The Kettlebell Clean
Lock & Load
The Kettlebell Clean is another fantastic exercise which focuses on targeting the leg and core muscles. The overall idea is essentially picking up the kettlebell from rest position on the floor (or hanging) and bringing it to “rack” position at shoulder height. The movement focuses on generating the power through the legs and using the momentum from the hips in order to bring the kettlebell the rest of the way up off the ground helping strengthen the lower body. .
Summary
This exercise builds on the kettlebell swings and is a good “bridge” between the kettlebell swing and the kettlebell snatch and other more complex full-body movements. The kettlebell clean helps build the movement where we transfer power from the legs to the core (and to the upper body if we wish).
Key Points
Movement
As mentioned earlier, the starting position is with the kettlebell held by the horns at rest from either 1) the ground or 2) between the legs, while the hips are flexed while making sure that the back, neck, and spine are straight. (see image 2).
The hips are then fully extended and that momentum is used to raise the body and kettlebell up. Now for the tricky part – as the kettlebell is coming up, your hand and arm will come underneath it as it’s continuing to rise so that it rests on your forearm. Make sure you practice this plenty with a lighter weight or at a slower pace before choosing a heavy kettlebell. (see image/video/gif 3)
Muscles Worked
The Kettlebell Clean uses huge power from the hamstrings and quadriceps mainly to generate the energy needed to raise the weight from the ground up to rack position. Because of it’s complex nature, it also incorporates a ton of other ancilliary muscles. The arms, abdominals, calves, glutes, back etc. are all used in the Kettlebell Clean as well.
Primary
Secondary
Conclusion & How to incorporate
The Kettlebell Clean is a great exercise that builds strong legs, core, and also incorporates the arms and back into the equation. Depending on the weight being used, if the kettlebell is very heavy, this should be saved towards the middle/end of the workout, while if the kettlebell weight is not as challenging, it really doesn’t matter as long as it comes after the warm-up.
Similar Exercises
We encourage you to check out these other kettlebell exercises if you have not done so already.
