Hang Clean
Explosive barbell pull from the hang that finishes with the bar racked across the front of the shoulders.
How to do it
- Set your feet at hip to shoulder width and grip the bar just outside your thighs with a double overhand grip.
- Stand tall with the bar against the front of the thighs, chest up and lats engaged.
- Push your hips back and slide the bar down to just above the knees, keeping the back angle fixed.
- Drive the floor away and extend the knees and hips violently, keeping the bar in contact with the thighs.
- Shrug the traps and pull your elbows up and around the bar as you drop under it.
- Catch the bar racked on the front of the shoulders, stand up, then lower it back to the hang.
Key technique cue
Slide the bar up the thighs and don't pull early with the arms; explode with the hips first.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Pulling early with the arms, which kills bar speed and pushes the bar away from the body.
- ✕ Letting the bar drift forward off the thighs, which forces a forward catch and a missed rack.
- ✕ Rounding the back during the dip to the knees, which loads the lumbar spine under an explosive effort.
- ✕ Catching with low elbows, which drops the bar off the shoulders and puts the load on the wrists.
Benefits
- ✓ Trains rate of force development through full hip and knee extension.
- ✓ Teaches the second pull without the technical load of a floor start.
- ✓ Builds trap, upper back and grip strength alongside the leg drive.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Hang Clean
- Power Clean
About the exercise
The hang clean starts with the barbell already at mid-thigh, so the lift removes the floor and trains the second pull directly. You hinge to slide the bar down the thighs, then extend the knees and hips violently, shrug the traps and pull the elbows through to rack the bar on the shoulders. The quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings supply the extension while the traps, upper back and spinal erectors finish the pull. It is the most common teaching variant of the clean, and suits power-development blocks and CrossFit and team-sport programs.
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