Cleans, snatches

[Chris Westerström]

What exactly do they train/develop?

Was watching an MMA guy do them (Randy Couture) and it seemed to work his Rhomboids a lot.

I am a bit new to crossfit although I am pretty well trained. I notice that I have most trouble with these exercises as I have never done anything like them before.

My chest and back and shoulders are considerably strong, I have, in other words, good base strength in movements like chin ups, bench, squats, deadlifts, but my shoulders curve forward a bit and I wonder how I can better my posture. It seems these work those muscles that would help that

[Nic Kirkland]

The clean and jerk and snatch are some of the most complete exercises out there in terms of muscle groups. Take every muscle group worked in dead lift, squats, and overhead pressing and there you go; that's what they train, and they train those muscles in an explosive fashion, making them particularly useful to athletes in many sports. Major ones, starting at the bottom: hamstrings, quads, glutes, erectors, lats, traps, biceps, deltoids, triceps. So yeah, almo

They're also highly technical moves that require some serious skill and training to achieve a basic level of proficiency. If you don't know anyone who can really teach you how to do them well, then watch every video you can on the internet and practice with light weights a lot. There's some great CrossFit Journal articles by Bill Starr on technique for the clean and jerk and snatch that I advise to anyone learning these movements.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

To quote Charles Staley

What muscle does the clean/snatch work

"You know when you run down the field, catch the ball and then hit a defender? It works that muscle"

[Thomas Green]

What he said. For overall athleticism

[Chris Westerström]

is there anything in particular I should add to my CF routines if my goal is to correct my shoulder posture?

Besides stretches (already do some)

[David Meverden]

What exactly do you mean by shoulder posture? If you pull your shoulder blades together does that fix it?


P.S. The quote from Charles Stanley's presentation about cleans is a great one. I will definitely be using that.

[Lincoln Brigham]

Originally Posted by Chris Westerström

is there anything in particular I should add to my CF routines if my goal is to correct my shoulder posture?

Besides stretches (already do some)

Fixing bad posture is mostly a matter of reprogramming an ingrained motor pattern. Stretching and strength training will help allow you get you into the proper position, but once you've learned how to get into the proper frame you must practice it. Years and years of bad posture need months and months of practice to correct.