How to Do Hang Clean: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in Hang Cleans

Primary muscles worked:

• Glutes
• Lower Back
• Adductors
• Quads

Secondary muscles worked:

• Hamstrings
• Trapezius
• Forearm Flexors
• Calves

How to Hang Clean

1. Grip the bar with an overhand grip, about shoulder-width apart, and lift it up to get into the starting position.
2. Hold your breath, and brace your core slightly.
3. Lower the bar along your thighs, down to about knee-level, by bending your hips and knees.
4. Reverse the movement, and 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 hang clean is a variant of the clean exercise, in which you have removed the first pull from the floor. This makes the hang clean a potentially easier variant to begin with for learning the clean, since you don’t have to focus on as many steps.