Cleans

Overview

The clean is the workhorse of Olympic weightlifting—a violent leg drive followed by lightning‑fast turnover that deposits the barbell in a solid front‑rack before you even process the weight on your shoulders.  More than any other lift, the clean turns raw strength into usable athletic power by demanding full‑body coordination in under a second.

Beyond the platform, cleans teach athletes to produce force vertically, stabilize the spine under speed, and absorb load through the hips.  Whether you are chasing explosive sprint starts, a bigger thruster, or simply an iron core, a well‑drilled clean repays your time ten‑fold.

How to Perform

Like a symphony, the clean is easier to master when each movement line—first pull, scoop, second pull, and catch—is practiced in isolation before playing the entire score.

1. First Pull:  With feet hip‑width and hook grip outside shoulders, set hips slightly above knees, shoulders directly over the bar, and lats turned on.  Push the floor away, keeping the torso angle constant while the bar travels to mid‑shin, then below the knee.  The goal is not to yank but to establish balance over mid‑foot.
2. Second Pull:  As the bar clears the knee, tilt the torso upright and re‑bend the knees under the bar, letting it brush the thighs.  The bar should now sit in the ‘crease’ of the hip with vertical shins, torso tall, and quads coiled for the final explosion.
3. Scoop / Power Position: Drive through the legs into maximal triple extension: knees, hips, ankles.  Keep arms long until you are fully extended, then shrug violently with traps.  This is the moment of highest bar velocity—every degree of horizontal deviation is wasted energy.
4. Pull‑Under & Catch:  Instead of pulling the bar higher, pull your body DOWN.  Elbows travel high‑and‑outside, then whip around the bar, punching through to create a stable front‑rack.  Simultaneously, the hips descend into a quarter or full squat depending on variation.  Absorb the load, maintain a proud chest, and stand tall to finish.

🏋️Coaching Cues🏋️
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➡️ Set‑Up: “Feet flat—lats on.”
➡️ Power Position: “Knees through, torso tall.”
➡️ Extension: “Explode straight up.”
➡️ Catch: “Fast elbows around.”

Technique Focus

'Bar‑body proximity’ is gospel.  If a sheet of paper could flutter between your thighs and the bar during extension, you are leaking power.  Keep the bar scraping the thighs; wear long socks and chalk the contact line if needed.

Equally sacred is timing. The legs must finish before the arms engage.  Early arm pull not only kills vertical force but also delays turnover.  Drills like clean pulls and tall cleans force you to keep the elbows passive until the right instant.

• Vertical Drive: hips extend UP, not toward the crowd.
• Full Foot Pressure: power transfers best through mid‑foot—avoid premature heel lift.
• Fast Elbows: elbows lead the whip, preventing crash‑landing.
• Stable Front‑Rack: elbows parallel to floor, core braced.

Coaching Cues

Good cues are snappy, field‑tested, and phase‑specific.  Rotate them so the athlete hears only what they need for the rep at hand, avoiding cognitive overload.

For beginners, one cue per attempt is plenty; for experienced lifters chasing PRs, a quick reminder to ‘finish tall’ or ‘fast elbows’ can tune the nervous system without distraction.

• “Push the platform.”
• “Legs, then elbows.”
• “Brush—not bang.”
• “Stand tall.”

Common Mistakes

The most common technical sin is early arm bend.  Solve it with clean pulls at 90 % 1‑RM—arms straight—and tall muscle cleans where you must pull under without leg drive.

Another plague is the stripper deadlift where hips shoot up, leaving shoulders behind.  Use tempo first pulls (3‑0‑3) to synchronize hip and shoulder ascent.

• Bar crashing on shoulders—slow elbows, fix with tall cleans.
• Feet landing wide—practice no‑feet cleans to reinforce balance.
• Looping bar path—film side view; bar should track nearly vertical.

Clean Variations & Their Uses

Each flavor of clean serves a purpose.  The muscle clean strips away the squat and re‑bend, forcing your upper back and traps to finish the pull and turnover with lighter loads.

The power clean catches above parallel and is the sweet spot for field athletes who need power transfer without deep squat mobility.  The classic squat clean, of course, allows maximum loading but taxes mobility and leg strength.

• Muscle Clean – Turnover drill; light loads, no re‑bend.
• Power Clean – Bar speed emphasis; catch above parallel.
• Squat Clean – Full depth; heaviest loads and leg strength.
• Hang Clean – Start mid‑thigh; isolates second pull.
• Block Clean – Removes first pull; teaches vertical extension.
• Clean Pull – Strengthens extension at 95‑115 %.

Phase‑Specific Drills

Targeted drills accelerate technical mastery while managing fatigue.  Below are my go‑to options:

First Pull Drills:

• Segmented Clean Deadlift: pause 1"" off floor, below knee, and at power position.
• Tempo First Pull 3‑1‑3: slow up, pause, slow down.

Second Pull Drills:

• High‑Pull from Hang: vertical elbows, bar brushes thigh.
• Tall Clean: start on toes in extension, pull under with no leg drive.

Catch & Front‑Rack Drills:

• Front‑Squat + Pause at Catch: 3‑second pause reinforces upright torso.
• Clean Balance: dip‑drive, drop under, fast elbows.

Benefits & Carryover

Cleans produce peak power outputs exceeding 3,000 W in trained lifters, making them unparalleled for converting raw strength into explosive movement.  Studies show programs emphasizing cleans improve vertical jump and 10‑m sprint times more than traditional squats alone.

The aggressive front‑rack catch also builds thoracic extension and upper‑back strength that protect the spine under all front‑loaded movements—from thrusters to sandbag cleans—reducing injury risk.

Prerequisites

Before chasing body‑weight and beyond, hit these checkpoints:

• Front Squat 1× body‑weight for triples.
• Deadlift 1.5× body‑weight with neutral spine.
• Front‑rack mobility: 30‑s bar hold without wrist pain.

Progressions

Progress logically—light muscle cleans to groove turnover, then hang power cleans, and finally full squat cleans under increasing load:

• PVC Tall Muscle Clean → Empty‑Bar Muscle Clean.
• Hang Power Clean + Front Squat complex.
• Clean Pull + Squat Clean waves (70‑80‑85 % repeated).

Programming Tips

Rotate stress: one heavy day for neural drive, one volume day for technical endurance, and one speed day for bar acceleration.

Example week: Mon heavy triples at 85 %, Wed EMOM doubles at 70 %, Fri clean pulls at 105 % followed by moderate squat cleans at 75 % for barbell cycling.

• Cluster sets 1.1.1 at 80 %—10‑15 s between singles—maintain bar speed.
• Contrast sets: 2 power cleans + 3 depth jumps to potentiate.
• Front‑squat immediately after cleans to reinforce rack posture.

Mobility Focus

Success hinges on mobile ankles, supple lats, and an open thoracic spine.  Ankles allow upright squat; lats and thoracic extension prevent elbows from dropping in the rack.

Spend 5–10 min on couch stretch, banded lat stretches, and foam‑roller thoracic extensions before clean sessions.

Wrap‑Up

A well‑executed clean is a symphony of brute force and grace.  Master each phase, respect the drills, and you’ll forge transfer power that elevates every other lift. Stay patient, stay technical, and the kilos will reward your discipline.

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