As a aspiring Olympic lifter and college strength & conditioning coach, I was disappointed when my athletes couldn’t execute barbell Cleans.

Most of them had restricted shoulders, knotted lats, and sore wrists from too much benching and not enough restoration work.

(This was back in the 1990s era when restoration work was practically uncommon.)

So, barbell Cleans became barbell High Pulls.

Or dumbbell Cleans.

Plus, doing higher reps - anything more than 5 - with the Olympic lifts practically guarantees your technique deteriorates .

And that’s a perfect set up for an injury.

And no one wants one of those.

Especially not an athlete gearing up for contests.

I remember seeing the “Kettle-Stack” advertised in the back of a Muscle & Fact - uh, Fitness - left on my desk.

I made a reminder to investigate further.

When I transitioned from College Strength Coach to Personal Training Business Owner, I encountered the same issue:

Teaching the Olympic lifts (O-lifts, as some call them), was a “juice that wasn’t worth the squeeze.”

Too technical and clients had to believe in it .

So, back to the dumbbell versions of the O-lifts.

Then, I saw the Dragon Door ad for kettlebells in 2001.

I bought my first set in January 2002 and started using them with my clients soon after .

We all loved them for their powerful, efficient workouts.

More repetitions of the Olympic lifts did miracles for people’s physiques.

They got leaner, faster.

They got stronger, better mobile, and better conditioned.

Plus, they were tough , so they were mentally engaging.

In fact, I still train one of my clients from 2001 today.

Now she’s in her 50s, the 16kg is a toy , and the 24kg routinely goes over her head.

Back in the early 2010s, I wrote a lot about Olympic lifters' physiques primarily coming from Snatches, Cleans, Overhead work, Squats, and Pulls.

Sure, it’s true that the Chinese - some of the most muscular lifters in the world - do some bodybuilding.

Usually (according to at least one source ), it’s in the form of around six sets of 10 repetitions AFTER all their key lifts for a session have been completed.

“See, Geoff! read more They didn’t get all that muscle from ‘ only ’ the O-lifts!”

No, they didn’t.

But they did get most of it - especially from Olympic lifting assistance exercises.

“Oh yeah, how can you be so sure?”

Because that’s how I built much if not most of mine:

Squats, Deadlifts (a form of a “Pull”), Presses, Bench, Rows, Cleans, and Power Shrugs up until age 22.

Then, I dieted down to 200lbs from 252lbs, and still kept the Squats ( with more depth - and significantly more )...

Pulls ( tons of them! )...

And Overhead work.

Nothing blows up your upper back faster than Snatch Grip High Pulls from above the knee!

And high frequency Squats?

Full body growth!

Not just the legs!

Which is how I got back up to 230lbs in my late 20s.

So, if your goal is to change the way you look, feel, and perform, you can’t go wrong by using the “Hybrid” forms of the Olympic lifts found in the kettlebell exercises.

Especially the double kettlebell exercises, which, I’ve found over the last 20+ years, is where much of the true transformations lay.

Exercises like:

Double Clean

Double Press

Double Push Press

Double Jerk

Double Front Squat

Double Clean + Press

Double Clean + Push Press

Double Clean + Jerk

Double High Pull

Double Snatch

They’re just so challenging on the body.

Your body literally cannot resist adapting when you execute these exercises routinely .

Start with a small number .

Learn the techniques.

Build your power first. Then your size.

And in most cases, your stamina and even fat loss will “just happen.”

You practically work all the muscles in your body at once.

(You haven’t “lived” until you experience the muscle ache you get the next day after high repetition / high volume Double Cleans or Double Snatches.)

Plus, using the double kettlebell lifts is a great use of time.

You can accomplish A LOT of work in just twenty minutes - if you know how to organize your training correctly.