-John Prince, Owner/Instructor at Crossfit Tupelo
My friend John and I were chatting last week about living and exercising into our old age when he summed it up with this gem. Now remember this is just A way...not THE way of seeing where you're at physically. If you're working on and improving your strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility, and stability in other ways...keep it up. Just make sure you're doing SOMETHING! However, the Clean & Jerk gives you an instant snapshot of where you stand on all these, which is why it's recommended highly.
Now in you’re unfamiliar with what a “Clean & Jerk” is… let’s break down this powerlifting terminology. The “Clean” portion is where you lift the object from the ground to your chest, and the “Jerk” is the part where you press it overhead.
You’ve probably done a clean & jerk before and didn’t even realize it.
If you’ve ever picked up a heavy object off the floor and placed it onto a high shelf or into the back of a big truck… you’ve done a clean and jerk.
If you’ve ever picked up one of your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or just some random neighbor kid from the ground and held them above your head “Lion King” style… well, you’ve done a Clean & Jerk.
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| Baboons do it, why can't you? |
Now doing Clean & Jerk’s with babies and lion cubs is pretty easy… but doing one with a bar loaded with weights equaling the weight of your body is much more difficult!
However, being able to do this is a fantastic indicator of overall health and fitness. The ability to Clean & Jerk your bodyweight shows that you’ve got good strength, power, mobility, flexibility, and stability to a degree that you are most likely VERY healthy and VERY fit.... and for as long as you can do your bodyweight, you'll probably continue to be.
So I’d like to challenge you…. Clean & Jerk your bodyweight at least once a week for the rest
of your life!
If you often do this exercise alot but aren’t yet able to do your bodyweight…why not make it a goal? If you never do this kind of thing in the gym…why not learn?
Now let’s say you’ve got some extra bodyweight hanging that you’re trying to lose. Your goal should be to Clean & Jerk your goal bodyweight. So for example, if you weigh 190 pounds but you’d like to be 140…well your Clean & Jerk goal should be 140, etc. You can always keep increasing as your strength continues to improve.
If you’re serious about losing weight, doing this exercise frequently with its series of compound movements will help you achieve that goal.
Also, it's an invaluable tool for ANYONE, of ANY age or athletic ability to burn fat and build or tone muscle. Whether you’re a high school fullback, a stay at home mom, a truck driver, an Olympic athlete, or a great-grandmother… you should consider adding the the Clean & Jerk to your workout routine.
The attached video is a step by step tutorial on how to do a Clean & Jerk properly. Also, shoot me a message if you’re interested in taking up this challenge and we’ll get together and make sure you’re doing it right!
Please watch it and feel free to get with me with any questions!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFSBGIPMa9A
