Honestly, I feel like this exercise is, well, pointless. Its done so unexplosively, and really just looks like the lovechild of a curl and swing buttfucking. Compared to a clean with a barbell it just seems kinda silly. I know if you do 500 reps for time ala Crossfit it can be very physically draining, but in terms of developing any semblance of speed and power, I really don’t see it.
What do you think?
looks at join date
haven’t tried them have you?
on the contrary. i had two 24kg kettlebells for a long time. I did cleans with them a lot, and now comparing them to working with a barbell, which I’ve only really started to do recently, its pretty much a no brainer to me that barbells are far better for this exercise.
kettlebell swings are great, but cleans are pretty worthless in my experience
Well since you have first hand experience i would say this. Power cleans with a barbell are better suited for the purpose of building power and strength.
You can do this with kettlebells (initially) but imo they’re better suited for metabolic conditioning. You need something that you can push the weight on. Kbells aren’t adjustable
that said… busting out a quick set, doing some sprints, doing another set, hitting some burpees…repeat. Will turn kettlebell cleans into something that’s no longer a bitch move.
Also you can try different variations. The reason why it’s ‘easy’ to you now is cause you’re getting stronger. That’s not a bad thing obviously.
But it’s time to start upping the complexity of your movements.
Alternating kbell cleans
Alternating snatch/clean combo
Get your cardio on.
thats cool, I guess my point was just that you may as well just do swings for met con, since the clean with the kettlebell is hardly even a real clean at all
good post
I kind of agree with you. swings & Snatches are just a little harder to me. That said. if you do them snatch/clean combo style that shit is no fucking joke.
The point with the clean is to put the KBs into a position so they can be pressed/jerked. 
I haven’t done many KB cleans but I agree that swings/snatches seems like a better option for conditioning.
I like them, they’re a good change from doing normal barbell cleans. However, do the kettlebells normally leave bruises on your forearms?
OP - I was going to flame you for your first post but I agree with you - swings and snatches are better than cleans in my opinion. The guy is doing them unexplosively in the video because he is probably preparing to do a lot - remember that for certification you have to do a certain amount for time and the less effort you put in every single one, the more you’ll get. That being said, they can be performed as explosively as one wants to and are a good conditioning exercise.
fartmonkey, you are not supposed to have bruises but it is a part of the learning process. Somewhere along the way you will learn how to properly handle them, so the movements are natural and do not hurt.
has anyone tried them with a really heavy KB? iv got a 20kg a i dont need to move that thing ‘explosively’ at all
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
has anyone tried them with a really heavy KB? iv got a 20kg a i dont need to move that thing ‘explosively’ at all[/quote]
My gym only goes up to the 32 kg bells and they are very easy to clean, even at the same time. I think Ironmind has KBs that go over 100lb now so those should be challenging to throw up together.
I agree with the guy that said you only clean them so you can press them. That’s pretty much it.
And yeah, KBs are awesome for MetCon training. Try the double arm swing to clean to thruster. They are brutal.
Honestly it looks like an instructional video. Like they are just showing the first part of a clean and press. There are people out there that need to practice every step before doing certain exercises. If a person is uncoordinated you are must better off having them practice one step then the next then both in combo then showing them the whole xercise off the bat.
Other than that yes it does seem pretty useless.
cleans as well as swings with kettlebells arent the best for building power and are more effective if used for sttraight up conditioning and i found my core strength went through the roof after doing them for high reps for a coupla months. With that being said putting bell cleans with a pushpresses are awesome and snatches are king. I like to uses kettlebells for these cause it just feels more comfortable but it still cant replace heavy barbell power and hanging cleans. thats my opinion at least.
id agree theyre good for conditioning and chicks.
I like fucking around with kettlebells but honestly, I sometimes question what good some of this KB stuff is. Some of this stuff transcends training and rises to the level of “neat trick”. The only real keeper I’ve found with KBs is two-handed pull-through swings with a heavy KB (we have a 80lb bell). I feel like these are good for recovery and loosen up my back after heavy squat sessions.
Well, I think that the complaint really isn’t about the implement used, but rather the weight. Comparing a KB clean and press of meager resistance to a heavy BB clean and press is retarded. Compare a very heavy (100+lb) KB clean and press to a barbell and I think you would have a different take. Look around YouTube and find some crappy form, too light BB cleans and generalize that to every BB clean and press.
This looks pretty good for building explosive power to me.
Andrew.Cook
Well, I think that the complaint really isn’t about the implement used, but rather the weight. Comparing a KB clean and press of meager resistance to a heavy BB clean and press is retarded. Compare a very heavy (100+lb) KB clean and press to a barbell and I think you would have a different take. Look around YouTube and find some crappy form, too light BB cleans and generalize that to every BB clean and press.
This looks pretty good for building explosive power to me.
http://www.youtube.com/...feature=related
yeah i’ve seen that video before. that kids awesome. definitely agree with what you said guess you just put it better.
I do my cleans from the hang, and I feel they really help my pressing.
[quote]Pinto wrote:
I like fucking around with kettlebells but honestly, I sometimes question what good some of this KB stuff is. Some of this stuff transcends training and rises to the level of “neat trick”. The only real keeper I’ve found with KBs is two-handed pull-through swings with a heavy KB (we have a 80lb bell). I feel like these are good for recovery and loosen up my back after heavy squat sessions.[/quote]
good post. kb like just about everything under the sun as some sort of place in a year long training cycle, but there is a good reason kb’s went out of favor and barbell in about 100 years ago, barbells were better.
[quote]Andrew.Cook wrote:
Well, I think that the complaint really isn’t about the implement used, but rather the weight.[/quote]
I’d agree, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the weight, but it’s knowing the reason for choosing that exercise (just like every exercise in every program you’ll ever perform).
Kettlebells function best when used for some type of cardio, or to train explosive/reactive force. They’re not the ideal choice if your goal is total body strength. It’s like if you decided to use just dumbbells to increase your horizontal pressing. It would work a bit, but it isn’t exactly the best tool for that particular job.
And just to throw out some more kettlebell clean variations:
The bottoms-up clean has all the explosive requirements of a regular clean, but it’s extra-killer on the arms and grip.
Open palm cleans really force you to focus, and emphasize the feel of a solid “catch” position. Open palm snatches are also great for body awareness (to avoid KB-meets-cranium syndrome) and shoulder stability.
That’s about all I could think of for now, but if you read this far, you deserve a small reward.
EDIT: I just noticed the first post is three months old. Whoops.