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This is an excellent power variation of the Olympic Clean. Keep the chest up throughout and be sure the hips and chest come up at the same rate. Build up speed gradually then explode at the top position.

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I’ve recently been incorporating kneeling variations of cleans and snatches into my athlete’s training programs with great success. They actually have several similarities to muscle cleans and muscle snatches. And yes these do involve a small amount of arm action to help initiate the movement, however as long as powerful glute activation and hip extension are employed it does not detract from the hips. With this in mind performing Olympic lifts from a kneeling position provide 8 unique benefits.

1. During Olympic lifts many individuals lack proper hip drive, oftentimes shortchanging the final phase of hip extension. Performing Olympic lifts from a kneeling position isolates the hips as it literally forces the individual to complete the hip extension phase in order to drive the weight up.

2. When it comes to Olympic lifts the name of the game is quick and violent power, emphasizing explosive movement. Unfortunately, many lifters rely so much on smooth mechanics and dropping under the bar that they forget to be as explosive and as violent as possible on the pulling phase. Because the lifter won’t be able to drop under the weight (more than several inches) this forces the lifter to launch the load up with extreme aggression as anything less will result in the weight stalling out before the lift is completed.

3. The kneeling variations also rely slightly more on brute force and sheer aggression rather than perfectly timed sequencing of events. If you’re an Olympic lifter nailing every component of the sequence is critical. However, most athletes aren’t interested in becoming professional Olympic lifters, therefore relying a bit more on sheer power rather than precise execution of each and every individual sequence is something to consider when programming Olympic lifts for athletes.

4. The kneeling variations of the clean and snatch are some of the most effective Olympic lifting variations I’ve ever used for teaching proper catching positions and explosive finishes. That’s because the individual can’t simply rely on gravity to complete the finish but must, in fact, aggressively snap the weight into position immediately after the hips have launched the bar up. This is a very important yet oftentimes underrated aspect of Olympic lifts particularly when training athletes.

5. Proper bar path and balance are two other critical factors when it comes to Olympic lifts. Many lifters often allow the bar to get too far in front of them rather than keeping it as close to their body as possible. When you’re performing Olympic lifts on your feet you can make up for lack of proper bar path by chasing after the bar when you catch it. However, performing cleans and snatches from the kneeling position requires perfect bar path and balance as it’s impossible to chase the bar or make up for faulty positioning. You either catch it perfectly as a result of proper mechanics and proper bar path or you miss the lift. There’s no in between.

6. Core activation is a critical yet often neglected and overlooked component of Olympic lifts. In fact catching the barbell, whether in a clean or snatch position, requires the lifter to brace their abs and stabilize their spine by firing all the muscles in their core. The kneeling variation is very conducive for teaching this as it promotes increased core activation and spinal stabilization.

7. Kneeling Olympic lifts tend to be easier on the low back than standard variations predominantly because the lifter can use much lighter loads to produce a strong training stimulus. In essence the lifter will use roughly half of the weight they typically use on standing variations yet the stimulus to the hips in terms of teaching high power output is still exceptionally high. If you’re looking for max effort variations of Olympic lifts that are low-back and generally speaking very joint friendly, the kneeling variations of cleans and snatches are tough to beat.

8. Many lifter focus too much on trying to jump when performing Olympic lifts rather than emphasizing hip extension. In fact, trying to implement an exaggerated jump and stomp, as is commonly employed by many coaches, is one of the worst cues you can implement when performing Olympic lifts, as it minimizes force output and hip extension. The kneeling variations help to eliminate this as the only way the barbell will drive into the catch position is by using the hips, not by jumping.

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OPTION #1

This Pallof press variation is a great drill for addressing anti-rotation and rotary stability as the load really wants to rotate your body and shift it out of alignment.

OPTION #2

The Copenhagen Plank 2.0 with knee drive as shown here by NFL athlete is one of the best exercises for the adductors and core. Full article at https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/abductors-adductors-muscles-training

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Performing hang cleans from an eccentric isometric RDL position is a great movement for improving technique, mobility, hip mechanics, hip extension, power output, sensory feedback, and muscle function for all athletes and lifters. The same principle can be applied to snatches as well.

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Here’s a t-bench set up with dumbbell chest press. I have many of my athletes and clients use the T bench position (laying widthwise rather than lengthwise on the bench) as this allows the hips to be off the pad as well as the head and neck to be unsupported. As a result you're forced to support more of your body and contract your posterior chain from head to toe to a much greater degree.

In essence you’re holding an isometric glute bridge throughout. For individuals who lack the ability to drive with their legs and hips on bench press, here’s your fix as the athlete is forced to fully contract the glutes and drive with their legs.

In addition, the elbows and triceps end up touching the bench just at the right stopping point similar to a floor press. This keeps the athlete from collapsing and overstitching in the bottom position and help to reinforce where their optimal stopping point is for horizontal chest pressing mechanics

The head off position promotes heightened spinal rigidity and optimal levels of t-spine extension as the head is not fighting against the pad as is typically the case when the base of the skull is pressed into another apparatus. As a result optimal spinal alignment can be achieved without being forced into slight cervical and thoracic flexion as is commonly seen with individuals when performing horizontal chest pressing variations. The benefits this has on posture, spinal positioning, and shoulder mechanics (much easier to retract, depress and medially rotate the scapula on this) is incredible.

Oddly enough, many of my athletes end up preferring head off presses once they become accustomed to the unique stimulus as head on variations tend to feel very constricting and unnatural compared to the head off variations. As an added bonus it's one of the best neck strengthening exercises there is which is a very underrated and oftentimes overlooked component of fitness. For individuals who sit at a desk and spend excessive time in cervical flexion this is of huge value.

The key is to maintain a neutral cervical position while producing extension through the t-spine. I use this technique frequently with my athletes (over 50% of your chest presses involve a head off position) and I've seen it do wonders for shoulder injuries as well as upper body movement mechanics. In addition it often times helps lifters improve their upper body pressing power and strength as it promotes more ideal shoulder mechanics and postural alignment.

And as I’ve said before, this is not excessive extension as many coaches would suggest. This represents optimal postural positioning on horizontal pressing exercises. Unfortunately what many trainers and coaches consider to be ideal postural alignment does not involve enough t-spine extension. As a result the positioning they recommend ultimately destroys shoulder health and deteriorates optimal postural alignment not to mention impairing natural breathing patterns.

Proper posture on upper body movements involves significant t-spine extension and a tall head position (not compressed head). To avoid excessive low back extension the lifter needs to focus on creating the extension through their upper torso by firing the lats and keeping the core braced. This eliminates excessive lumbar curvature which is a common compensation pattern or weak lats and inability to create optimal thoracic extension.

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Here is an underhand grip T-bar rows with an RDL reset protocol every 2 reps rather than just going straight through the set without resetting. This is something I use on a majority of bent over rows & T-bar rows with my athletes. Here’s why.

On bent over rows and T-bar rows it’s quite for the low back & spinal stabilizers to greatly fatigue, causing these areas to fail before the upper back. As a result you’ll often see form & posture gradually deteriorate throughout the set. Rather than holding a bent over position & completing all repetitions of the rowing movement, a better solution is to reset after several reps by performing an additional RDL & repeating this several times per set.

Each time you stand up and perform an RDL you’re able to re-set the spine and allow the low back musculature to have momentary rest before repeating the sequence several times for the set. Not only will your form be significantly more dialed in but your low back will be less likely to fatigue and give out before your upper back & lats. This allows for greater strength and hypertrophy stimulus to the upper back and lats.

It also acts as a great 2 in 1 exercises as you’re now performing your rowing movement as well as hip hinge exercise. As an added bonus the modified rest pause or cluster set protocol allows the lifter to handle heavier loads ultimately leading to greater strength & mass gains.

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Front squats are an incredible exercise for taxing the legs particularly the upper thighs and quads. However, because of the unique loading method that involves placing the bar on the anterior portion of the body instead of the upper back (i.e. back squat), they also provide a strong stimulus to the core and upper back. Employing accommodating resistance in the form of bands on chains on front squats may help maximize the various benefits to an even greater extent while helping to eliminate a some common problems. Here's 5 reasons why.

#1. OPTIMIZES THE STRENGTH CURVE

Like many compound movements including upper body presses, squats, and deadlifts, the bottom positioning of the front squat is typically the weakest and the top is typically the strongest. Using accommodating resistance allows us to overload the top/strongest position and deload the bottom/weakest position by matching the strength curve of the exercise to that of the specific movement pattern. For many lifters this variance between the top and bottom of the front squat is even more extreme than most lifts due to the semi-awkward nature of the anterior loading. In essence you can make the argument that the front squat is the ideal exercise for applying accommodating resistance.

#2. MAKES THE FRONT SQUAT EVEN MORE QUAD DOMINANT

The top half of any squat tends to place more emphasis on the quads and less on the posterior chain. In addition, when it comes to emphasizing the quads during a squat pattern, front squats are at the top of the list. Because accommodating resistance places more tension on the top half of the squat, combining this with the front squat loading protocol represents the ultimate combination for crushing the quads as the top half of the movement is maximally overloaded.

#3. PROVIDES A GREATER STIMULUS TO THE CORE AND UPPER BACK

As previously mentioned, front squats are also an incredible stimulus for targeting the core and upper back. However, most of the stimulus is at the bottom half of the movement as the top half does not provide as much tension to the core and upper back. By overloading the entire movement through accommodating resistance (rather than just the bottom half), the core and upper back receive intense stimulation. In fact the total tension at the top of the front squat should be significantly greater than the lifter's typical 1RM. Simply put if a lifter typically handles 200 pounds on their front squat, when using accommodating resistance the bottom may still be equivalent to 200 however the top may be in excess of 275 lbs. Forcing the body to handle these supramaximal loads in the stronger phases of the lift turns the movement into a true full body exercise.

#4. MAXIMIZES ACCELERATION FOR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

More and more coaches and athletes are taking advantage of front squats by incorporating them into routines aimed at improving athletic performance and power output. Unfortunately, many lifters unintentionally decelerate the movement once they’ve moved past the sticking point. Employing accommodating resistance ingrains the idea of accelerating and exploding through the entire lift as a means of blasting through the added tension at the top. If the lifter doesn’t use compensatory acceleration (the intention to lift with maximal speed and velocity) the lifter will feel like he or she runs into a brick wall midway through the movement.

#5. MAKES THE BOTTOM LESS AWKWARD

Most lifters consider the bottom portion of the front squat the most awkward as the bar has greater tendency to want to roll off the shoulders the lower you go. As a result it becomes increasingly more difficult to keep the elbows up the deeper you descend particularly if you keep the hips set back as you should on any squat including a front squat. Deloading the bottom portion of the lift and overloading the stronger top position helps eliminate this problem while still providing a heavy training stimulus. In addition the nervous system will be hyper-activated at the top of the movement due to the heightened tension thereby making the bottom feel much lighter and more manageable. Simply put, once the lifter reaches the bottom, keeping the elbows up and chest out will feel significantly less challenging as the nervous system will have been calibrated to handle a heavier load.

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Great variation of the overhead press with accommodating resistance. Make sure you get get thoracic spine extension at the bottom by flexing your lats and upper back and sticking your chest out while keeping your core tight. At the top drive the weight up and back and get the head through.

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When it comes to building functional size and strength, it’s tough to beat weighted variations of pullups, dips, inverted rows, and pushups. In fact you could make a strong argument that implementing these movements on a consistent basis will provide most of the upper body strength and size gains you’ll ever need although you would miss out on some additional benefits of other movements. Although there are a number of variations such as rings, and suspension systems that can be applied to pullups, dips, inverted rows and pushups, one that I’ve recently been experimenting with is the double barbell fat grip protocol.

The set up is quite simple. Place two barbells on a rack at the appropriate height, offset one side of the bars with at least a plate or two to counteract any tipping effect and perform your favorite body weight exercises. Besides providing a unique stimulus, the double barbell fat grip protocol provides several unique benefits that are difficult to replicate with any other method. Lets break these benefits down movement by movement starting with pullups.

Applying the double barbell fat grip protocol to pullups makes the movement quite challenging yet very effective. Also big shoutout to Nick Nilsson for the inspiration for this exercise. I highly recommend following Nick as he’s one of the most innovative guys in the fitness industry. The double barbell fat grip protocol provides 6 unique benefits for pullups:

1. The grip gets absolutely pulverized from these not only because of the circumference of the barbell collars you’ll be hanging from but also because of the rolling and spinning nature of the collars. As a result this is one of the most effective forearm and grip exercises you’ll ever perform.

2. Intense grip activation not only improves forearm, hand and grip strength but it also leads to improved centration and packing of the glenohumeral joint. In fact, there is research demonstrating a direct relationship between grip strength and shoulder stability.

3. Fierce grip activation on movements such as pullups also produces irradiation and concurrent activation potentiation. This elicits more full body tension, spinal rigidity, shoulder stability, core tightness, and motor control as a result of squeezing the daylights our of your grip. This also produces greater neural drive, motor unit recruitment and overall activation to the working extremities such as the upper back, lats, and biceps making the movement even more effective for building functional strength and hypertrophy. I’ve also found that intense grip activation helps minimize the common error of over-pulling at the top and collapsing at the bottom of pullups. Most individuals try to pull excessively high in the contracted position of pullups (leading to poor lat recruitment and shoulder instability) while also collapsing and going excessively deep at the bottom (i.e. excessive shoulder elevation and protraction). Performing pullups on rotating fat grip barbell collars forces the lifter to use appropriate range of motion as faulty mechanics will actually cause the grip to move into a structurally weak position increasing the chance of grip slippage

4. The lifter will also be required to use smooth and controlled mechanics as any shifting, excessive momentum, jerking or kipping will cause the grip to slip. This further increases the tension to the working musculature while also minimizing stress to the joints and connective tissue

5. The grip width can be modified to be as close or as wide as the lifter desires. This makes it very conducive for adjusting to any size lifter (wide or narrow shoulders) as well as incorporating a variety of grip widths for emphasizing different portions of the upper back and lats. The wider grip typically involves more upper lats and closer grip typically involves a bit more lower lats although with proper form the difference is smaller than is commonly thought.

6. The neutral grip pullup is one of the most natural and comfortable grip positions that also tends to be easier on the shoulder joint and well as the bicep tendon. Unfortunately many gyms don’t have access to neutral grip pullup stations. However, this setup alleviates this issue as the lifter can create their own makeshift neutral grip pullup station with two barbells.

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MAIN OPTION

This next exercise is an eccentric isometric reverse lunge/split squat with a single leg jump. This protocol is one of my favorites as it involves hip mobility, stability, balance, power, acceleration, deceleration, impact, & unilateral firing patterns. Make sure to focus on keeping the hips back with a slight hip hinge rather than staying overly upright (a common mistake made on lunges & split squats).

ALTERNATE OPTION

The front curled lunge position is similar to the goblet position. Here are 10 cues I recommend on lunges & split squats all of which the eccentric isometric protocol help optimize.

1. Aim for 90 deg joint angles at the hips & knees rather than allowing your body to collapse with excessive range of motion.

2. Maintain a slight forward lean rather than an overly upright torso.

3. Keep the hips set back rather than allowing them to sag forward.

4. Keep the front knee from traveling past the toes. Regardless of what the fitness industry has recently been preaching, knees past toes on squats & lunges is not ideal.

5. Hollow the core & brace your abs to help keep the hips & knees back.

6. Keep the heel of the back foot tall rather than allowing it to sag.

7. Go barefoot or use minimalist shoes as this optimizes neural drive up the kinetic chain.

8. Maintain a semi-in-line position for the front and back leg with little lateral gap between the legs.

9. Stop doing walking lunges. Instead use split stance squats (in place) as these are more conducive for dialing in your form.

10. Use eccentric isometrics to help find the above cues as your body will naturally gravitate to them when you rely on proprioceptive feedback since they represent optimal biomechanics