Topic: Hang Clean/Front Squat/Jerk

[Scott Tusic]

"Hang Clean/Front Squat/Jerk" 

I was told by a coach to do this routine and found out that it was a very tough combo. I think that since I am still learning O/L technique that I will start using this sequence again. I spoke with Mr. Deal the other evening and he wanted me to do more front squats to help me become better in the clean. I was wanting to know how many days per week is the norm for performing front squats? Do any of you do leg presses on any given day? Thanks 

[Andy Dick]

I never do leg press or have any athlete I work with for that matter (unless they are coming of a knee injury and have stability issues).  Squatting resembles closer to the actual lifts.  Plus you are not getting the core involvement or the correct body positioning for the lifts in the leg press.

By this routine do you mean like a "man maker" where you do a clean followed by a front squat followed by a jerk and all that counts as a rep and then do a few sets and reps of that.  From what you are writing that sequence is hard and smokes you pretty good.  If you are a beginner, I would agree with Mr. Deal and do more front squats and the clean and jerk separately to concentrate on form to make sure they are sound before doing this circuit.  This circuit is very tiring and can cause form to break down that is why working on form separately for each exercise would be more paramount.

For squatting let us know what your goals are, your past lifting experience (have you ever front squatted before, do you normally only lift 3 days a week, is your form good, stuff like that), are you doing this for olympic lifting or for a sport because that would have a bearing.

[Scott Tusic]

Not Much Front Squatting


     The Hang Clean/ Front Squat/ Jerk would be one set. Like you stated, very tiring for this 50+ old man. I can back squat around 580 with feet at shoulder width, but haven't much flexibility for front squatting. I used to be able to do 315 for 5 deep front squats last year but, only did them because I thought the back squat would be more important. I guess that idea is wrong and gotta do some front squats. But how many days per week? I do power pulls, from different heights, clean grip D/Ls, & FULL Cleans on certain days. Heavy push presses, standing D/B presses, and jerks. For Snatch, I do the very hard overhead squats, hang snatches, snatch grip D/Ls, Snatch pulls from boxes, and goodmornings. Gary told me to knock off my B/Ping and do some Inclines. I like that idea. I do Dips for pressing power, and some pull ups for overall strength. That is my workout exercises that I perform over a 4 workout week. Thanks.

[Shaun Le Conte]

You could do some front squats almost every workout if you did them light most of the time. The people around here squat 3-4 times a week. Work on the flexibility. I wouldn't expect you to get into a deep upright front squat like the youngsters, but you could probably make a lot of progress in that area if you considered the front squat a flexibility exercise for a while.

[Gary Deal]

   SCOTT,       ANDY COULD NOT BE MORE RIGHT IN REGARD TO LEG PRESSES THEY SHOULD BE AT THE VERY BOTTOM IF AT ALL ON YOUR LIST OF SUPP EXERCISES,    IF IN DOUBT DO THEM FOR THREE WEEKS ONLY NO SQUATING AND FOURTH WEEK DO A HEAVEY FRONT OR BACK SQUAT WORKOUT AND SEE HOW STIFF YOU ARE THE NEXT DAY,  IN MY THOUGHTS BENCH PRESSES SERVE NO PURPOSE, HOW EVER I LIKE INCLINES THEY HELP IN THE BRIDGE FOR THE JERK, TRY DOING YOUR FRONT SQUATS WITH A HOOK GRIP THIS OVER TIME WILL GREATLY ENHANCE YOUR FLEXIBILTY ISSUES, I LIKE HANG CLEANS WITHIN A CYCLE ROUTINE,   POWER CLEANS FOR TWO WEEKS, HANG CLEAN FOR TWO WEEKS AND THEN SQUAT CLEAN LAST TWO WEEKS TRAIN DOWN FOR TEN DAYS AND THEN GET A PR, ALSO ALWAYS CHANGE YOUR REPS EVERY SQUAT WORKOUT, MASTERS TWICE A WEEK ONLY, I PREFER FRONT  THEY SEEM TO GIVE ME A BETTER DRIVE IN THE JERK, AND I DO NOT WANT TO GRIND OUT OF A CLEAN AND TRY TO JERK, SHOULD YOU BE DOING THE RAPID DEAD LIFTS WE TALKED OF BE SURE THEY ARE JUST THAT ANY TIME YOU ARE DRAGING THE WT UP OR ROUNDING OVER, REDUCE THE WT AT ONCE, ALSO KICK THE HIPS FORWARD AND THROW SHOULDERS BACK AT END OF EACH PULL, ALSO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL BEST FRIEND AND TEAMATE IS A FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE, AND A COACH THAT HAS ALL MY RESPECT, HOWEVER HE IS SOME WHAT SHY AND RESERVED MAY BE HARD TO APROACH,