Deadlift vs Power Clean – Introduction
When it comes to the Power Clean vs Deadlift – which is the winner between these two compound movements?
What are the benefits, differences, pros, and cons?
The conventional deadlift is arguably one of the most productive strength training exercises you can do with a barbell.
That might seem like a big claim, but there aren’t many exercises that involve more muscle groups or allow you to lift heavy weights safely and without needing spotters or a power rack.
However, there is another exercise that might be almost as good.
In fact, for some lifters, it might be better.
We’re talking about the power clean.
In this article, we compare and contrast these two great exercises to decide which one is the best one for you!
Power Clean 101
The power clean is a stripped-down version of an Olympic weightlifting squat clean.
It’s an excellent exercise for athletes, can help build muscle, and is a valuable move for adding variety to your pulling workouts.
The power clean is a compound exercise.
Many fitness experts and exercisers would even say that it’s a full-body exercise as your upper body has to work as hard as your legs.
The main muscles involved in power cleans are:
Lower Body Muscles
- Quadriceps – front of your thighs
- Hamstrings – back of your thighs
- Gluteus maximus – back of your hip aka derriere
- Triceps surae – calves
Upper Body Muscles
- Erector spinae – lower back
- Core – the muscles of your midsection
- Trapezius – upper back
- Rhomboids – upper back
- Latissimus dorsi – side of upper back
- Deltoids – triceps
- Biceps – front of your upper arms
How To Do a Power Clean
Power cleans start with a deadlift, which means you must master that particular exercise before trying them.
So, if you are deadlifting well already, here’s how to do a power clean:
- Place your loaded barbell on the floor.
- Ideally, the bar should be about nine inches above the floor.
- Stand with your toes under the bar, feet between shoulder and hip-width apart.
- Reach down and hold the bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip.
- With straight arms, lower your hips, lift your chest, and brace and fill your core with a deep breath.
- Take the slack out of the bar by pushing your feet into the floor.
- Without rounding your lower back, stand up explosively.
- Imagine you are jumping.
- Rise onto your toes to generate maximal force.
- As the bar passes your knees, pull hard with your arms, so the bar travels up the front of your body.
- As the bar nears your chest, bend your knees slightly and drive your elbows forward and under the bar.
- Catch the bar on the fronts of your shoulders, also known as the front rack position.
- Stand up straight.
- Roll the bar forward and off your shoulders and lower it back to the floor.
- Let the bar settle, reset your starting position, and then repeat.
Power Cleans
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Power Clean Pros and Cons
Not sure if the power clean deserves a place in your workouts?
Consider these pros and cons!
Pros:
Increase muscle power and speed
Power is your ability to generate force quickly.
If you want to jump higher, run faster, or kick harder, power cleans could help.
A full-body exercise
Because power cleans work so many muscles, they could provide a one-stop workout when you are short of time.
Five sets of five reps of power cleans will train your upper and lower body in 15 minutes or less.
Add a few sets of push-ups, and you really will have trained your entire body in less time than most people spend warming up.
Bulk up your upper body
Power clean exercises are an effective way to add mass to your upper traps and deltoids.
If you want to get “yoked” (very muscular) like Olympic weightlifters such as Dimitry Klokov, power cleans could help.
Deadlift more weight
Power cleans teach you to be explosive, which could help you deadlift more weight.
Speed off the ground means more momentum and a faster rep.
Weights feel heavier when you lift them slowly, so it makes sense that increasing your speed will allow you to lift heavier weights more efficiently.
A very athletic movement
Your muscles usually work together to overcome physical challenges like lifting, pushing, or pulling heavy weights.
Power cleans teach and develop this skill, which should positively impact most athletic endeavors.
That’s why power cleans are such a popular exercise with athletes.
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Cons:
While the power clean is a mostly safe and effective exercise, there are downsides too:
Tricky to learn
The power clean is one of the more technically demanding strength training exercises.
It’s certainly not suitable for beginners.
Because the power cleans is a full-body exercise, many different movements are happening simultaneously, which means a lot can go wrong, too.
Ideally, it would be best if you learned power cleans under the supervision of an experienced, qualified coach.
Equipment
The best practice is to perform power cleans with bumper plates while using a lifting platform.
You can do them using cast-iron plates, but there is a real danger of damaging your floor, the plates, or even your barbell if you use iron plates.
Particularly if you drop the weight between reps, as many lifters like to do.
1 Power Clean + 1 Hang Clean + 1 Push Jerk
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Deadlift 101
Almost everyone who works out should deadlift.
As well as being a primo strength and muscle builder, the traditional deadlift also teaches you how to lift heavy weights safely, that is, using your legs and hip, and without rounding your lower back.
Victorians went as far as to call deadlifts “the health lift” –they’re that good for you!
If you are thinking about doing power cleans, you should already be familiar with the mighty deadlift.
But, in case your deadlift anatomy knowledge needs refreshing, the deadlift works a large number of upper and lower body muscles, including:
Lower Body
- Quadriceps – front of the thigh
- Hamstrings – back of the thigh
- Gluteus maximus – back of hip
Upper Body
- Erector spinae – lower back
- Core – the muscles of your midsection
- Trapezius – upper backRhomboids – upper back
- Latissimus dorsi – side of upper back
Similarly, you should already be a proficient deadlifter if you want to add power cleans to your workout.
Make sure you are using the proper technique for deadlifts and that it is up to scratch by checking out my in-depth, step-by-step deadlifting guide at the end of this article.
Like all exercises, deadlifts have pros and cons.
Consider the following before you trade up to power cleans or decide to stick to deadlifts.
Pros:
Straightforward to learn
Compared to power cleans, deadlifts are a simpler exercise making them easier to learn and faster to master.
If you aren’t very coordinated or agile, deadlifts could be your best option.
Close to a full-body exercise
While power cleans involve more major muscle groups, deadlifts aren’t all that far behind.
But, similar to power cleans, they provide a time-efficient workout, and doing some bench presses or push-ups means you can train almost your entire body with just two exercises.
Better for strength
You should be able to deadlift more weight than you can power clean.
The more straightforward movement and shorter range of motion make deadlifts ideal for lifting heavy.
The deadlift is the best choice if you want to focus more on overall strength than power and speed.
Cons:
There really aren’t many downsides to deadlifting, which is what makes it such a great exercise for most lifters.
In fact, if you CAN deadlift, you probably should.
Done correctly, the deadlift is one of the safest and most beneficial strength training exercises around!
So, there are no real cons to the deadlift.
That said, make sure you learn how to deadlift with proper form.
Doing so will help you avoid the most common deadlift injuries.
Power Clean vs Deadlift – Comparison
Now you know a little more about power cleans and deadlifts, it’s time to judge these two exercises by a few different criteria:
Strength
Because you can lift more weight when deadlifting, it’s the best exercise for building pure explosive strength.
Power cleans can make you stronger, but they aren’t as effective.
So, if you want to lift heavy weights, deadlifts are the way to go.
Winner: Deadlifts!
Hypertrophy (muscle building)
Bodybuilders do deadlifts to build a bigger back, hips, and hamstrings.
They provide a combination of heavy weights, a longer time under tension, and plenty of metabolic stress, all of which are important for hypertrophy.
Power cleans are a much more explosive exercise, and as such, each rep takes a lot less time to complete.
With less time under tension, power cleans are potentially less effective for muscle growth.
That said, power cleans do involve more upper-body muscle engagement, so they could be better upper body builders than deadlifts.
Winner: Deadlifts for the lower body, power cleans for the upper body!
Posterior chain muscles
The deadlift and the power clean are both excellent exercises for your posterior chain muscles.
But, which one is better?
The answer to that question depends on a few factors, such as your experience with each exercise, your goals, and your anatomy.
The deadlift is a great exercise for beginners because it is relatively easy to learn and it targets many muscle groups simultaneously.
On the other hand, power cleans are a more advanced exercise that requires more skill and coordination.
While it targets similar muscle groups as the deadlift, it also works the back muscles of your upper body.
So, which one should you do?
If you are new to weightlifting, start with the deadlift.
However, if you are more experienced or if your main goal is to build explosive strength, go with the power clean.
Winner: It’s a draw!
Athletic performance
How about the power clean vs deadlift for athletes?
Both exercises can help improve sporting performance.
The best one depends on whether you want to get stronger (deadlifts) or more powerful (power cleans).
That said, because power cleans involve the whole body and replicate jumping, they’re probably the better option for most athletes.
You can probably think of three examples of athletes using deadlifts and power cleans to up their game right off the top of your head.
For example, deadlift focus training was a vital conditioning component for:
- NBA phenom Stephen Curry,
- Olympic gold medalist runner Allyson Felix,
- And the power clean for electrifying football players like Saquon Barkley
Winner: Power cleans!
Ease of learning
Power cleans are an advanced technical exercise.
You need to be able to deadlift correctly to do them.
They’re also done at speed, making them even more challenging to learn and master.
If you are new to lifting, focus on building a perfect deadlift before adding power cleans to your workouts.
Winner: Deadlifts
Safety
Deadlifts and power cleans are both relatively safe exercises.
You don’t need spotters or a squat rack to do them, and if you cannot complete a rep, you can just drop the bar to the floor.
However, deadlifts allow you to lift more weight, which could put more stress on your joints.
In contrast, power cleans are explosive movements, which also means a lot of joint stress.
Lifting a weight quickly from the floor to your shoulders can be risky if you fail to get the weight to the right height or don’t catch it correctly.
As such, the power clean is potentially the more dangerous exercise, but only just!
Winner: Deadlift (marginally)!
Power Clean vs Deadlift – Wrapping Up
Power cleans and deadlifts share several benefits.
They’re both full-body exercises that can build muscle and strength.
In fact, the power clean starts with a fast deadlift, which is why you need to master the standard deadlift before attempting power cleans.
So, which one should you do?
Deadlifts are arguably your best choice if you want to build pure strength and lower-body muscle mass.
But, if you want to develop power and speed and increase upper body muscle mass, power cleans could be better.
That said, why not do both and enjoy all the benefits these powerful strength exercises have to offer?
Do a few sets of heavy deadlifts followed by lighter, faster power cleans to build strength and explosive power.
Alternatively, power clean first and then deadlift after to fire up your central nervous system and lift more weight.
You could even do these exercises on different days, for example, deadlift on Monday, and then do power cleans on Thursday.
Ultimately, power cleans and deadlifts are both great exercises, so you should choose the one that’s right for your fitness goals.
What’s Next
Now that you know the differences between the deadlift vs power clean, you might want to incorporate both of these fantastic compound exercises in a strength training workout.
Of course, there are many approaches to strength training, but the good news is that the 3×5 workout developed by American Strength Coach and former Powerlifter Mark Rippetoe has stood the test of time for the last 30 plus years and helped thousands (including me) improve their health and fitness.
Coach Rippetoe popularized the 3×5 workout in his definitive book on essential barbell training Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition.
The 3×5 Workout Plan gives you the minimum effective dose of the best exercises you need to build muscle and change your body.
So if your New Year’s resolution is to finally get leaner, stronger, and go from fat to fit, why waste more time trying to reinvent the wheel?
This next article gives you the basic concepts of the 3×5 Workout: The Only Strength Training Program You’ll Ever Need and how to implement the 3×5 workout for your body transformation.
It also includes a 3×5 Workout Program PDF to help you record and measure your progress.
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Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer),