The hang clean and the power clean are both variations of the ‘classic’ clean as seen in Olympic weightlifting competitions. They are effective exercises to build strength, improve explosive movements and boost your overall athletic performance. Each of these exercises targets multiple muscle groups. Yet despite their similarities, the hang clean and the power clean are two different lifts with unique benefits, and one might be more suited to your training goals than the other.
What is a Hang Clean?
The hang clean is a full-body lift that involves lifting the barbell from a mid-thigh position. If you’re new to this clean variation, practise your form using technique plates. Focus on speed and keeping the bar close to your body.
• Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the 7ft Olympic Barbell with an overhand grip just above your knees. Keep your chest up and spine straight.
• In a fluid, explosive movement, extend your hips, knees and ankles to drive the bar upwards.
• Shrug your shoulders and pull the bar up to chest height while keeping the bar close to your body. Your elbows may come up all the way to shoulder height.
• Drop into a full squat (hang clean) or quarter squat (hang power clean) to catch the bar on your shoulders with your elbows pointing forwards.
• Stand up straight before returning the bar to its starting position for your next rep.
What Are The Benefits of a Hang Clean?
• Explosive hip extension - The hang clean emphasises the explosive hip movement more than any other clean variation. This is because you can’t rely on that initial first pull off the floor (as seen in the full squat clean and the power clean) for any upwards momentum.
• Upper-body coordination - Starting with the barbell above the knees, the hang clean requires precise timing between the hips, shoulders and arms.
• Reduced lower back stress - The higher starting position means the hang clean is less taxing on your lower back.
• Beginner friendly - As the hang clean eliminates the initial pull from the floor, new lifters might find the hang clean an easier option to practice their explosive hip extension and catch.
What is a Power Clean?
Unlike the hang clean, the power clean starts from the floor. It’s different from the full squat clean because you’ll be catching the bar in a quarter squat before standing up straight to finish the rep.
As with the hang clean, focus on technique before adding heavy weights to your barbell. The explosive extension of your hips and knees is key to the successful execution of both the hang and the power clean.
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and with the Barbell and Weights on the floor. Your overhand grip on the bar should be slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Lift the barbell off the floor by straightening your hips and knees. Focus on keeping the bar close to your body.
• As the bar hits a mid-thigh position, explosively extend your hips, knees and ankles.
• Shrug your shoulders and pull the barbell upwards. Again, keep that bar close to your body.
• Drop into a quarter squat and catch the barbell on your shoulders.
• Stand up straight before returning the bar to the floor. Make sure you invest in some Gym Flooring, especially if you tend to drop the bar.
What Are The Benefits of a Power Clean?
• Full-body exercise - The power clean helps you develop power from the ground up, targeting your complete posterior chain in the process.
• Pulling strength - Because you will not be dropping into a full squat clean to catch the barbell, you will need to pull the bar higher to successfully finish the rep.
• Requires less mobility - Dropping into a full squat clean whilst catching a barbell onto your shoulders isn’t easy. Beginner lifters might find their lower-body mobility is restricted, making it hard for them to drop into the squat portion of the lift. The power clean eliminates this element, allowing lifters to practice the pull and hip extension without having to worry about the squat.
Both the hang clean and the power clean are great exercises to add to your training. Including either or both into your routine will help you become a stronger, more explosive lifter!
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Tags: Equipment > Bars and Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength
