  You can perform the next rep from mid shin (or “the hang” as it’s also known) or from the floor.

Done for lower repetitions it lends itself to heavier weights. Higher repetitions and you’ll quickly come to know what I call “Iron cardio”. I have even done a session where I completed 1 rep every minute on the minute, (EMOM) for 60 minutes, which with a heavy weight, is a heck of a session.  However you try, consider incorporating this in your training, you’ll not regret it.

The clean and press - as a sequence from video stills.