The clean is the first half of the clean & jerk: the bar comes from the floor to your shoulders in one movement, and you stand it up out of a deep front squat. It is a little more forgiving than the snatch — the grip is narrower and the bar has less distance to travel — but the same principle applies: learn the catch first, then build the pull that feeds it.
Own the rack position
Everything hinges on a solid front rack: the bar resting across the front of the shoulders, elbows driven high, and a relaxed, loose grip — the fingers are hooks, not a vice. Build it with front squats, slow on the way down and fast on the way up, elbows high and chest up. A tip borrowed from four-time World Champion Louis Martin: mark out your clean stance and front squat in exactly that position, so you are strengthening the same positions you catch in.
Grip and set-up
Take a shoulder-ish clean grip with a hook grip. Set up with the bar over your shoelaces and close to the shins, feet about hip-width with the toes turned slightly out, shoulders over the bar, back straight and flat, and head up. Our guide to the ideal set position covers this in detail.
The pull, phase by phase
First pull. Off the floor with the legs — shoulders over the bar, back flat and tight, arms long, head up. The bar stays close, tracking up the shins.
Second pull — the hip drive. The clean’s hip drive is very like the snatch’s, with two differences: you drive the bar into your thighs (not the hip crease, because of the narrower grip), and you do not need to pull the bar as high. Leave a slight gap — about an inch — so you can make contact with force, then extend: shrug, elbows up, and finish tall on your toes. Contact is at the thighs and should not hurt.
The turnover and catch
As the extension finishes, drop and whip the elbows through fast — slow elbows are the number-one reason a clean crashes onto the shoulders and pins you. Receive with the elbows up, chest up, in a deep front squat, then stand it up under control. See The Clean — The Key Movements for the positions in order.
A sensible learning progression
- Front squat — strength and confidence in the catch (build up to sets around 80–95% of your 1RM front squat).
- Clean pull — the full extension, staying over the bar.
- Muscle / tall clean — drill fast elbows and turning the bar over.
- Hang clean — add the hip drive from above the knee.
- Full clean from the floor — join it up.
Common faults
- Slow elbows — the bar crashes and buries you. Drill the muscle clean.
- Early arm bend — see fixing bent arms on the first pull.
- Catching high and getting stuck, instead of receiving in a full, braced squat.
More in Top 3 Tips to Improve Your Clean. Nail the clean and you are halfway to a big clean & jerk — when you are ready for the second half, read How to Learn the Jerk.
Kit tip: A firm, raised-heel shoe makes the deep front-rack catch far more stable — we lift in Adidas Adipowers.
Competition photography: Sarah & Paul Photography — Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
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