The Barbell Clean and Press Exercise: How To, Benefits, Variations

Clean Definitions

You will see various terminology regarding the clean.

The most basic definition of a clean is lifting a barbell off the floor and catching the bar in a full squat.

There are several clean and press variations:

• Power clean – is when you receive the bar in a partial front squat position
• Hang clean – is when you start the clean movement from a standing position, not from the floor.
• In the hang clean, there are additional variations, either starting the lift from below the knee or the middle of the thigh.
• Squat clean is also what most strength athletes refer to generically as the clean, and you catch the bar on the front of your shoulders in a full front squat position.
• Rack position – is when the barbell rests on your front delts aka anterior deltoids, close to your neck, and supported by your fingertips.
• Your elbows must be pointing forward with the back of your triceps parallel to the floor to achieve a proper front rack position.

This post will focus on the barbell power clean and press.

How to Clean and Press Properly – Step by Step Exercise Guide

Setup for the Clean Portion – the lower half of the movement

Step 1. Set up for the clean and press starting position as you do for the deadlift

Step 2. Place your feet in the most optimal jump stance to generate power against the floor; either hip-width or place your feet shoulder-width apart, as taller athletes like Brian Shaw do for the deadlift

Step 3. Grab the barbell with an overhand grip spaced just outside of your legs.

Step 4. Begin the power clean by driving your heels through the floor

Step 5. Imagine performing a vertical leg press

Step 6. The barbell should maintain contact with your shins, this requires the proper engagement of your lats.

Step 7. An excellent tip to achieve lat engagement is to think of bending the bar across your body.

Step 8. Build speed as you extend your ankles, knees, push your hips forward and shrug your shoulders to pull the bar upwards.

Step 9. When the barbell passes your knees and reaches mid-thigh, use an explosive jump to accelerate the bar upwards, and pull yourself underneath the barbell until you catch it in the rack position.

Overhead Press – the upper half of the movement

Step 10. From the front rack position, press the bar overhead and perform a military press.

See this video where Mark Rippetoe teaches the first part of the movement, the power clean:

Practice Hang Cleans to Perfect Rack Position

1. A great tip from strongman Alan Thrall is to learn proper technique for the power clean is to practice what he calls jump and catch drills until you learn how to get into the rack position. Here is how he describes the movement:
2. Start with the bar from the crease of your hips.
3. Think knees, bend your knees to do a quarter front squat, and then
4. Jump upwards to perform triple extension, where your ankle, knees, and hips all extend at the same time.
5. This momentum will cause the bar to accelerate upwards and then you need to pull yourself beneath the barbell and rotate your elbows forward until the bar reaches rack position.

Great video from Strongman and Powerlifter Alan Thrall on How to Power Clean

Primary Muscles Worked by the Clean and Press

Like the deadlift, the clean and press will target the major muscle groups of your lower body and posterior chain:

• gluteus muscle group
• hamstring muscle group
• quadriceps
• hip flexors

And you also work many powerful muscles of your upper body:

• abdominal core
• arms
• latissimus dorsi
• lower back and upper back
• shoulders – anterior deltoids

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