Is Clean & Press a good exercise for HST?

T

tefkiac

New Member
Hi,
I just finished deconditioning from my first HST cycle, and I must say I'm more than pleased with the results.
My workout was the basic HST with slight modifications:
Squat
SLDL
Incline DB Press
High cable Flyes (to mimic decline press)
Barbell Rows
Pulldown
Shrugs
Standing Row (switched to Lat flyes during the 5s')
Reverse Flyes
Arnold Press
Incline DB Curls
a Tricep exercice which is basicall a giga set with skullcrushers, pullovers and close grip bench)
Calves
Crunches

For my next cycle I'm thinking to switch to normal deadlift, and substitute Arnold Press with the Clean and Press. Do you think it's a good exercise for building mass? I heard a lot of people not liking it at all, claiming it's more cardiovascular and stregth oriented.
Anything else you suggest I change in my workout?

Thanks
 
Clean and press is a great compound exercise, especially if you combine it with a deadlift motion. It works every majot muscle but the pecs. People don't like it because it is hard work.

As for your program, I would drop:

High cable Flyes (Can't handle enough weight)
Standing Row (Tough on rotater cuff)
2 of the three tricep exercises (Too much isolation for a small muscle)

And add:

Dips (For lower chest)

That would bring you down to a more reasonable 12 weight exercises.
 
tefkiac: Have you been training a long time? If not, then whilst isos have their place, focus on compounds to get a really good foundation first and then add in some isos if you still have the time, energy and inclination. If yes, then you obviously have good reasons why you chose your selection of exercises. Like O&G I would add dips in there and remove some of the iso stuff. With all the back, chest and shoulder compounds, I think one tri and bi iso is plenty for arms. Just change them each cycle if you like.

Recently I have been doing shrugs straight after deadlifts which saves a fair bit of time faffling with a ton of weights. I just use the same load. Or you can do a shrug at the top of each deadlift.
 
Oh, forgot about the main question! I am thinking of incorporating clean and press too. It sounds like a great exercise but several people I've asked about it have said they didn't do it for fear of injury.

Now, I'm almost certain that injury is unlikely if you warm up well and get used to the movement before ramping up the load. However, I would like to have a few performance tips. I always think of c&p or power cleans as being speed movements in order to gain enough momentum to raise the bar to shoulder height. So, is this movement more susceptible to injury than say deadlifts, as you are attempting to pull a lighter weight much faster?
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BTW, when I was in my early to mid teens, I would do workouts that consisted of only floor clean and presses (or jerks, split style) and bench presses on my homemade wooden bench. Awesome workouts (but many scars on my father's basement floor.) I would go from 10 reps down to 1 rep in 1 rep decrements. Incredible strength gains. I wouldn't do 1 rep maxes now but I was invincible at that age. It helped with speed and agility too. Great for athletes. Those were the Bob Hoffman days when weight lifters were legitimate athletes, before the professional supplement prostitutes took over the "sport."
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Thanks to both of you!
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Actually, the only reason I do the cable flyes is that we don't have a proper place for dips. All I can do is put on the safety bard on the power cage and use these, but these are about 1m apart, which I think is too much. As for the standing row, I already switched to lat flyes.
I'm actually training for about a year, so no, not that much. At first I was following the workout the trainers gave me (full of isolation stuff), but I only made progress after I made my own workouts, and almost all progress came from HST. I guess I'll adapt it to your suggestions!
My strength gains on the Arnold press were (for me) amazing compared to the previous workouts, and I think they are quite effective.
Do you think I can alternate it each workout woth the Clean and Press? Or just stick to one of them?
Thanks!
 
clean & press is a great exercise. when the weight gets heavy and you hit your 5RM you can keeping loading by doing push presses.
 
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