Clean Pull

advanced · pull_vertical

Setup

Stand with the bar close to your shins, lower your hips to grip it at shoulder width, weight through the heels, back flat, chest up, shoulders just in front of the bar.

Execution

Pull the bar off the floor by extending the knees and hips evenly, keeping it close to your shins.
As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward hard and extend your whole body fully.
Exhale sharply, shrug the shoulders and rise onto your toes to send the bar higher using power from the legs and hips.
Do not bend the elbows to pull further; the arms just hold the bar, the power comes from the hips and legs.
Lower the bar back to the floor under control along the same path it rose, without dropping it.
If you run out of strength or your back starts to round, abandon that rep: keep the arms straight, put the bar down on the floor and end the set rather than grinding the rep out.

Breathing

Inhale and brace before pulling, exhale sharply right at full extension. Do not hold your breath for long; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, avoid this explosive pulling exercise.

Quick cues

Bar stays close to the shins.
Extend the whole body fully at the top.
Arms just hold, power from the hips.
Shrug only after the hips finish extending.

Common faults

Fault: Bending the elbows to pull the bar up early with the arms
Fix: Keep the arms straight until the hips are fully extended, shrugging only after.
Fault: Shrugging before the body has finished extending
Fix: Slow the pull down into phases: past the knee, hip extension, then the shrug.
Fault: The bar swinging away from the body as it passes the knee
Fix: Keep the shoulders slightly ahead of the bar and drag it close along the thighs past the knee.
Fault: The lower back rounding at the moment the bar leaves the floor
Fix: Brace the core and keep the chest open before pulling; reduce the load if the back still rounds.

Equipment

barbell

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back, arms