I agree with the original author. I think the olympic lifts are a myth. There’s no skill transfer, and if cleans help a person jump better, then jumping should help cleans. TRack runners are supposed to use cleans to enhance their jumping and running. Well, then what do Olympic lifters do to enhance their explosiveness? Cleans? Why is it that Olympic lifting is the only sport that helps itself, where you can train the actual sport to improve yourself in it — with no other options for improving with alternate exercise — yet a triple jumper can’t just hop and bound to improve his ability? And if you can find competitive lifters who do bounding and jumping to better their lifting, then that means bounding works. If bounding works, then why shouldn’t jumpers BOUND instead of doing clean and jerks?
Even the idea of muscle fiber recruitment is skewed. Fibers are recruited according to amount of resistance, not on speed of movement. The type I fibers can move limbs at higher speeds than anyone seems to want to acknowledge. Type II b fibers are usually used when resistance is high-and therefore movement is slow. You can’t throw your max in the bench press up and down in rapid motion, because the resistance is high. You are only able to push it slowly, and barely make it. You also can only push a near max maybe twice or three times, since the fibers you are predominantly using are low on oxygen (type II), hence low on endurance. Put lighter weight on the bar, and you will be able to throw it up for a much longer set — because you are using smaller fibers with more endurance capacities.
I’m still trying to figure out how a clean is supposed to make a person better at things that have no similarities. I think there are something like six factors for motor learning transferability that have to be met in order for a SKILL benefit to occur from one activity to another. The clean has none of them when compared to track events.
Your off on a number of points here…
You muscle recruiting theory is bogus. There are many studies which totally prove that. Why don’t you do some research before stating your far out, non proven ideas.
And your last point about how a clean can help other movements? Your thinking of the clean as strictly a movement. Your not thinking of what training with the clean actually does physiologically to the body and how THAT transfers to other athletic movements…