Open-Palm Kettlebell Clean

How to do it

1. Stand over a kettlebell with your feet about shoulder-width apart and hinge down to grip the handle with both hands.
2. Swing the bell back between your legs with a flat back, then snap the hips forward.
3. As the bell rises, pull both elbows in and release the handle, turning the hands so the palms face up.
4. Catch the body of the bell in both palms at chest height, elbows tucked, handle pointing down.
5. Hold briefly, then flip the bell back to the handle and let it swing down between the legs.
6. Repeat the hip snap and catch without letting the bell rest on the floor between repetitions.

Common mistakes

• Catching with the arms out in front. The elbows come in towards the ribs so the chest and forearms take the weight; arms held away from the body leave the shoulders holding the catch.
• Squatting the bell up instead of hinging. The bell travels back between the legs and the hips do the work; bending the knees and standing up loses the swing.
• Grabbing at the bell on the way down. It is flipped back to the handle in one smooth motion as it starts to fall, not snatched at once it has dropped.
• Timing the release off the arms. Let go when the bell is weightless at the top of its float, not while it is still being pulled.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Hamstrings

Secondary

• Glutes
• Spinal Erectors
• Quads
• Shoulders