Hang Clean

advanced · pull_vertical

Setup

Work on a lifting platform with bumper plates and keep clear space in front of and behind you so you can dump the bar. Stand holding the bar wider than shoulder width, letting it hang at mid-thigh, knees slightly bent, torso tipped slightly forward, lower back flat.

Execution

Brace your core and hold that back angle before you start the explosive drive.
Explode by extending the hips, knees and ankles together like a jump, driving the bar straight up.
Shrug and pull quickly toward your chest while the bar is still rising from the momentum.
Whip your elbows around to the front and up fast to catch the bar racked on your shoulders, elbows high.
Exhale and drive through your heels to finish standing tall.

Breathing

Inhale and brace at the hang before you explode, hold through the hip drive, then exhale as you stand tall with the bar racked. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or are pregnant, do not train this breath-holding style lift; ask a coach about a light-load version or skip it.

Quick cues

Hold still at the thigh before you explode.
Snap the hips through hard and fast.
Whip the elbows around fast.
Keep the bar path straight, close to the body.
If the bar drifts wrong, push it away, don't fight it.

Common faults

Fault: Dipping the knees down before exploding, turning it into a small squat
Fix: Drop the load and drill holding still at the hang for a full second before allowing the explosive drive.
Fault: Pulling with the arms early, before the hips finish extending
Fix: Drill the high pull alone with a light bar, feeling the hips finish extending before the arms do anything.
Fault: The bar swinging away from the body on the way up
Fix: Drop the load and drill keeping the bar brushing the thigh then the belly the whole way, shoulders staying over the bar as you drive.
Fault: Trying to muscle through an off-balance, badly caught rep
Fix: Push the bar away to the front and step back the moment it feels off; there is no rack here, so never grind to hold a bad catch on your shoulders.

Equipment

barbell

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back, shoulders, arms