Every move you make on the field follows a path in the body’s muscles—a kinetic chain. A muscle deficiency anywhere in the chain can reduce the strength and power of a movement, impairing your performance. This potential loss highlights the need to train the entire body for strength and power.
With total body strength and power, your kinetic chain will be strong enough to execute the variety of skills needed for your sport—whether throwing a ball, taking a shot or shedding a blocker—without any performance detriments. So, what weight room exercise is best for total body strength and power? The clear choice is the Power Clean.
The kinetic chain in the Power Clean starts in the lower body and hips. As the bar is raised, the chain continues up through the core and into the arms and shoulders. After the bar has been caught, the chain shifts again toward the lower body and hips, particularly when exploding out of the quarter squat. The core and upper body also work to maintain stability.
Most muscles groups are engaged in the Power Clean, making it the ultimate total body strength and power development exercise.

• Starting with bar on floor, grip it slightly wider than shoulder width
• Keeping low back tight, move chest over bar and push hips back
• Explode upward by forcefully shrugging and fully extending hips, knees and ankles
• Pull bar up, keeping it close to chest
• Drop under bar with bent knees, catching bar on front of shoulders with elbows forward
• Powerfully extend at the knees and hips to upright stance
• Lower to start position
• Repeat for specified reps

Sets/Reps: 4-5×2-5