6 Tips for Improving Your Continental Clean
The Continental Clean
The Continental Clean is a technique for pulling a bar from the ground to the shoulder while utilizing the belly or belt for assistance. The “Continental” is very different from the Olympic Clean.
The term “Clean” from the Olympic Lifts is used because the original lift was performed without allowing the barbell to touch the body at all. These days, brushing the bar against the body is permitted, but to use the belly or belt for assistance is expressly disallowed.
The “Continental” is most often used in Strongman Competitions with the Axle, and is generally used prior to Pressing, Push-Pressing, or Jerking the Axle Overhead to finish off the repetition. With the level of weights that are able to be lifted overhead on the axle, the Continental becomes a necessity, since the Grip limits how much one can lift in the initial phase of the movement, pulling the Axle to the Shoulder for the “Clean.”
How to Improve the Continental Clean
The Continental Clean is a highly technical lift, so here are 6 tips that you use use to improve your technique and make your Continental more efficient.
1. Wrist Wrap Awareness
Wrist Wraps are important on this event because when catching the Axle at the shoulder, there is a chance that the wrist can get bent back. Also, with wrist wraps on, your grip will be stabilized for the overhead portion of the lift. However, one mistake that people often make is they leave the thumb/finger loops on their thumb. The thumb is very important in getting a solid grip on the Axle, and having the loops still on the thumbs will cause interference in gripping the bar.
2. Drive with the Lower Body
Once you have the bar on your belly, you must propel it up to the shoulders using your legs and hips. The harder and faster you can pop the barbell or axle the better. You will save time on each repetition and you will conserve strength and energy for the duration of the set/event.
3. Make Faster Transitions
If you analyze the movement, there are at least 4 individual parts:
- Pull to Belly
- Stretch Reflex (Lowering the Body)
- Popping Bar off Belly (Propelling Upwards)
- Catch at Shoulder
The quicker you can move through each phase and transition, the better. For instance, once it hits your belly, your aim should be to pop it up with your lower body to the shoulder, which requires a quick drop of the body, a rapid ammortization phase, and then the thrust to pop the bar up. If you need a breath between the catch and the press that is fine, but try to limit it to one. Standing there holding the bar on the belly is far too much of an energy leak and waste of time.
4. Alternate Hands on the First Pull
It is fastest to pull the bar from the ground with the hands both overhand, but this will be limited by your grip strength. If you find you can’t pull the weight you need to with a double overhand grip, feel free to alternate them. This will enable you to pull faster and with more strength, plus it might even allow you to pull the bar up to the perfect spot on your belly. Either way, the higher you can pull like this the better, because it will help you save energy. Energy leaks are the worst thing in strongman. If you can reduce them, you can become that much more efficient. Once you get the bar to your belly or shoulder, then transition to double pronated.
5. Keep the Bar Close
It is more efficient to have the bar stay close to your body at all times than to let it drift away. Pull it outwards only as far as you need to in order to pass your belt, and keep the transition from belly to shoulder nice and close to the chest as well. If it loops outward away from the body, it will be harder to control and you will have to move your body too much to catch and re-direct it.
6. Isolate, Train and Strengthen Each Phase
After doing your primary work, (and even including the press) go back and work each phase of the lift with heavier weight to strengthen each phase. In other words, if you max out with 200 on the full lift to the shoulder, you can perform the following drills:
- Full Pull to Shoulder: With light weight, practice pulling straight to the shoulder from the floor (like an actual clean)
- Belly to Shoulder: With heavier weight, practice popping the bar from belly to shoulder. Don’t return it to the floor every time. Just let it roll down to the chest and re-grip it. It should feel really good on the chest bones.
- Floor to Belly: Do some sets with double overhand and alternating grips. Put on heavier weight and just get the bar to your belly as fast as you can then go right back to the floor.
These are just a few bullet points you can start working on to improve your Continental Clean. If you take a video to the weight room with you, I can pretty much guarantee you will improve even more, because you will be able to iron out your technical bumps that much more quickly.
Improving the Continental Clean – Videos
Here’s a quick video showing some cues I was able to catch in my own training for instant improvement.
Just a couple of weeks later, I was able to improve even further on my Continental Clean.
Get More Information on Improving Your Strongman Lifts
If you are interested in more information regarding the Strongman Overhead Lifts, be sure to sign up for email updates using the form below. Steve Slater and I will be shooting a new DVD that covers the Overhead Strongman Lifts in November, including the Log Press, the Axle Press, The Monster Dumbbell (One Arm Overhead Lift), the Viking Press, and more.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
Stone Lifting Fundamentals
Articles You Might Also Like:
- How to Improve Overhead Press
- Principles for Improving the Overhead Press
- Block Weight Training – Taking It to the Next Level
- Building a Big Overhead Press – What’s Been Working for Me
- Make the Shoulders Feel Better to Lift Bigger Weights
Tags: axle clean, clean and press, continental, continental clean, strongman clean
April 28th, 2023 at 6:52 pm
Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering
if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice
from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
April 28th, 2023 at 10:45 pm
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs
I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be exciting to read through content from other authors and
practice something from their sites.
April 29th, 2023 at 1:56 pm
I am really inspired with your writing skills and also with the structure in your blog.
Is this a paid topic or did you customize it your self?
Either way stay up the nice quality writing,
it is rare to peer a great blog like this one these days..
April 29th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Hurrah! Finally I got a webpage from where I can in fact take helpful facts
regarding my study and knowledge.
May 1st, 2023 at 12:44 pm
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this website regularly, this website is truly pleasant and the users are really sharing pleasant thoughts.
May 2nd, 2023 at 12:07 am
The article presents an interesting information on the topic, it provides useful content. The author’s argument is clear and supported. This is a great resource for anyone and it is well-written and informative.
May 2nd, 2023 at 5:26 am
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is wonderful, let alone the content!
May 2nd, 2023 at 10:27 am
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and visual appeal. I must say that you’ve done a very good job with this. Additionally, the blog loads very fast for me on Opera. Exceptional Blog!
May 3rd, 2023 at 4:20 am
It’s truly very complex in this busy life to listen news on TV, thus I simply use world wide web for that purpose, and take the newest news.
May 3rd, 2023 at 9:36 am
I’m gone to tell my little brother, that he should also pay a visit this blog on regular basis to take updated from most up-to-date gossip.
May 3rd, 2023 at 11:12 am
I’m not sure why but this web site is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
May 3rd, 2023 at 8:12 pm
When I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is a way you can remove me from that service? Many thanks!
May 5th, 2023 at 12:23 am
Superb blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally confused .. Any recommendations? Thank you!
May 5th, 2023 at 2:06 am
Helpful info. Fortunate me I found your web site accidentally, and I am stunned why this twist of fate did not happened in advance! I bookmarked it.
May 5th, 2023 at 5:33 am
Good day! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
May 5th, 2023 at 1:29 pm
Very soon this web site will be famous among all blogging viewers, due to it’s good posts
May 6th, 2023 at 6:56 am
Thank you for some other informative blog. Where else may I am getting that kind of info written in such a perfect way? I have a project that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.
May 6th, 2023 at 12:29 pm
Hey are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
May 7th, 2023 at 11:01 am
This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You understand so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I personally would want toHaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a topic that has been written about for decades. Great stuff, just great!
May 8th, 2023 at 9:30 am
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this site regularly, this web site is truly good and the users are in fact sharing pleasant thoughts.
May 9th, 2023 at 8:10 am
Fantastic blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally confused .. Any ideas? Appreciate it!
May 10th, 2023 at 1:07 am
Good day very nice web site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also? I am satisfied to seek out so many useful information here in the publish, we need develop more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
May 10th, 2023 at 7:53 am
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thank you!
May 10th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
Awesome things here. I’m very satisfied to see your article. Thank you so much and I’m looking forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
May 11th, 2023 at 2:24 am
I read this piece of writing fully concerning the comparison of most recent and preceding technologies, it’s remarkable article.
May 11th, 2023 at 8:38 am
I truly love your blog.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you make this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m hoping to create my own blog and would like to know where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Many thanks!
May 11th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Hello there, You have done a fantastic job. I will definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this site.
May 12th, 2023 at 2:45 am
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this site daily, this web site is in fact pleasant and the viewers are really sharing pleasant thoughts.
May 12th, 2023 at 5:40 am
Thanks for sharing beautiful content. I got information from your blog.keep sharing
ley de divorcio nueva jersey
abogado de divorcio condado de bergen nueva jersey
May 13th, 2023 at 6:26 am
I appreciate you sharing this blog. Very helpful.Mejor abogado de lesiones personales en Virginia
May 14th, 2023 at 7:21 am
Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
May 14th, 2023 at 3:32 pm
Howdy this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
May 15th, 2023 at 5:53 am
I was able to find good info from your blog articles.
May 15th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was totally right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
May 16th, 2023 at 2:17 am
Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.
May 17th, 2023 at 5:02 am
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Cheers
May 17th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to assert that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
May 17th, 2023 at 8:37 pm
Excellent blog post. Thanks for sharing. Keep sharing more blogs of this kind.
May 18th, 2023 at 3:18 am
Fantastic site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to a few pals ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thank you on your effort!
May 18th, 2023 at 5:28 am
That was a fantastic blog, I really enjoyed reading it, and I appreciate you sharing it. Please keep writing such blogs.
abogado de divorcio nueva jerseyabogado de divorcio de nueva jersey
May 19th, 2023 at 3:42 am
I really like it when individuals come together and share opinions. Great website, keep it up!
May 20th, 2023 at 1:49 pm
I like the valuable information you supply for your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am moderately certain I will be informed plenty of new stuff right here! Good luck for the following!
May 21st, 2023 at 9:33 am
Great article! We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
May 22nd, 2023 at 2:54 am
Hello! I’ve been following your website for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the fantastic job!
May 23rd, 2023 at 9:59 am
I am truly glad to read this website posts which includes lots of useful data, thanks for providing these data.
May 25th, 2023 at 5:42 am
Thanks for sharing this article. Very easy to read. mejor abogado de planificación patrimonial
May 26th, 2023 at 5:50 pm
It’s not my first time to visit this website, i am visiting this website dailly and take nice data from here everyday.