The best WODs are always the ones where you get to throw around some heavier weights. If that’s what you’re in the mood for, you’re going to love this WOD from Brent Fikowski.

EMOM for 8 minutes

1 heavy power clean 

+

5 light power cleans

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3 Tips to Improve Your Power Clean

Technique always matters. Use these three tips for making your power cleans smoother and more efficient.

1. Keep the Bar Close

The further away the bar gets, the heavier it feels. Think of how you open up a stubborn jar. Do you hold it out in front of you or close to your body? You hold it close to your body because it gives you more control and power over the jar.

Weightlifting is the same. The barbell should travel in a straight line and stay in contact with your body.

2. Keep Your Butt Down

Under fatigue and stress, one of our tendencies in the first pull (read: from the floor to your knees) is to let our butt go up while our torso stays down. Remember your hip angle shouldn’t change until the second pull — when the bar reaches your knees and you begin to open your hips up by bringing your torso back.

When you lift your butt in the first pull, you end up pulling with your back instead of with your legs. Your legs are much stronger — use them!

3. Fast Elbows

If you want to catch the bar high, your elbows need to move like lightning around the bar. Don’t make it your goal to simply catch the bar above parallel. Aim to catch it as high as possible. You need fast elbows for this!

If you want more help with the lift, check out this blog on the most common mistakes people make in the clean (and how to fix them).

Need the perfect music to lift to? Visit TWL’s Spotify playlists.

Main image: Brent Fikowski/Instagram