I use them as a form of conditioning and/or hypertrophy. Generally, they're finishers or complete workouts.DCR wrote: - Do you do them for recomp / fat loss as I’d like to do? Or something else?
- Where do you program them? As a finisher, or on “off” days?
- Is there a sequence or two that you particularly like? One thing that’s made me hesitant is that I have no ability to do a proper catch after cleaning, which seems to pop up in 95% of the suggested sequences.
For an upper-body day, after benching, I might do something like this:
5 rounds, on the 1:30
8x barbell curls
8x upright row
8x overhead press
4x triceps extension
8x push-ups
The barbell is a fixed weight, obviously. I try to move through each round without rest, but may pause holding the bar if things get tough towards the end. I never set the bar down until the round is finished. (Credit for this complex goes to Rob Shaul.) Lots of ways to scale: modify the load, rest interval, or reps.
If I'm looking for a long conditioning session, I might do something like this:
100 rounds, for time
1 full squat clean + 1 lunge L + 1 lunge R + 1 push press
I often do this with a sandbag, rather than a barbell, and drop the bag to the ground after putting it overhead, so each round starts on the ground. Even though I have no trouble with a front rack, it gets taxing with 100 reps. Depending on the load I choose, it may take me close to an hour. I typically do nothing before or after this effort. (Credit for this complex again goes to Rob Shaul.)
Another example:
8 rounds, on the 1:30
4x power clean & jerk @ 60-70% of 1RM
Each rep starts with the bar on the ground. The reps are done touch-and-go, no rest, and no dropping the bar. I do this on C&J days when I don't feel like doing a traditional C&J workout. I'll rest a bit afterwards and then do deadlifts. Sometimes I do it as a finisher after squats.
I know that you said that you have trouble with the catch, but these are light enough that I'm not catching the bar as I would in a traditional clean. I'm catching them pretty much elbows down and then going straight into the jerk. I generally don't even fully stand up the clean: as I straighten my legs from catching the clean, I'm going straight into a power jerk.
Another example would be the Bear Complex. There are variations, but here's how I like to do it:
30 rounds, for time
1 squat clean + 1 overhead + 1 back squat + 1 overhead
I typically do the clean to overhead as a thruster. Same with the back squat to overhead. But if I get tired, I just stand up the squats and then push-press them overhead.
If you want to avoid barbells because of racking problems, try dumbbells.
Here's Mike Rutherford's version of the Bear:
1 round =
5x dumbbell dead lifts
5x dumbbell hang power cleans
5x dumbbell thrusters
He says strong athletes should try with a set of dumbbells that total 45% of their bodyweight. The goal is to do 1 round per minute for 20 minutes. If you can't stay on the clock, score the workout as X/Y, where X is how many rounds you completed within the original OTM goal, and Y is how many additional rounds were you able to complete in the time remaining before hitting the 20 min cap.
Pretty sure the original complexes from Javorek were all dumbbell based as well. Dan John has put out several complexes too.
As for circuits, I do them with a mix of bodyweight movements, dumbbells, and barbells. All sorts of possibilities. I posted some upper-body circuits in a thread a few years ago. I still use those, but have new ones as well, if anyone is interested.
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