How to Do Block Cleans: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in Block Cleans

Primary muscles worked:

• Glutes
• Lower Back
• Adductors
• Quads

Secondary muscles worked:

• Hamstrings
• Trapezius
• Forearm Flexors
• Calves

How to Do Block Cleans

1. Place the bar on blocks so that the bar is just above knee height.
2. Grip the bar with an overhand grip, about shoulder-width apart.
3. Hold your breath, and brace your core slightly.
4. Lift the bar in a smooth but fast motion by extending your legs and knees simultaneously. Then squat down again to receive the bar on the front of your shoulders.
5. Stand up on straight legs again.
6. Lower the bar in front of you, with control.

Commentary

The block clean is a variant of the clean exercise, in which you have removed the first pull from the floor. This makes it a potentially easier variant to begin with for learning the clean since you don’t have to focus on as many steps.