the best move for full-body strength

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Here’s what we have for you today:

• Master the clean and jerk for full-body power

• The 13 best creatine supplements on the market

• Thorisdottir opts out of the 2025 CrossFit season

Training Tips

Oh, So Clean

The clean and jerk goes through predictable phases in popularity. Some swear it’s the ultimate in full-body power development, and others claim it’s too complicated to teach properly. But trust us, the benefits of the clean and jerk far outweigh the fact that, yes, the learning curve can be a tad steep. 

Lucky for you, the comprehensive tutorial below breaks the move down into easy-to-grasp steps. Heaving a dead weight from the ground to an overhead position involves equal parts focused violence and graceful balletic movement. The “throw/catch” dynamic creates an all-or-nothing experience completely different from trying to grind up a heavy bench press. In short: This might be the best move you’re not doing. (Or not doing 100% properly.)

In addition to our technique guide, you’ll also learn some clean and jerk alternatives and a few ways to integrate the move into your current lifting program. It’s hard to call yourself a lifter if you’ve never spent any serious time working on your clean and jerk, but it’s never too late to remedy that.

A Message From Velites

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Quick Hits

📺 Watch This: It might be a few months late, but you can finally watch the full 2024 World’s Strongest Man contest on the official WSM YouTube channel.

🏈 Like This: The Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles showed off the squatting prowess of star running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts on Instagram. Watch them make short work of 600 pounds.

📸 Share This: Want to share your latest feats of strength with the fitness community? Just use the hashtag #BarBendLifts for a chance to be featured on our Instagram page!

💪 Drink Up: Use this DIY mass builder to help you grow larger with the help of some simple ingredients.

🚴‍♂️ Use Science: One for the training nerds, this long-form interview with the Performance Chief of the world’s top road cycling team details the changes in the application of exercise science in the past 20 years.

Supplements

Best of the Best

Creatine isn’t a magic potion, but it is one of the few supplements to hit its benchmarks consistently and actually do exactly what it claims to do (what a world we live in!).

Our expert reviewers delved deep into the mysteries of this amazing compound of three amino acids and present to you, the reader, the 13 best creatine products currently available for purchase.

We’ve come a long way since the first creatine powders came onto the market in the ‘90s. If you’re old school, there are plenty of powders to choose from. But now, the world’s bazaars contain such wonders as creatine gummies and easily swallowable pills that really pack a punch. 

There are also creatine formulations specifically targeted at unique groups: athletes, women, and anybody in a post-workout state. Find the right creatine for you, and prosper.

CrossFit

Dottirs Standing on Morals

One CrossFit stalwart won’t be seen at the 2025 CrossFit Open, and it’s not for lack of physical ability or drive.

Upset with management over the handling and lack of change following the death of fellow competitor Lazar Đukić, Annie Thorisdottir will be skipping out on this season of competitive CrossFit.

“It just feels like it’s being swept under the rug,” the decorated athlete said in a recent interview. 

For the first time in 13 years, Thorisdottir will miss out on competing, but that doesn’t mean her involvement with the sport, or her own rigorous training, is finished. CrossFit will miss out on having one of its most iconic competitors for at least the rest of 2025, and if things don’t change, it sounds like they might lose out on her forever.

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