Substituting Weighted Jump for Olympic Clean

I was doing Olympic Cleans for a while to help develop lower body power, but I am now of the opinion that it is nearly impossible for me to perfect my technique enough to make the movements safe/non-harmful without someone coaching me in person. That is not an option right now. Since I'm only doing cleans for the lower body power gain, do you think heavy box jumps would be a good substitute. To my potentially completely incorrect mind, it sounds great.

What do you guys think?

Heavy Box Jumps...I am going to assume you are meaning to jump onto a box and not depth jumps being jumping down from a box and then up onto a box. The latter would be a huge NO. Weighted depth jumps can be very bad if you're not prepared and even then...

Jumping in and of itself is good for explosive power. Some weighted and also some non-weighted. Since your main focus is only lower body I would do jumps onto boxes, broad jumps...Decksquat to jump or broad jump...endless possibilities. Ask some of my clients how creative one can get... :twisted:

Hahaha!

I know better than to do weighted depth jumps! I do non-weight jumps and explosive work when I practice jumping kicks.

I figured as much but had to make sure also for anyone who reads it.

Meh. Plenty of ppl do power cleans on their own under Rip. I just think it will be a hassle to add enough weight for weighted box jumps for a similar effect

Patrick do you mean that you are self taught and have no access to coaching?

Where did you learn them, what are you doing and where?

I am self-taught. No coaching. I do them at home.

What I did yesterday for lower body dynamic strength was 40lb weighted box jumps, but they were very easy, even at 2.5-3 feet. I had at least 6" clearance. Despite holding an isometric squat for 5 seconds before each jump. I think I need to get an adjustable 80 lb weight vest (or make one).

Actually, jumping with DB's feels a LOT like an olympic lift but without the tricky clean/catch part.

Higher Box

Haha, Nic. It was my first time trying weighted jumps and I didn't want to smash my shins (again). I also want to make these heavy enough (100+ lbs) to actually replicate the short jump that you would experience in a olympic clean. I think I can do 36" with 40lbs, but I think I will try to reach 40" with 40lbs and then try to slowly add weight until 40" with 100 lbs. I think that would be beast.

Nothing against the box jumps which are also a valuable way to increase power. It's not a substitute for a clean though.

Personally I'm not going to be a big fan of weighted jumping on it's own. It's good as an assistance exercise. But It messes with the dynamic of jumping, changes the center of mass etc. IMHO better to go higher as your main form of jumping. And remember what Joshua always says regarding this type of training, stop when you start to slow down.

Blown Achilles tendons are becoming the new Rhabdo of XFit from high volume box jumping.

Back to the clean, the jump is only a couple of inches up if at all and is the result of the hips explosive extension, which also throws the bar up. Check out Glenn Pendlay's site post a video of yourself there and you will be sure to get some friendly help. He also has some great instructionals on the Cal Strength site. He keeps it very simple, and especially if you stay with the power clean it doesn't have to be that big of a technical challenge.

For completeness I'll add, do make sure you are also doing some form of full depth squatting.

100lbs...ok different picture. Listen to Cole, that's much to heavy to add to a jump. You completely change the mechanics. Anything over about 40 on a regular basis can create a biased neural pattern. I would go view the videos Cole is talking about. Or if you have access to heavy KB learn to do proper swings, not that learning to do them properly is easier without a bit of help.

The jump should not be used to replace heavy weighted cleans. Apologies for misunderstanding the type of power work you're asking about.

O.K. I'll go to Pendlay's site and watch some of the videos and probably post one of myself.

I think I'll do 5 x 2 power cleans (or regular cleans) and work on form on one day and box jumps on another.

I already do ATG front squats, split squats, and single leg squats.

No problem, Nic.

Thanks for the help!

Nic is also right that if you have access to kettle bells they can be a great option as well. The snatch and clean and jerk (or usually more of a push press) are much easier to learn with KBs.

Quote from Sportivny Press:

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Olympic lifting movements are the only dynamic exercises where the athlete has to switch directions from up to down, in the same instant, and instantaneously begin to exert maximum force in the opposite direction.

Olympic lifting movements are the only dynamic exercises where the athlete has to switch directions from up to down, in the same instant, and instantaneously begin to exert maximum force in the opposite direction.

That is highly interesting. I wonder what that means in practical terms for jumping, adaptation, the brain, ect ect.

In a proper olympic lift you reach full triple-extension so in terms of jumping it is highly beneficial. Elite lifters have crazy verts for never jumping much in training. As for brain adaptation the increase in neural complexity actually increases the capacity for motor learning and refinement in other areas aside from the olympic lifts themselves. Physiologically we have seen actual changes in some of the cell shapes of elite lifters after years of training as they bodies adapt to these types of effort.

Train for fun but also stay focused. The body adapts to what you do, if you want to specialize and I say IF. Make sure your overall program contributes to it.

Thank you very much, Nic! That explains a lot. I especially find the second part interesting. I am going to go educate myself about it! Thanks again!

@rhyneza, thank you for that post. I will read up on Olympic lifts and then post back here for suggestions on how I can implement them.

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Curious how your cleans and jumps panned out Patrick?

I liked the cleans for full body S&C but wasn't doing them correctly. Tried a coach for a few sessions but I don't practice enough or have enough flexiblity. So am thinking now that weighted burpees may be a reasonable, less technical alternative for me. 

In terms of just lower body explosiveness a jumping back squat may be the ticket - can go quarter, half or full with the bounce. I have just done quarters though. Dangerous?

Hi Fin! Thanks for asking.

My back seems to be injury prone (I have to be careful just doing standard deadlifts or it bugs me) so I decided to wait to practice any olympic lifts until I can get a coach to teach me in person. Maybe it's the overly-safe thing to do, but I don't really see learning olympic lifts as soon as possible necessary or important right now. As far as speed and power development go, I hit pretty dang hard and really fast just from doing low rep squats, high rep squats, low rep and high rep posterior chain stuff, some box jumps here and there, jumping squats here and there, and using proper looseness/muscle control in my strikes. Plus, I'm so busy trying to master basic positions that are essential to becoming stronger in everything else GB, I don't really have time to learn OL.

I think in 1-2 years when I am moved away to uni, I will have mastered the basics fairly well and will have more time to learn OL from a personal coach.

Out of curiosity, do you ever practice horizontal weighted back extensions? If you don't, you need to.

Never heard of them referred to as that, Joshua, but I think I do. They're like arch ups but with a straight back, right?

They are pretty much what we would call arch ups, yes.

I always had my clients who had trouble with deadlifts build up to 3 sets of 15-20 reps with at least 35-45 lbs.

 These days having pontificated on this a lot I would prefer the use of a Chinese style Panda High Pull.

 These basically have the same speed of a Snatch or Clean which the traditional High Pull lacks as it is slow and generally with more weight.

 The chinese often do these from a hang around the knee rather than off the floor. You could pull the first off the floor, then do 2-3 more reps from the hang. Use straps.

 I find these style of pulls come a bit more natural with a snatch grip. As well for gymnasts, you don't have to worry about teaching the specifics of a snatch or clean or adding more stress to the shoulders or the risk of tweaking a wrist from a missed clean.