Rows vs. Energy Cleans: The Distinction

by Carl Raghavan, SSC | April 15, 2025

The distinction between these two lifts is just like the distinction between
snowboarding and snowboarding – persist with me right here. I’ve spent years
coaching each, and this comparability jogs my memory of one thing you’ll
usually hear on the slopes:

“Snowboarding
is straightforward to be taught, arduous to grasp. Snowboarding is difficult to be taught, simple to
grasp.”

And
actually? That’s spot on. I picked snowboarding – no shock
there, contemplating I at all times thought the Silver Surfer was the best
comedian e-book character. Naturally, I wished to glide down the mountain
simply as easily.

The primary day was
brutal – slam after slam. However after every week? I may make it down
most runs with out wanting like a human avalanche. Possibly not
gracefully, however no less than I used to be transferring.

Snowboarding,
although? First off, the boots – whoever designed these issues should
have had a direct hotline to Devil. Simply placing them on felt like
punishment. After which there was my first (and final) crash. While you
fall, your skis are imagined to eject. Mine didn’t. That was the
precise second I discovered the place my proper ACL was. That tiny tug was
sufficient to persuade me to swear off snowboarding endlessly. Snowboarding it
was.

And that’s
precisely how most lifters really feel once they first attempt energy cleans. One
session, and so they’re out. “Nope, not for me. Again to rows.”

In your
first week of rows, you’ll be able to load actual weight on the bar and really feel like
you’re getting someplace. Heavy weight, plates rattling, feeling
robust. What’s to not like?

Energy
cleans? Completely different story. The training section can final anyplace from
six months to a yr earlier than you begin transferring respectable weights.
That’s a very long time to suck at one thing, and most of the people don’t
have the persistence for it.

That’s
the place I’m now – lastly beginning to see the sunshine on the finish of
the tunnel. It took me for much longer than a yr to get my energy clear
as much as the place it needs to be. My finest energy clear was 120 kg in August
2023, when my finest deadlift on the time was 272.5 kg—about 45%. If
you’ve learn my article Setting Goals 102,
you already know that preserving the ability clear inside 40–45% of your
deadlift is a strong benchmark (when potential).

However this
studying curve doesn’t simply apply to rows and energy cleans – it’s
the identical hole that separates powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting.
Powerlifting is like snowboarding. You’ll be able to load heavy weight shortly.
Refining your squat, bench, and deadlift takes time, however the barrier
to entry is low. You get stronger, put extra weight on the bar, and
see outcomes quick.

Weightlifting?
Like snowboarding, it forces you to endure a protracted, humbling section of
sucking earlier than issues lastly click on. The snatch and clear & jerk
require precision, timing, and coordination – issues that don’t
come in a single day. Energy alone received’t minimize it. You want it, certain, however
buying ability takes far longer than merely grinding out heavier
squats and deadlifts.

The extra I
practice the Olympic lifts, the extra I see them as an extension of fundamental
energy coaching. At its core, Beginning Energy revolves round a
few elementary actions:

• Bending the knees
  (squat)
• Urgent one thing overhead (press)
• Selecting
  one thing off the ground (deadlift)
• Pushing one thing away
  from you (bench press)
• Pulling your self as much as one thing
  (chins)

The Olympic
lifts? They’re simply quicker variations of the identical factor:

• Taking a weight
  from the ground to overhead in a single movement (snatch)
• Taking a
  weight from the ground to the shoulders, then overhead (clear &
  jerk)

They match
throughout the similar framework – they simply demand extra velocity, ability, and
precision to execute. And that’s the actual distinction.

If you happen to’re
simply discouraged by arduous issues, energy cleans – and by extension,
Olympic weightlifting – most likely aren’t for you. However we already
know that simple by no means works in addition to arduous does.

So, the
actual query is: which one are you? Are you in search of the straightforward
route, or are you keen to place within the work and stroll down the tougher
path? Solely time will inform should you made the appropriate selection.