Clean

The classic (or full) clean is commonly abbreviated as “Cl.”

The clean is the first part of the second event in the sport of weightlifting. The athlete performs the clean by lifting the barbell from the floor to the shoulders in a single motion. To finish the second event, an athlete must perform a jerk to propel the barbell overhead.

The athlete performs the clean by grabbing the barbell with a conventional grip, known as the clean grip. The clean grip is found by placing the hands thumb distance from the inside edge of the knurling. The athlete will know they’ve found their clean grip by placing the barbell onto their anterior deltoids and the hands are just outside their shoulders.

To properly execute the clean, the athlete should be set up in an upright squatting position. The middle of the shoulder, from a profile perspective, is directly above the barbell which is above the middle of the foot. Using only their legs to initiate the lift off from the floor, the athlete will maintain the same torso angle as a clean pull to hip until the barbell reaches a height above the knees. When the barbell is above the knees, the athlete must aggressively and violently extend their legs then hips to propel the barbell vertically. As the barbell reaches and makes contact with the hip/upper third of the thigh, the athlete will use their upper body to continue the vertical momentum to their shoulders. After fully extending their lower body, the athlete shall move their feet from the starting position to their squatting position. Making sure their knees and hips are bent, the athlete should focus on keeping the barbell close to the body and aggressively pulling their body under the barbell as it travels to roughly belly button height ready to receive the barbell in the bottom of the front squat position. The athlete must learn to land in their squat position flat-footed at the same time as the barbell is received onto the shoulders.

The correct sequential order for body involvement in the clean is legs, hips, toes, shoulders then arms. Notice how the athlete in the video achieves a vertical bar path and great acceleration and velocity by using the correct order of body part involvement.

We recommend performing the clean as 3-8 sets of 1-4 repetitions.