Power CleanMuscles Worked
The power clean is driven by a hard hip extension that puts your hamstrings to work first, while your glutes, quads and calves power the jump, your traps and shoulders pull the bar high, and your back holds a strong position. Unlike a full clean, you catch the bar in a quarter squat.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Stand with your feet about hip width, the bar over your midfoot, and grip it just outside your knees with straight arms.
- Set your back flat, chest up and shoulders slightly ahead of the bar, then push the floor away, holding your back angle until the bar clears your knees.
- As the bar reaches mid thigh, jump: drive your hips forward hard, extend your knees and ankles and shrug, keeping the bar close.
- Bring your elbows high and out, then drop under the bar and land in a quarter squat.
- Whip your elbows forward and catch the bar on your front delts with loose fingers and your elbows up.
- Stand up tall to finish the rep, then lower the bar to your thighs and on to the floor under control.
Form tips
- Keep the bar close enough to brush your thighs; a bar that swings away from you is hard to catch.
- Keep your arms straight like ropes until your hips and legs finish the jump, because bending them early robs the pull of power.
- Learn the timing with an empty bar or light technique plates before adding weight, since speed and position matter more than strength here.
Why it made the list
No. 11 of 12
Best Hamstring Exercises
Explosive barbell movement that trains hamstrings through hip extension. Builds power and athleticism.
More hamstring exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Power Clean sets in KasMaker and watch your hamstrings, calves, forearms, glutes, lower back, upper back, quads, shoulders, traps, and triceps fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
