Power Clean

The power clean is the strength-sport adaptation of the Olympic clean. A full clean requires the lifter to receive the bar in a deep front squat, which demands significant ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility plus the skill to absorb a heavy barbell in a catch position. The power clean cuts that requirement — the bar is received in a partial squat, typically with the thighs at or just above parallel, which lets the lifter load the movement with meaningful weight without the mobility and technical demands of a full clean. The trade-off is a lower absolute loading ceiling, since the lifter cannot sit under a near-maximal weight.

The movement has three phases: the pull from the floor, the explosive second pull (hip extension and shrug), and the catch. The first pull mechanics are similar to a deadlift — bar close to the body, chest up, lats engaged — but the finish is more upright because the lifter must generate vertical bar speed. The second pull is where the power comes from: aggressive hip extension (the "jump" shape) combined with a shrug of the traps drives the bar upward. The catch is a fast drop under the bar into a partial front squat, with the elbows flipping up into the rack position. All three phases are trained separately before the full lift is put together.

In strength training programming, power cleans are typically used as an explosive accessory rather than the main lift of the session. Three to five sets of 2-3 reps at 65-80% of clean max works for most programming. Reps above 5 tend to degrade technique as the lifter fatigues, which is why low-rep sets are standard. The exercise pairs well with squats, deadlifts, and pulling-focused days because the hip extension and posterior chain demand complements those sessions. Some strongman and powerlifting coaches use power cleans as a warm-up tool to prime the CNS before heavy pulling.

In LiftProof, power cleans are tracked as a distinct lift from deadlift, clean, and hang clean. Track weight, reps per set, and bar catch position (high catch vs. deeper partial-squat catch). Video review matters more on power cleans than on most lifts — the movement fails technically long before it fails physically, and a single missed cue can cascade into a dangerous bar path. Most lifters benefit from at least a few sessions of coaching or video feedback before running power cleans with significant weight.

• Start with bar over the midfoot, shoulders slightly in front of the bar
• First pull smooth, second pull explosive — not the same speed throughout
• Full hip extension before the shrug — "jump, then pull"
• Elbows whip up and around into the rack, not pulled up like a high pull
• Catch with feet wider than the start stance, weight on the midfoot

• Pulling with the arms early — the arms bend only after the hips finish extending
• Starting with the hips too low (a squat start) — the bar stays slow through the first pull
• Catching in a quarter-squat with the chest collapsed — weight crashes forward onto the wrists
• Using grinding-reps at high RPE — technical failure comes before muscular failure
• Treating it like a deadlift — vertical bar speed is the point, not grinding the bar off the floor

• deadlift→
• push press→
• overhead press→
• hang clean→
• clean pull→
• power snatch→