The clean and press is an incredible exercise. It will stimulate almost your entire musculature, rev up your metabolism, and make you extremely strong!
Once a competitive Olympic lift, the clean and press has fallen out of popularity in the last few decades. A very technical lift, it requires a great deal of skill and practice to master, and then it’s just hard work!
But the rewards you can get from making the clean and press a regular part of your workouts will be well worth the effort. There are many benefits that come from clean and press, and we’ll talk about some of them.
These include:
- Hypertrophy
- Power
- Balance
- Explosiveness
- Metabolism Boost
- Fat Loss
- Bigger Arms
- Physique Shaping
- Develop A Skill
- Increase Your Bench Press And Squat
- Real World Strength
- Efficient Use Of Gym Time
Hypertrophy (Muscle Growth)
Heavy clean and presses (is there any other kind) will put muscle on your frame. It will do this quickly.
It is well known amongst strength trainers that compound exercises build the most muscle. That is, exercises involving more than one of your joints. This is because compound movements involve multiple muscle groups working together, and allows for greater weights than isolation, or single joint, exercises.
The clean and press is the ultimate compound exercise. It combines 2-3 other compound movements into one. The power clean is already combination of sorts, of deadlift and upright row, both good compound exercises in their own right. When performed in a fast and fluid motion, it’s a power clean. The overhead press is definitely a contender for the best upper body pressing movement, known for boosting chest, shoulder and arm growth.
Really, the clean and press is worth more than the sum of its parts and will stimulate full body muscle growth very effectively. Thoroughly working the thighs, calves and glutes as well as your back, shoulders, biceps and triceps, the clean press doesn’t miss much.
It requires so much effort to complete a set of 5, that it stands to reason that the clean and press would be a great mass builder. I would put it among (if not above) the great lifts like the squat and the deadlift.
Power
The clean and press is second to none when it come to building raw power. What is more seminal than picking up something heavy and holding it over your head?!
It was once the ultimate test of strength and, I believe it should be again.
Your legs and back are essential to lifting heavy in this exercise, but your arms will have no choice but to grow stronger as well.
This movement is sort of a combination of a great “pull” exercise and a great “push” exercise. The power clean and the overhead, or military press. The power clean is already a combination of a deadlift and an upright row, so we’re talking about a medley of some really important exercises. It’s pretty comprehensive in it’s effectiveness.
Balance
The effectiveness of the clean and press isn’t simply the fact that you are moving a heavy weight overhead. A good deal of its effects are due to the use of stabilizer muscles. It requires a good deal of effort to stay balanced and in the right position to do to clean and press.
This exercise will definitely help your balance get better, and make you a better athlete as a result.
Explosiveness
The clean and press unites virtually your entire musculature toward a single goal. Essentially turning your body into one moving part, similar to a piston.
You want to really launch the weight up to your shoulders at a great speed, then control the press. It’s OK to make the overhead press a push press if you want to focus on your legs more. You can go a little heavier this way too, as most people can power clean more than they can press overhead with strict form. However, if you’re push pressing as a way to ‘cheat’ you will only be robbing yourself of some triceps and deltoid growth.
Metabolism Boost
This movement is so difficult, and requires so much effort, that you will definitely get your metabolism up for a while. With the afterburn effect, it will remain elevated for 24+ hours after every clean and press workout.
It is well known that the more muscle recruited in an exercise means a higher metabolic increase after the training. This exercise hits almost all the major muscles and will really wear you out and result in higher post exercise oxygen consumption as your body repairs itself in the following hours, and days.
Fat Loss
The more muscle groups you engage in an exercise, the greater the metabolic boost, so it makes sense to do large compound movements. I would argue that the clean and press is the best of all the compound exercises.
With a huge boost in your metabolic rate over the next day, all it takes is a sensible diet, and/or eating schedule, and bodyfat will start to melt off.
Bigger Arms (Especially Triceps)
The triceps is a somewhat complicated muscle group. With three heads, the triceps can only be thoroughly stimulated with an overhead movement, as opposed to one with the arms by your sides, such as cable pushdowns.
Also, the triceps is a fast twitch dominant muscle group. Therefore it will benefit from heavy, explosive exercises.
The clean and press checks both of those boxes, and, if performed properly, will surely lead to stellar triceps development. It involves an overhead pressing movement, and is a heavy exercise. This exercise is low rep in nature, as in, if you’re doing 10 reps per set, you need to go heavier!
Pile on the weight (as long as you can maintain proper form) and your triceps will grow!
Physique Shaping
This exercise works your body in a way that promotes the much sought-after ‘X’ shape for men. It will build up your thighs, shoulders and arms while not bulking up your midsection.
With the muscle building and fat burning effects of the the clean and press, this exercise will eventually result in a great physique, as long as your diet is in check.
Develop A Skill
A highly technical movement, the clean and press is not an easy exercise to learn, or master, but the payoff is well worth it.
It takes a few tries to really learn the clean and press. Then a dozen or more workouts to really get your technique down perfectly. Your hard work, and attention to detail will truly pay off, as this is arguably the most effective single exercise that someone can perform with weights.
Many trainees will be hesitant to try this exercise, and it’s not for (out of shape) beginners. The risk of injury is high if not performed properly, and even advanced trainees should start light, maybe 25-30% bodyweight. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll soon be doing 50% BW or more.
Once this movement is mastered, however, you will surely command respect in the gym as the clean and press does not even look easy.
Increase Your Bench!
Almost everyone wants a bigger bench press, and I’m here to tell you that there is a direct correlation between these two exercises. However, having a big bench press doesn’t guarantee being able to use a large weight in the clean and press.
Although not generally considered a chest exercise, the clean and press does work the upper pectorals quite thoroughly, definitely enough to lead to muscle growth.
Of course we usually think of the bench press as a chest exercise, but there is also a ton of help coming from the triceps and front deltoids.
The clean and press will strengthen your shoulders as much as any exercise can, with a heavy, overhead press, and a power clean! The press mostly works the front deltoids, while the clean will seriously tax the side and rear delts, along with the traps. Basically, it makes your shoulders very powerful.
As I mentioned earlier, the triceps needs to be extended overhead to adequately work all three heads of the muscle. The pressing part of this movement checks this box. Since this exercise is typically performed with a shoulder-width grip, the triceps will be worked harder than in the military press if a wider grip is usually used.
Stronger triceps and shoulders, and upper chest, equals stronger bench press. Try it and you’ll see. I would expect an increase of at least 10% for most people after a month or two of clean and press workouts.
Increase Your Squat
The clean and press will not only help you increase your bench press, it will also help you gain strength in squats. Particularly the front squat, but also the traditional back squat will benefit from your clean and press training.
The explosive nature of the exercise will force a very forceful contraction in the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. This will be a lighter weight than used in the squat but the speed of the clean and press will necessitate a powerful muscle contraction to hoist the bar up to the shoulders.
The lower and mid back and trapezius are also strengthened by this exercise and all are involved secondarily in the squat.
Real World Strength
If you can bench 300 lbs but can only clean and press 100 lbs, how strong are you really? What is more important from a survival perspective? Lifting something heavy up to your shoulders, and then overhead, or laying on your back pushing with just your arms?!
Picking up something heavy and pressing it overhead is real world strength. The type of strength that will help you if you work a physical job, or impress your neighbors when you help them carry their new furniture inside.
There is something very empowering about lifting a heavy barbell overhead. It makes you feel like a grizzly bear flipping a car over! It reminds you how strong you are, and feels great.
Self Knowledge
It’s important to be honest with yourself about your progress in any fitness or exercise program so that you can really achieve the results you want. I was once in denial about my body fat percentage and assumed I was about 16% like when I got measured (in college!). I had gained it slowly so I had barely noticed. Then one day I bought a body fat monitor and found out it was more like 22%!
Needless to say, I was far more motivated to lose fat after I discovered just how fat I really was!
As I’m sure you’re aware, many guys lie about their lifts – especially their bench press poundage – I’m not sure why, but it is definitely a common occurrence. So often, someone who says they bench 300, can actually only do 235 (with an enthusiastic spotter). So maybe then they can press 135 overhead, but their grip is weak and they can’t clean that much weight to their shoulders. Now, maybe they can only clean 95 lbs.
The weakest point in the chain determines how much weight you can use.
The good news is that, because of this, you can bring up your weak points to catch up with your stronger body parts. Over time, the clean and press will help reduce imbalances between different muscle groups and allow your body to become stronger as a whole.
Everyone will have a weak point in the clean and press, whether it be your legs, shoulders, arms, forearms, back. This exercise will rectify your weaknesses and take you to new highs of strength and muscularity.
Efficient Use Of Time (Bang For Your “Buck”)
If you only did one exercise with weights, the clean and press would bring the most results from the least amount of exercise.
There is barely a need for any other exercises. I mean, sure, some squats or bent over rows would be good, but ultimately, you could just do clean and presses two or three times a week and be very muscular and lean.
The exercise can be performed in a way that will emphasize the legs, or the effort can be split more evenly between upper and lower body. To emphasize the leg muscles, the overhead press can be turned into a push-press, using the legs for momentum. I would recommend doing 5-10 sets of 3-5 reps, and do as many reps with a strict press, and then continue with the push-press technique once your arms and shoulders are too fatigued to continue with strict form. This will give you the best of both worlds by ensuring that the upper body is thoroughly fatigued, and the legs are properly stimulated too.
Simple Workout
The clean and press may provide a simple workout, but it is definitely not easy. All you really need is about 30 clean and presses and some pull ups or rows, and maybe some crunches. Do these, and you’re pretty much hitting everything as far as weight training goes. Sure, you could do more, (leg day anyone?) but if you use enough weight, and push yourself, you can see great results from regular clean and press workouts.
It also gives you a great option for a decompression period between heavier, higher-volume training cycles. After 8-12 weeks of German Volume Training or Stronglifts, maybe let yourself recover for 3-4 weeks by just doing some clean and presses several times a week while you recover and gear up for your next high volume cycle.
Minimal Equipment
The gym is going to be the best place for clean and pressing, but if this is not available to you for whatever reason, there is very little that you would need to perform this exercise at home.
All you need is about 3 feet head clearance, and a barbell, and you can perform the clean and press. If you don’t have a barbell or prefer to modify the exercise a little, you can use dumbbells, or kettlebells, Personally, I would recommend sticking with the barbell if possible as it gives you the most control and stability, and it allows you to use more weight, which will help you grow faster.
Weight sets are relatively inexpensive, and you only need buy the minimum weight you need to start. You can always buy more weight plates when you need them. .
In Conclusion
If you want a workout that will help build muscle, burn fat, reshape your body, build stamina and balance, and develop a skill, the clean and press is the best option out there.
A workout in itself, you will not need many other movements to build an impressive physique. All you need is a barbell to get to work on arguably the single most effective weight movement out there. So get to work, and enjoy!
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How Many Sets And Reps Of Clean And Press Should I Do?
If you’re planning on adding clean and presses to an already comprehensive weight training regiment, you’ll want to do probably 10-15 reps total, 2 or 3 times a week. This will be broken into sets of 2-5 reps. If you can do more than 5 reps per set, you need to go heavier.
If you have a casual interest in lifting weights and the clean and press will be your primary, or only exercise, 30-50 reps, three times a week is perfect. Again, break this into low rep sets. No more than 5 per sets. This will be quite challenging and will provide amazing results for relatively little time invested in the gym.
Is Clean And Press By Itself A Full Workout?
The clean and press is absolutely enough to be a fairly comprehensive weight training regiment. Sure you could do more, but it hits all the bases and has the ability to transform an untrained individual into a chiseled muscular one.
Legs, back, arms, shoulders, and chest are all thoroughly stimulated by the clean and press and it will give you a great metabolic kick start. Do 30 reps three times a week and watch your body transform! To read more about the clean and press only workout check this out.
