Clean Pull Exercise Guide: How to Master the Clean Pull

The clean pull is a weightlifting exercise that involves three lifting stages to activate muscles across your body. Practice clean pulls by standing in front of a weighted barbell. Grab the barbell with a hook grip (fingers over your thumbs), and perform the first pull by lifting the barbell to mid-thigh level. During the second pull, perform a knee and hip extension while keeping the bar close to your body. For the third and final pull, explosively push your feet into the floor and shrug your shoulders to lift the weighted barbell above your waist.

Although the clean pull and the deadlift activate many of the same muscle groups, they differ from each other in a few distinct ways.

• Starting position: When performing the clean pull, your upper body is in a more upright position at the start of the exercise when compared to the deadlift. The starting position of a deadlift uses a lesser knee bend and a greater hip hinge as you extend your shoulders slightly in front of the bar.
• Movement pattern: While the deadlift uses a straight vertical bar path, the clean pull involves three pull movements that move the bar path through a slight curve.
• Explosiveness: Clean pulls use a greater acceleration of the bar as you shrug your shoulders and extend your legs with a vertical jump movement. By contrast, you lift the bar with a slow, controlled movement during a deadlift.

For clean pulls, begin by using a weight that you can control for 2–5 sets of 3–5 repetitions. Choose a weight that allows you to maintain good technique throughout all sets and repetitions.

1. 1. Stand directly in front of the barbell with your toes underneath the barbell. Your posture should be tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Your shoulders should be directly over your hips with a neutral head and neck position. Your chin should remain tucked throughout the movement, as if you were holding an egg under your chin.
2. 2. Evenly distribute your weight and grip the floor with your feet to create a stable position. Your arms should remain long by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows. Pre-tension your shoulders, hips, and core with a good inhale and exhale before lowering toward the barbell.
3. 3. Hinge from your hips and begin to bend your knees to lower your body toward the barbell. Your shins should be close to the barbell while remaining in a vertical position.
4. 4. Grab the barbell with your hands spaced slightly wider than your hips and a double overhand grip, or hook grip, with your fingers wrapped over your thumbs. Rotate your shoulders outward to engage your back muscles. Your chest should be higher than your hips and your hips should be higher than your knees. Your shoulders should be slightly ahead of the barbell. All repetitions should begin from this starting position.
5. 5. While keeping your shoulders over the bar and the barbell close to your body, start your upward movement by pushing your feet through the floor to stand up. Your chest and hips should rise at the same time while maintaining your back angle.
6. 6. As the barbell passes your knees, and your upper body rises to an upright power position, explosively push your legs into the ground as if you were jumping. Your shoulders should still be over the barbell.
7. 7. Once the barbell reaches mid-thigh height, explosively straighten your hips, knees, and ankles while shrugging your shoulders. Your arms should remain long, with your elbows pointed outward, as you lift the barbell above your waist.
8. 8. Lower the barbell to the floor in a controlled manner and set up for another repetition.

Including the clean pull in your powerlifting program can have several benefits.

1. 1. Clean pulls increase your explosive power. Clean pulls use a triple extension movement as you explosively extend your hips, knees, and ankles. With practice, the clean pull is a great exercise for improving your power development and force production for sprinting and swimming exercises.
2. 2. Clean pulls allow you to lift heavier weights than standard cleans. With an explosive movement pattern, the clean pull gives you the force needed to lift heavier weights than a traditional clean exercise.
3. 3. Clean pulls improve your performance during Olympic weightlifting exercises. The clean pull can improve your balance and mobility for more complex Olympic lifts like the power snatch and the clean and jerk.

The clean pull is a full-body exercise that activates muscle groups throughout your upper and lower body, including your quads, forearms, calves, deltoids, glutes, triceps, hamstrings, and lower back muscles.

Once you’ve mastered the basic clean pull, try one of these pulling variations.

1. 1. Hang clean pull: Perform this variation by starting with the barbell hanging in front of your mid-thighs with your arms disengaged. Lift the barbell through a pulling motion using a lesser range of motion than a standard clean pull.
2. 2. Clean high pull: Practice this advanced variation by continuing through the pulling motion until the barbell reaches chest height.
3. 3. Dumbbell clean pull: If you want to highlight any muscle asymmetries you may have developed by using a single piece of equipment, consider using a pair of dumbbells during the clean pull exercise.
   
4. 4. Snatch pull: The main difference between the snatch pull and the clean pull exercise is that the snatch pull uses a snatch grip with your hands further apart on the barbell.
5. 5. Power clean: The power clean is an advanced variation that involves lifting the bar to shoulder height and catching it in a front rack position against your clavicles and shoulders.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

To improve sports performance and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for 24 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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