kettle bell swing

KettleBell Clean

Hey everyone! Coach Jared here. So for the second part in the power series, we’re going to be discussing the kettlebell clean. And I know what you’re thinking the second you hear the word clean – the back of your wrist starts to hurt, but I promise after watching this video and a little practice, your wrist will never hurt again, and it may become your new favorite exercise.

So to demonstrate I’m going to be doing a single arm clean, but I will be demonstrating a double kettlebell clean at the end of the video as well. We’ll get into those common mistakes often seen with the clean. So for that first common mistake I see is the start of the movement. Similar to the kettlebell swing.

You want to start the same way you start with that kettlebell six inches in front of you hinge-ing down, grabbing it with one hand, hiking it through your legs, like a football, and then doing the movement. 

That second common mistake I often see is again, squatting instead of hinging like we discussed all these power movements or hip hinge based movements. So you want to make sure you’re hinging and not squatting as you do this. If you’re squatting, you’re going to be using your arms to get the kettlebell up. But again, you really want to use those hips, use those hip power to help get the kettlebell up. So again, starting the movement and hinge-ing back, really using those hips to help you get it up and not your arms. 

And the third common mistake I often see which is the biggest mistake is the actual movement, the arm movement, when you’re doing that clean. So a lot of times I’ll see people almost make an arc where the weight’s coming out and then they’re bringing it back in. And they’re flipping that kettlebell from the front of their wrist to the back of their wrist. 

Like I discussed kind of in these, the kettlebell swing, a center of mass. You want to try to keep that weight as close to your body as possible when doing this. So instead of bringing it out and then back in flipping that kettlebell, you want to do more of a vertical motion, staying tight in, and you’re actually twisting the kettlebell around your wrist. So in order to do this, you almost want to visualize zipping up a jacket. So that bottom position, when you’re zipping up a jacket, your elbow’s going to be back almost like a slight row. And then as you zip up, that elbow comes forward and that fist is being pushed up towards the ceiling. So that’s, that’s the movement you want with the arm instead of bringing that arc and then coming back out, you want to bring that elbow back, and then you’re bringing that elbow forward, pushing that fist up to the ceiling. 

Now, when you’re doing this as well, you want to be twisting the kettlebell instead of flipping it. So in order to do this, you want to keep the kettlebell loose grip in your hand. So the kettlebell is going to be sitting on your fingertips at the bottom. And then as you come up, you’re twisting that kettlebell around your wrist and then bringing that elbow back forward and pushing that fist up to the ceiling. So in order to do this, you’re gonna  start with the kettlebell out in front, like I said, six inches in front of you, you’re going to hike it through your legs. As you start to come up, you’re already twisting that kettlebell around and you want to be totally had that kettlebell totally twisted at this position. (please see the video) So when you’re here, you’re just bringing that elbow back forward, pushing that kettlebell straight up to the ceiling instead of flipping it. So as you come under, you’re going to hike it as you come forward, bring that elbow back while twisting the kettlebell and then pushing that elbow forward. And that fist up towards the ceiling come down… 

(watch the video to see the proper form)

I did the side angle there. I’ll give you a straight on angle as well. Again, starting out in front of you, hiking it through, bringing that elbow back, twisting bringing that elbow forward. So again, this is a very explosive movement. It’s going to be quick. It’s going to take a lot of practice that twisting of the kettlebell. Remember you want to have it completely twisted before you even start to come up. Because, if you’re not twisted around as you come up, that kettlebell is going to be flipping over onto your wrist instead of already being completely twisted and then pushing your fist up to the ceiling. 

So I’ll demonstrate the double kettlebell clean as well. It’s the same movement as the first as a single arm clean, you may just have to go a little wider in your stance, obviously for both kettlebells to travel under. So again, starting with them six inches in front of you, hiking through, bringing the elbow back, twisting, bringing those kettlebells up… Again it’s going to take a lot of practice. It’s a very explosive movement but with practice, time, you’ll be doing it where you’re not going to be banging your wrist anymore. Like I said, it may become your new favorite exercise. So keep pushing and always remember, you got to hustle for that muscle.