How to Overcome Mental Blocks in the Clean & Jerk!

The clean is the most difficult exercise for an advanced lifter. In the beginning, it’s the easiest, but as you get more advanced and lift heavier, the clean is the hardest exercise. The clean and jerk requires mobility, strength, power, and confidence, you can’t “fake it,” as you sometimes can in the snatch.

One of the biggest obstacles is a mental block. The moment when the bar feels too heavy and hesitation prevents you from completing the lift. Many experienced lifters end up avoiding the clean & jerk towards the end of their careers precisely because of this difficulty.

✅ My strategy for overcoming mental blocks
I developed a simple method that helped me lift 190 kg, 200 kg, 210 kg, and more. This is based on a counterintuitive principle:

✔️ When I feel good, instead of maxing out, I prefer to do more reps.

✔️ When I feel bad, I push harder. If the bar feels heavy even at 70-90 kg, instead of getting frustrated, I force myself to lift more. On a bad day, I know that if I can do 90% of my 1 rep max goal, on a good day I can lift 100% of that weight.

This way of training has helped me overcome my mental blocks at heavy weights and avoid clarking.

📌 If you manage yourself and you go heavy only when you feel good, you will not learn how to lift when the barbell is heavy.

For this reason, the clean & jerk is one of the best exercises to train your champion mentality. If you can overcome your mental blocks on this lift, you will progress quickly and be able to achieve new personal records.

💬 How do YOU ​​overcome your mental blocks on the clean & jerk?
I would love to know your methods! In the comments, write to me how you manage to motivate yourself and overcome difficult moments in your training.

Share this article with a friend who needs motivation to improve their clean and jerk!

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