The medicine-ball clean is an original CrossFit exercise. The medicine-ball clean is a full-body movement that develops the gross mechanics of the barbell clean, as well as excellent cardiorespiratory fitness and stamina. Read further to learn everything you need to know about the medicine-ball clean:
- What Is the Medicine-Ball Clean?
- Medicine-ball Clean Benefits
- Muscle Groups Worked
- How To Prepare for the Medicine-Ball Clean
- Equipment Needed
- How To Warm Up for the Medicine-Ball Clean
- How To Perform the Medicine-Ball Clean
- Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Medicine-Ball Clean Modifications
- Medicine-Ball Clean Variations
- Common Medicine-Ball Clean Workouts
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What Is the Medicine-Ball Clean?
The medicine-ball clean is one of the nine foundational movements in CrossFit. The medicine-ball clean starts with the ball on the ground between the athlete’s feet with the athlete in a deadlift position, their hands on the sides of the ball. The execution of the medicine-ball clean has the athlete deadlift the ball to full extension of the hips and legs, shrug the shoulders to move the ball vertically, pull under the ball to receive it in the bottom of a squat, and stand to complete the rep.
The medicine-ball clean is a full-body movement with a fast cycle rate and a relatively long range of motion. These factors make the medicine-ball clean a potent conditioning tool, especially when done for high reps.
Medicine-Ball Clean Benefits
The medicine-ball clean is a valuable training tool that introduces athletes to the mechanics of the Olympic lifts and imparts many of the same benefits, such as cardiorespiratory endurance and stamina, speed, and agility, and an array of neurological adaptations.
Cardiorespiratory Endurance and Stamina
Medicine-ball cleans deliver a significant dose of cardiorespiratory endurance and stamina when performed for high reps. Sets of medicine-ball cleans for 15, 20, or even 30 reps can be performed safely and effectively with light-to-moderate medicine balls and, with the ball moving from the floor to the shoulders to the bottom of a squat at a relatively high speed, they elicit similar cardio benefits to 400- and 800-meter runs. In these sets, stamina, or local muscular endurance, is also developed in the shoulders, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings, and quads.
Speed and Agility
Medicine-ball cleans teach the ability to forcefully and fully extend the legs and hips to get the ball to the shoulders, and then immediately flex the hips to receive the ball at the bottom of a squat. Medicine-ball cleans teach athletes the hip mechanics necessary for elite athletic performance.
Neurological Adaptations
The technical complexity of medicine-ball cleans develops neurological aspects of fitness, such as coordination, accuracy, and balance. Medicine-ball cleans require the coordination of every joint and every major muscle group and transfer well to other complex motor patterns. The medicine-ball clean develops balance by forcing the athlete to resist being pulled forward out of position in the deadlift from the ground and while holding the ball in the front-rack position at the bottom of a squat. It also teaches balance and stability while absorbing the force of an external load as the ball is caught in the bottom of a squat and brought to the shoulders. Athletes must be accurate in all phases of the movement — from deadlifting to full extension of the legs and hips, to the pull-down and around the ball — to execute a medicine-ball clean optimally.
With high-rep medicine-ball clean workouts, athletes can practice sound technique and develop neurological adaptations while fatigued, which mimics requirements found in sport, as well as many endeavors enjoyed outside of the gym.
Muscle Groups Worked
The medicine-ball clean places demands on all major muscle groups throughout the entire body.
Lower Body
The muscles of the legs, especially the hips, quads, glutes, and hamstrings, are prime movers in the medicine-ball clean. These muscles are engaged in jumping the ball vertically, receiving the ball in the bottom of a squat, and standing the weight up.
Upper Body and Core
The shoulder girdle, back, and core muscles are engaged throughout the medicine-ball clean. These muscles contract isometrically to allow for the efficient transfer of forces from the ground into the med ball. When the athlete lifts the ball to the front-rack position, these muscles keep the midline stable, so the force produced from the rapid hip and leg extension will pass through the midline into the ball. The upper back works to maintain the proper rack position of the ball when holding the ball at the shoulders in the bottom of a squat.
How To Prepare for the Medicine-Ball Clean
Preparing for the medicine-ball clean requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the ranges of motion required.
Equipment Needed
The only equipment needed for medicine-ball cleans is a medicine ball. It is good to have a variety of differently weighted medicine balls to accommodate all skill levels.
How To Warm Up for the Medicine-Ball Clean
To warm up for the medicine-ball clean, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through their full range of motion. Goblet squats, bar hangs, ring rows or pull-ups, lunges, pass-throughs, shoulder presses, and GHD hip extensions are good choices for the general warm-up.
For the specific warm-up, the CrossFit teaching progression is ideal:
Step 1: Deadlift x 5
Step 2: Deadlift + shrug x 5
Step 3: Front squat x 5
Step 4: Pull-under x 5
Step 5: Full medicine-ball clean x 5
How To Do the Medicine-Ball Clean
The medicine-ball clean can be broken down into distinct phases: the deadlift, the shrug, the pull-under, and the stand.
Deadlift
The athlete stands over the ball with the ball centered between their feet. They set up for the deadlift by squatting down, keeping their chest up, and placing their hands on either side of the med ball. From here, the athlete stands, or deadlifts, the ball to full leg and hip extension.
Shrug
As soon as the athlete has deadlifted the ball to full extension of the legs and hips, the athlete shrugs aggressively to impart upward momentum on the ball.
Pull-Under
Immediately upon finishing the shrug and with the ball hovering momentarily “weightless,” the athlete pulls themselves under the ball and receives it at the bottom of a front squat, with the ball supported in the hands at the shoulders.
Stand
To complete the rep, the athlete rises out of the bottom of the squat and stands to full knee and hip extension with the ball supported at the shoulders.
Common Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
There are several common medicine-ball clean mistakes lifters should be aware of and avoid.
Lack of Full Hip Extension
The most common fault in the medicine-ball clean is not reaching full hip extension at the top of the deadlift before the athlete shrugs and pulls under to receive the ball in the bottom of a squat. This lack of full hip extension decreases the power transferred to the ball from the leg drive and makes for an inefficient lift. Athletes should practice performing the drive phase of the lift, emphasizing full hip and leg extension to ingrain what this “finish” position feels like.
Shoulders Shrug or Arms Bend Before the Hips Extend
To preserve core-to-extremity principles and the efficiency of the lift, it is essential that the legs and hips fully extend before the athlete shrugs or bends their arms to pull under in the medicine-ball clean. Similar to the fault above, where the hips never fully extend, if the shrug or arm bend happens early, the power from the leg and hip extension is not transferred effectively through the core and arms to the ball, resulting in a slow, inefficient lift. Athletes should practice lifting the ball from the ground and rapidly extending the hips and legs while keeping the arms straight to ingrain this timing.
Loss of Lumbar Curve
During the execution of the deadlift portion of the medicine-ball clean, it is not uncommon for the athlete to lose their lumbar curve into flexion. This “rounding” of the lower back is a vulnerable position for loading the spine and may put the athlete at a greater risk of injury. By losing the proper lumbar position, the athlete is also losing midline stability, and the forces generated as the legs drive into the ground will not be efficiently transferred to the ball, making the lift inefficient. To avoid losing the lumbar curve, athletes should focus on maintaining a tall, chest-up posture as they drive their feet into the ground to lift the ball. Adequate stretching and mobility work for the hamstrings will help ensure tight hamstrings do not pull the athlete into a rounded position.
Weight in the Toes
When an athlete begins to pull the medicine ball off the ground and their weight shifts toward the balls of the feet, they decrease the contribution of the powerful muscles of the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) to the lift. To eliminate this inefficiency, athletes should focus on shifting their weight back toward their heels as they push their feet into the ground to lift the ball. Actively engaging the glutes and hamstrings to lift the ball will also help keep athletes from being pulled forward toward their toes.
Hips Rise Without the Chest Rising
During the execution of the deadlift portion of the medicine-ball clean, the hips and shoulders/chest rise together when the bar is below the knees. This keeps the torso angle constant in this initial phase of the lift. If an athlete’s butt shoots up as they pull the med ball off the ground, they may need to slow down and work on squeezing the ball off the ground instead of jerking the ball off the ground. Or they may need to raise their starting position slightly, keep the ball directly between their feet, or work on not extending the knees too early in the lift.
Segmenting the Movement
The medicine-ball clean is a fast lift. There should be a seamless hand-off from the rapid extension of the hips and legs to the shrug to the pull-under. If athletes segment the lift by inserting even the smallest pause between the leg and hip extension and shrug and the shrug and the pull under, the lift will become awkward and inefficient. To practice the timing, athletes can slow down the lift to make sure that as soon as the legs and hips extend, the shrug begins, and as soon as the shrug is complete, they pull themselves under the ball. As this coordination becomes ingrained, athletes can then add speed to the movement.
Curling or Tossing the Ball
Due to the relatively light weight of the medicine ball, the athlete can simply curl or toss the ball to the shoulders instead of relying on the leg drive, shrug, and pull-under to move the ball from the ground to the shoulders. Curling or tossing the ball negates the development of many of the neurological skills, such as coordination and accuracy, which the medicine-ball clean teaches when performed correctly. Athletes must learn to let their arms hang long and loose during the drive phase and shrug, and to pull themselves under the ball instead of lifting or tossing the ball up. The high hang pull-under, or “pop and drop,” is a great drill to fix this fault.
Collapsing in the Receiving Position
A proper receiving position of the medicine-ball clean sees the athlete in the bottom of a front squat, chest up, back engaged, knees tracking in line with the toes, and the ball supported at the shoulders in the hands, elbows up. Often, athletes fail to receive the ball in this strong position. Instead, they receive the ball with low elbows, let the shoulders and chest roll forward, and the back round, making it very difficult to stand up without the ball falling away from the body. To properly receive the ball, athletes should aggressively turn their hands on the outside of the ball as they pull under, driving their elbows through while keeping their chest up. Practicing front squats with a pause in the bottom position can help build strength and awareness in this position.
Medicine-Ball Clean Modifications
The medicine-ball clean requires not only strength but also flexibility and mobility, sound technique, and speed through various positions of the movement. In training, any lifter can be accommodated by modifying the load and positions.
Light Loads
When learning the medicine-ball clean technique, med balls as light as 2 lb are a great tool to allow the athlete to move properly without concern for the ball’s weight.
From the Hang
To work the shrug and pull-under, medicine-ball cleans can be done from the high hang position.
Power Position
For those lacking mobility in the front squat bottom position, they can perform the medicine ball and receive the ball in a power or partial front squat position.
Medicine-Ball Clean Variations
Traditionally, medicine-ball cleans are performed with medicine balls. But other types of equipment can be used to perform medicine-ball cleans.
Sandbags
Sandbags provide an excellent alternative to medicine balls for med ball cleans
Common Medicine-Ball Clean Workouts
Lorenzo: For time: 1,000-meter run / Then, 5 rounds of: 15 push-ups / 20 medicine-ball cleans (14/20 lb) / 21 burpees / Then, 1,000-meter run
Ledesma: AMRAP in 20 minutes of: 5 parallette handstand push-ups (6″ deficit) / 10 toes-to-rings / 15 medicine-ball cleans (14/20 lb)
3 rounds for time of: 8 medicine-ball cleans (80/150 lb) / 100-foot medicine-ball carry (80/150 lb) / 7 paralette handstand push-ups / 100-foot medicine-ball carry (80/150 lb)