How to Do Hang Power Clean: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in Hang Power Cleans

Primary muscles worked:

• Glutes
• Lower Back

Secondary muscles worked:

• Adductors
• Hamstrings
• Trapezius
• Forearm Flexors

How to Hang Power 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.
5. Bend your knees slightly and receive the bar on the front of your shoulders.
6. Stand up on straight legs again.
7. Lower the bar in front of you, with control.

Commentary

The hang power clean is a variant of the clean exercise, in which you have removed the first pull from the floor, and you also don’t catch the bar in as deep of a squat position. This makes the hang power clean a potentially easier variant to begin with for learning the clean, since you don’t have to focus on as many steps, and also the mobility demands are not as high.