Olympic lifts exercise
Power Clean
Develop whole-body explosive power through triple extension.
- Equipment
- Barbell, bumper plates, platform
- Sides
- Both sides together
- Positions
- All positions
- Tempo
- X0X0
Setup
Barbell on the floor with bumper plates, feet hip-width under the bar, hands just outside the legs.
How to do it
- Set with a strong back posture and your weight towards the forefoot, extend the knees to bring the bar just below the knee, then pass through mid-thigh and explosively extend the body - jump and catch the bar on the front of your shoulders in a quarter squat with your elbows pointing forwards.
- Do 3 to 6 sets of 2 to 3 reps at 70 to 90% of your clean max, with full rest.
- Stop the set the moment technique degrades; there is no value in a slow, ugly clean.
Coaching cues
- Jump and catch
- Extend fully before the arms do anything
- Elbows fast and forward in the catch
Common mistakes
- Bending the arms early and muscling the bar up instead of extending
- Cannot get the elbows to point forwards in the catch, which means upper-back or wrist mobility needs fixing before loading
Sets and reps by goal
| Goal | Load | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 70 to 90% of 1RM | 3 to 6 | 2 to 3 | 3 min |
Tempo X0X0: Every rep is fast: no slow lowering and no pauses.
Related exercises
- Hang Power CleanTrain explosive triple extension without the floor-to-knee phase that stalls most beginners.
- Clean PullGet the power stimulus of a clean without needing the rack position.
- Mid-Thigh PullTrain the power position with the lowest technical demand of any Olympic derivative.
- Push JerkExpress overhead power with a receiving position under the bar.
- Box JumpExpress concentric jumping power with a low landing cost.
- Countermovement JumpTrain and test elastic jumping power.