Power Clean

The power clean is an explosive Olympic lift where you pull a barbell from the floor and catch it on your shoulders in a partial squat. It trains full-body power, with heavy emphasis on the hips, glutes, and upper-back traps.

Set up with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart and your toes under the bar. Grip the bar just outside your legs with a hook or standard grip. Keep your back flat, shoulders over or slightly in front of the bar, and hips lower than your shoulders. Your arms stay straight and your elbows turn slightly outward.

Push the floor away and lift the bar smoothly past your knees. When the bar reaches mid-thigh, explosively extend your hips and legs while shrugging your shoulders up. As the bar rises, pull yourself under it and whip your elbows forward, catching the bar across your upper chest and front shoulders in a quarter squat. Stand up tall to finish.

Take a deep breath and brace your core before you pull, staying tight through the catch. If the full lift is too much, practice hang power cleans starting above the knee instead of from the floor. To make it harder, drop into a full front squat after the catch.

Fault: The bar swings away from your body during the pull. Fix: Keep the bar brushing close to your shins and thighs all the way through hip contact.

Fault: You catch the bar with your elbows pointing down and your wrists bent back. Fix: Rotate your elbows quickly under and forward so your upper arms finish parallel to the floor.

Fault: You bend your arms and try to curl or muscle the bar up. Fix: Keep your arms relaxed until after your hips and legs have extended and your shoulders have shrugged.