The Kettlebell Clean Applied

This morning before getting off of work I performed

7 rounds of
7 Double Bottoms Up Cleans w/ 12 kg kettlebells
7 Bottoms Up Presses ea side w/ an 8 kg bell

I like the bottoms up variations of kettlebell exercises because they further work the grip and reinforce proper body mechanics.



Use lighter bells than your normal pressing weight when performing bottoms up variations, especially when learning to ensure that you can properly control the weight throughout the motion. Nobody wants to take a kettlebell to the head. If you are at all unsure use a spotter.

Right after I finished this we got a call for a lift assist. Part of my duties on a truck company involve helping people up when the fall and can't get up themselves. The patient was in a very tight space with barely room for two of us in there with him. Initially I thought it was going to a challenging lift with awkward positioning. As we began the lift, I noticed my body naturally shifted bringing my arm into my body with my elbow over my hip and hand under the patient's arm. My legs and hips shifted underneath me to lift the majority of the patient's weight. I realized that I had basically performed a "clean" with this patient and now had him in the kettlebell rack position. Even though I was lifting off center in an awkward position, this lift felt suprisingly easy with good body mechanics.