Are you looking for a single exercise that will help you build killer muscles and promote your appearance? Then look no further than in dumbbell clean and press workout. You don’t want to perform exercises that target individual muscles? Do you? They are not only time consuming but also expensive. However, for some workout darlings, dumbbell clean, and press is not a walk in the park. It requires dedication and commitment. But definitely, you’ll reap the benefits of your hard work in the end.
This article will walk you through all you need to know about dumbbell clean and press workout. Moreover, it will guide you on the steps you need to follow to perform the exercise successfully. In addition, you will learn the many benefits of this workout unknown to many. Also, we have discussed alternative workouts that will provide you with other options.
How to Execute a Dumbbell Clean and Press Exercise
Choice a dependable dumbbell whose plates are not likely to slide off and fall on you
This is a very critical step overlooked by many. Plates can fall off and injure your legs. Be careful when choosing the dumbbell for your workout. For example, you can select the hex locked, the spin-locked or the fixed weight dumbbell. The hex locked can be adjusted though not so easily. The fixed weight is solid and cannot be dissembled. However, plates cannot fall on you by any chance. Unlike the spin and hex lock, the fixed weight has no revolving sleeve. The spin lock is safe but has a protruding bar on both sides. With such information, you can now make a better choice of the dumbbell to use.
Place the dumbbell in between your feet and grab it with your hand
The starting position of the dumbbell is on the floor and in between your legs. Grasp it with your right or left hand whichever you want, to begin with if you’re performing a one arm dumbbell clean and press. Let’s assume you have grasped the dumbbell with your right hand. Then the left hand should rest on your left lower thigh. Ensure that both your hands are chalked. It strengthens the grip by absorbing perspiration.
With your arms straight, pull the dumbbell
As you pull the dumbbell up, the arm holding it should be straight. The other hand should push the lower thigh to get some strength. Accelerate the pull-up, meaning that you increase the speed as you raise it instead of pulling it up at once.
Backswing a little after lifting the dumbbell from the floor
This backswing assists you as you lift and makes the exercise feel natural because the lift is oval as it moves upward.
Don’t twist, round or arch your spine
Your knee should follow your feet. While starting, the weight ought to be distributed in the entire foot.
Use Biceps, Deltoids, and Calves
After pulling up and when your body has straightened up use your biceps, a shoulder shrug, calves, and your front deltoids to clean the dumbbell to your shoulder. Also, dip slightly to go under the dumbbell.
Avoid pressing the dumbbell at this stage
Stand up, with your back and spine straight. Then bend your knees as you push the dumbbell to a full stretch using your legs, lower back, hips as well as the muscles used for pressing.
Lower it gradually with control
Now lower the dumbbell to your shoulders with control until it reaches the floor. Place it in between your legs. You can put it on a foam kickboard which shortens the movement, protects the floor and reduces the noise. Now this marks the end of one rep. Repeat using the other hand.
Observe your back
Ensure that your back remains straight. Don’t lift your dumbbell while your back is twisted or rounded. The spine too must be rigid. However, allow your body to rotate around your spine.
Control the Weight
This heavyweight can easily injure you if you let it down uncontrollably. It can also hurt the muscles you’re working on as well as your shoulders and back. Therefore, lower the weight in a controlled manner. Allowing the plates to fall freely can also damage the floor. However, too much control can weaken your biceps. Always ensure that you are in good form when lowering and lifting your dumbbell.
Muscles Worked
Dumbbell clean and press workout is a complete body movement involving almost all large muscle groups in your body. However, all muscles are not worked in every stage of the workout. Below we have highlighted which muscles are worked at what stage of the movement.
- During the dumbbell clean movement, the muscles worked includes quadriceps, glutes, calves and hamstrings.
- In some pulling and dumbbell press movement, your triceps, upper traps and shoulder muscles get worked.
- During the press’s overhead positioning and the dumbbell clean movement, your back, traps and erectors are worked.
- While in the lifting up movement, the lower back and abdominal muscles get worked and strengthened.
Dumbbell Hang Clean and Press
Below are steps that will help you execute the workout successfully.
- Begin by ensuring that you have your dumbbells at your sides. You can also place them before your thighs.
- Arch your back slightly as you lower the weight.
- Using your hips and legs, lift the dumbbells upwards. The power and strength should be generated from your lower body as the shoulders, and your arms get involved in the clean. Allow the dumbbells to stay close to your body during the whole movement.
- Using a neutral grip, squat slightly to be able to hold the dumbbells at the shoulder. Such a grip will place little force on your rotator cuff as compared to a full grip.
- Remove the load off your shoulder as you squat a few inches. Hold the dumbbells using a neutral grip and at your shoulder as you did in step 4.
- Place it down in a controlled manner and repeat the exercise for the number of times recommended.
Finally, during the dumbbell clean movement, the forearms/ grips and the arms muscles are exercised.
What are the Benefits of Dumbbell Clean and Press?
The growth of Complete Body Strength
When your goal is to build muscles and gain strength, you look for a compound movement that works on many muscle groups to enable you workout with heavier loads. Although clean and press dumbbell exercise is naturally unilateral, the load you can clean and press with it is incomparable with bilateral strength. Heavy overhead presses and one arm dumbbell cleans are movements that can grow power, fitness, and strength in your body.
Metabolic Conditioning
Dumbbell clean and press needs strength, power, and coordination as well as movement skills to enable your entire body motion. In addition, your body spends a high amount of energy to execute this exercise. Integrating metabolic conditioning exercises will enhance your cardiovascular and muscular strength, overall fitness and strength.
Work Around Specific Injuries
If you have some injuries and wondering what exercises to engage before healing, then dumbbell clean and press is the workout for you. You can use it as an alternative for barbell clean and press at this time of injury. It will provide you with the same movement and timing. Besides, it will promote your pulling, back and grip strength. Moreover, if you’re training for functional fitness and strongman sports, dumbbell clean and press workout will enable you to engage in body movements even when some injuries limit you in other exercises.
Unilateral Movement
With dumbbell clean and press exercise you will enjoy many benefits of unilateral exercises including muscle growth, coordination of movement and general strength. Even if you’re doing a double dumbbell clean and press, the movement will provide you with unilateral benefits because you will have to control each hand independently.
Alternative Workout to Dumbbell clean and Press
As we have seen here above, in clean and press exercises, the lower movement strengthens your glutes, hamstrings, and hips. The upper movement works on your chest, arms, back, and shoulders. However, if for reasons of injury or health condition, you’re not able to perform this exercise, then we have laid here workouts that will bring the same result for you to choose from.
Ball Clean and Press
It is a great alternative to dumbbell clean and press exercise that helps young adults and beginners know how to use their lower back, hips and legs to lift up weights from the ground. In addition, they learn how to change their position into a squat and eventually stand up. You can use a light ball if you’re a beginner or a heavier one if you want a total body exercise. This workout can significantly help you instill mechanics for your lower body to assist in executing more advanced workouts.
Kettlebell Clean and Press
It is similar to dumbbell clean and press exercise. It can be done using one kettlebell or two to develop strength and body fitness. Unlike other clean and press workouts, kettlebell clean and press loading is asymmetrically put. Therefore, the wrist, upper back, and the shoulders are forced to stabilize the load in whatever position it is placed. Finally, the kettlebell clean and press exercise is performed with an arch swinging motion rather than a vertical pull.
Log Clean and Press
This exercise is often witnessed in training workouts and strongman events. It involves lifting a log bar from the floor to a torturing position. Then through a strict push press movement to the overhead. Though mostly done by a strongman, any lifter can as well do it.
Fat Bar Clean and Press
This exercise is almost the same as barbell clean and press except that it has a more extensive bar than the regular barbell. As a result, you will be limited by the strength of your grip and pressured to minimize your pulling in the motion. Therefore, you need to reinforce pulling mechanics and leg pulling.
The Bottom Line
Dumbbell clean and press is an excellent exercise that works many groups of muscles. If you want to hammer several muscles in a single workout to save time and money, then this is the workout for you. However, it is not a very comfortable one to execute. Therefore it requires commitment and dedication if you have to reap all the benefits. Also, if for some reason you can’t perform barbell clean and press, then this is a good alternative that will bring your same results. Aim to achieve the benefits of dumbbell clean and press workout. However, you can try out the other options we have provided if for some reason you’re not comfortable with dumbbell clean and press workout.
