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Kettlebell (Not So) Lazy Cleans

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Steve W.

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Besides A+A style snatches, my current training cycles through sessions of double cleans (and a third type of session that comprises double front squats and clubbell swinging).

Today was double clean day. I used 28kg bells, 5 reps per set, and interval of 1:20 (start a new set at the beginning of each interval and rest for the remainder of the interval). I completed 40 sets/200 reps.

Observations:
--Tried to make each rep powerful and pause in the rack on each rep.
--Double cleans elevate my breathing and heart rate much more than snatches. In my last snatch session, using an interval of 1:10 and completing 60 sets, breathing was barely elevated.
--A longer pause in the rack ("zipped up" hard style) seems to cause a larger spike in breathing and heart rate at the end of the set. A quick rack and drop makes for a quicker recovery after a set. With snatches, a pause in the lockout is more of a rest.
--Very little local muscular fatigue. In my previous clean session (a shorter interval of 1:10; 30 total sets, with a 5 minute break after set 20), I experienced a noticeable forearm pump, which I did not experience today.
--Keeping hands dry is very frustrating. I had the air conditioning cranked up and a large fan blowing directly on me. Broke a sweat around set 10, and after that it was a constant battle to stay dry. I used chalk, but didn't have to reapply until set 14. The last 10 sets I was reapplying chalk before every set.
--Set 31 was the best technically. The bells flew up with little effort, and technique was very smooth and consistent for all 5 reps.
--At the end of the session I was dismayed to discover a blister at the base of the ring finger on my left hand. It's unbroken, flat, and not at all painful, but there's obviously a separation between layers of skin. I'm very disappointed that I didn't notice it earlier. It's the first real hand damage I've experienced in several years, although I've definitely been pushing the volume of snatches and cleans a lot more than usual. Hopefully it won't be too much of an impediment or for too long and I'll be able to work around it. I generally consider hand damage a bit shameful and have been careful to avoid it through good technique and good judgment, so I'm rather upset I allowed this to happen.
--Other than coming away with a blister, I felt very well recovered from the session almost immediately. After my last snatch session, I felt like my effort level during the session was lower, and recovery between sets was much easier, but afterwards I had more of a feeling of having "worked out."
 
i'm intrigued - how often do you place these high volume days into your routine and what benefits have you noticed?
 
Keep Lifting said:
i'm intrigued - how often do you place these high volume days into your routine and what benefits have you noticed?
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I've been rotating through the three types of sessions (snatches, cleans, squats and clubbells), taking rest days when I feel like I need it. Sometimes I double up on the clubbell session before the next KB session. The clubbell sessions are also pretty high volume (highest so far was 300 combined reps of 360s and 10-2s and 50 pendulum swings with a 35lb club, then 100 reps of double swipes with 20lb clubs, 100 reps of one-handed mills with a 20lb club, and 2(28kg) x 5 x 5 double front squats).

I've been averaging 4 or 5 sessions a week, usually 1 or 2 snatch sessions, 1 or 2 double clean sessions, and 2 or 3 DFSQ/clubbell sessions.

Since I've started this at the end of June, I've been able to greatly increase my volume while maintaining a relatively low effort level. I feel like my overall work capacity has increased a lot: I don't feel beat up, joints feel better than they have for a long time (only playing basketball once this summer might have something to do with that). Shoulder and t-spine mobility are better; overhead and rack positions feel more solid. I have not pressed a single rep in close to two months, but I anticipate that my press will be equal or better when I return to it.

BTW, 51 years old, 5'10" in shoes, stepped on a scale today for the first time in weeks and was 187lbs.
 
MattM said:
Can you post your hand care routine?

A little serious.
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Honestly, there isn't much to it.

For the past couple of years, doing a lower volume of swings (such as S&S), front and goblet squats, cleans and presses, and some snatching with the 24 (without chalk), I've done nothing for my hands other than a little moisturizer as necessary -- I make my own balm from petrolatum, paraffin wax and mineral oil -- seriously, my dirty secret is out of the bag now ;-).

When I'm doing a lot of snatching and using chalk, or other lifting that tends to raise calluses, there isn't a whole lot more:

Wash off chalk immediately after lifting.

Once or twice a week, right after a shower, take down calluses with a razor blade style callus shaver. I've tried various pumice stones, callus files, and other tools, but like the razor blade style callus shaver by far the best; it's really all I use.

Use a little moisturizer as necessary (obviously, making sure there's nothing slippery on my hands when I'm actually lifting).

That's it.
 
Cattleballs said:
@MattM this has been a game changer for my hands, I use badger balm fwiw
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Basically,he recommends exactly what I do:
Wash off chalk after training
Moisturize (use a waxy style of balm rather than a lotiony moisturizer)
Take calluses down occasionally when they get too thick

I disagree with him about callus shavers. He recommends the pumice stone and metal rasp, whereas I find these don't do much and tend to leave the skin roughed up. He mentions other lifters using a razor blade and doesn't like the idea since he thinks there is too much risk of cutting yourself. I wouldn't use or recommend using an actual razor blade, but the callus shavers that use a razor blade only expose a small bit of the edge. When the skin is hydraded and soft after a shower, they easily scrape off the top layer of skin with light pressure and leave a smooth surface on the callus. It is very easy to just scrape off a little bit at a time so there is little risk of cutting yourself or taking off too much skin. Just be sure the skin is well hydrated and don't use a blade that has started to get dull. A sharp blade will scrape off a little at a time with light pressure, but a dull blade requires more pressure and gives you a lot less margin for error.

I have used tape on my hands at times in the past (including when I did the RKC cert), but not for many years, and I've never tried his method of taping.
 
Update:
Last snatch session was 28kg x 5 reps x 30 sets on the 1:10. Felt like a day off.

Today's double clean session: 2(28kg) x 5 reps x 50 sets on the 1:20. Moderate effort (felt easier than my previous double clean session, even though I did 10 more sets today). Used some hand protection (basically a modified sock sleeve made from tubigrip bandage to cover the callus line at the base of the fingers), which worked pretty well.

Note that I am not keeping an actual training log since I would not keep it accurately upated or complete, but may post semiregular/semirandom updates on the main KB forum.
 
Paul Sellers said:
Just curious because double cleans are one of my favourite movements but what are the prime benefits
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It's a ballistic hinge just like swings and snatches, so the benefits are similar. With double cleans, you can go a lot heavier in total weight because it's split between two bells. Double cleans feel much more natural/less awkward to me than double swings, and you can go heavier than double snatches. The cumulative time holding the bells zipped up in the rack seems to tie the body together (the first time I did a highish volume session, my abs were sore the next day) and carry over to presses and front squats.

But the biggest benefit for me is that I have fun doing them!
 
Last snatch session earlier this week was 28kg x 5 reps x 60 sets (300 reps) on the 1:10.

Also did a couple of very high volume clubbell sessions (between 400-500 reps/session). In terms of overall effort, clubbell sessions are lazier than KB snatches, KB snatches are lazier than double cleans.

Today's double clean session: 2(28kg) x 5 reps x 60 sets (300 reps) on the 1:20. Moderate effort. Last 20 sets were definitely NOT lazy, but not an ordeal either. 28s feeling a lot lighter than a month ago. Biggest struggle was trying (mostly failing) to keep hands/bells dry, despite A/C and fan blasting.

One more week of long sessions and then transitioning back to a more park bench approach.
 
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