Powerful athletes sprint faster, jump higher and ultimately dominate on the court, field or track.

The term power refers to the amount of strength you can produce in as short a time as possible. It doesn’t matter if you can squat 500 pounds if you can’t do it quickly—which is why bodybuilders aren’t professional athletes.

The two best exercises I recommend to develop this essential attribute coincidentally both have the word power in their name—the Power Clean and the Power Snatch.

The benefits of these exercises are well documented. However, they are complex movements, and you must perform them correctly if you want them to impact your performance.

Here are the three parts of the Power Clean and Power Snatch.

The Pull

• Approach the bar.
• Stand with your feet underneath your hips and the bar positioned over your laces.
• Clean: hold the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width and your knuckles pointing to the ground.
• Snatch: Hold the bar with a wide grip and your knuckles pointing to the ground.
• Drop your hips to the ground as if you were about to perform a Deadlift, keeping your chest up, back flat and eyes up.
• Lift the bar vertically off the ground as if performing a fast Deadlift.

The Jump

• As the bar passes the top of your knees, jump by extending your hips, knees and ankles.
• Forcefully shrug your shoulders, and allow your arms to stay loose.
• Keep the bar close to your body.

The Catch

Clean

• Bend your hips and knees to drop your chest to the bar.
• Snap your arms under the bar by pushing your elbows forward until your triceps are parallel to the ground.
• Catch the bar on the fronts of your shoulders in a front-squat position with your weight evenly distributed between your feet.
• Stand up from this position.

Snatch

• Bend your hips and knees to drop under the bar.
• Catch the bar overhead (similar position as the Overhead Squat) with your arms locked out and your weight evenly distributed between your feet.
• Stand up from this position.

To start improving your power, learn these two exercise as soon as possible. Perform the Power Clean for three to five sets of five reps on strength and endurance days. Do the Power Snatch with the same volume on your speed, agility and quickness days. Make sure to do these exercises before any other weightlifting movements so that you aren’t fatigued and have access to max power.

Read more:

• How Olympic Lifts Increase Speed
• The Keys to Jumping Higher and Being Faster
• 5 Reasons Why Football Players Should Power Clean