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Power clean

A barbell lift pulled fast from low down to the shoulders. What studies measured it loading, which loads gave the most power, how training with it changed people, and what weightlifting injury studies report.

Region
Hip
Muscles
gluteus maximus, quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, erector spinae, rectus abdominis, trapezius, latissimus dorsi
Updated
October 15, 2026
Reviewed
October 15, 2026 · how entries are checked

Movement

Where the lift comes from

Olympic weightlifting has two competition lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk4. A 2020 biomechanics study describes both lifts as starting with a first pull, a transition and a second pull6. The two lifts then differ in how the lifter turns under the bar, catches it and stands up6. The power clean is one of several derivatives of the weightlifting lifts, alongside the hang clean, power snatch and high pull3. They are widely used to train qualities that support other sports3.

One study describes the power clean as lifting the bar from the floor to rest across the deltoids, the muscles that cap the shoulders7. The lifter receives it in a shallow squat and then stands up7. A study of competitive weightlifters counted a hang clean as a power version when the bar was caught at a quarter squat or higher8.

Some versions leave out the catch, the part where the lifter receives the bar9. A 2015 review calls these pulling derivatives, among them the jump shrug, the clean pull, the mid-thigh pull and the hang high pull9.

The phases of the pull

A 2026 study described the phases of a clean pull from the floor10:

  • First pull. The bar rose off the floor to a point just under the knee, with little change in trunk angle10.
  • Transition. As the bar passed the knee, the knees straightened to clear it, then bent again10.
  • Second pull. From the thigh, the hips, knees and ankles straightened rapidly together10.

The pull, and how it differs from a jump

In 2023 the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) issued a position statement that describes the second pull of the clean and snatch1. It calls it a rapid, forceful straightening of the hips, knees and ankles, much like jumping and sprinting1. Yet in 20 trained participants, the ankle, knee and hip straightened in a different order and pattern than in a countermovement jump11.

What went with heavier lifts

In 10 people doing a clean at 85% of 1RM, the authors suggest that heavier lifts went with a steady trunk in the first pull12. Heavier lifts also went with smaller knee extensor moments, the turning effect that straightens the knee, in the first pull12. They went with greater knee extension moments in the second pull12.

How the versions compare

Two studies of the hang power clean described it slightly differently10,13. In a 2026 study, the bar began at mid-thigh and was lowered to just above the knees before the drive up10. In a study of 30 male student athletes, it was lowered to just above the knee and held about half a second13. Both studies had the bar caught in a quarter squat10,13.

Two other studies compared versions of the lift, each in one group14,15:

  • 16 elite rugby league players at 60% of power clean 1RM. The two mid-thigh versions gave more peak power, peak vertical force and rate of force development than the power clean and hang power clean14.
  • 16 inexperienced female collegiate athletes at 60 to 80%. Peak power, peak vertical force and rate of force development did not differ between the power clean, hang power clean and mid-thigh power clean15.

The two studies point in different directions, and their groups differed: elite rugby league players in one, inexperienced female collegiate athletes in the other14,15.

What it loads

The hip, knee and ankle

One lab study measured the clean’s pull at 65, 75 and 85% of 1RM16. At each of those loads, the hip and knee straightened faster than the ankle16. The hip and ankle generally produced higher torques, or turning forces, than the knee16. The joints’ demands did not all peak at the same load16:

JointLoad where the demand peaked
AnkleTorque and power peaked at 85%16
KneeTorque and power peaked at 75%16
HipTorque and how fast it rose peaked at loads above 75%16

Eight weightlifters cleaned at 80% of 1RM17. The knee extensors did more work in the power clean’s second pull than in a clean lifted just high enough for a full-squat catch17. The difference came from the knee moving through a larger range17.

The muscles

In untrained participants doing the power clean, electromyography (EMG, readings of muscles’ electrical signals) recorded 16 muscles18. Their activity fell into three groups that worked together18:

In 27 weightlifters, muscle activity in the hang power clean and hang clean pull was broadly similar at loads above 70% of 1RM20. The exceptions were the rectus abdominis and erector spinae, which the authors call stabilising muscles20.

In 20 trained men, the upper trapezius seemed to hold the scapula (shoulder blade) still in the first pull and the transition between pulls21. It then contracted to lift the scapula in the second pull, though this shrug got smaller as the load rose21.

Force and power at different loads

Three studies looked for the load that gave the highest peak power22,23,24:

Who was studiedLiftLoad with the highest peak power
19 male collegiate athletesPower clean70% of 1RM, above 30 to 50%, not significantly different from 60 and 80%22
15 menHang power clean70%, not significantly different from 50, 60, 80 and 90%23
12 professional rugby playersHang power clean80%, with no significant difference across 40 to 90%24

The rugby study’s authors concluded the best load should be found for each person24. A 2015 meta-analysis of 27 studies found 70% of 1RM or more gave the most peak power in the power clean and its hang version2. The same meta-analysis put the best load at 30% or less for the jump squat, a squat done as a jump2.

In the 19 collegiate athletes, force rose with load and peaked at 80%, while rate of force development did not differ across loads22. In 20 trained participants, force rose faster in the power clean’s upward phase than in a countermovement jump or jump squat11.

How the body adapts

Compared with other kinds of training

A 2022 meta-analysis of 16 studies found greater gains than traditional resistance training in weightlifting load and countermovement jump height3. Against plyometric training, the same meta-analysis found only non-significant differences in speed, power and strength3. A 2018 meta-analysis of seven studies likewise found no significant difference from plyometrics in countermovement jump gains25.

The 2023 NSCA statement concludes that adding weightlifting exercises improves force and athletic tasks more than plyometric training or general resistance training alone1. The meta-analyses above agree with it on resistance training but not on plyometrics3,25.

With and without the catch

One trial split people into two strength-matched groups of 16 and 18, training twice a week through two 4-week in-season blocks26. Power clean derivatives done with or without the catch gave similar gains in jump height, a mid-thigh pull strength test and power clean 1RM26.

Progressive overload

A 2026 position stand describes progressive overload as the need to increase the stimulus on the muscle throughout a training programme27. The 2023 NSCA statement says weightlifting exercises should be programmed in sequence across training blocks, varying exercise, load and volume1. In the 2022 meta-analysis of 16 studies, the weightlifting programmes had a median length of 8 weeks and three sessions a week3. They used 55 to 95% of 1RM, one to seven sets of 3 to 12 repetitions, and mostly 3 to 5 minutes’ rest3.

Four studies changed one part of the dose28,29,30,31:

What changedWho, and what they didWhat was found
LoadProfessional female handball players, 7 weeks of hang power cleans at 90% or 50% of 1RM, with equal volume28Both groups improved hang power clean 1RM and sprint speed, but not jump height; judged mainly on effect sizes, the 90% group did better28
Rest between repetitions10 college-aged men proficient in weightlifting, 3 sets of 6 at 80% of 1RM29Peak power fell 15.7% across a set with no rest, 5.5% with 20 seconds and 3.3% with 40 seconds29
Cluster sets20 participants, 3 sets of 9 at 70% of 1RM, with and without 30 seconds between repetitions30With the rests, peak bar speed held and horizontal bar travel did not change significantly; without them, peak speed fell and bar travel changed30
Rest between heavy attemptsNine elite weightlifters, two maximal clean and jerks with 2 or 3 minutes between31Three minutes kept clean technique steadier, with smaller drops in bar speed and peak power31

A cluster set is a set split into smaller groups of repetitions with short rests between them. The authors of the cluster set study suggest such sets may help keep technique efficient under fatigue30. That study reported no funding and no conflict of interest30.

Injuries reported in weightlifting

The studies below cover weightlifting as a sport and CrossFit training, not the power clean on its own4,5,32.

Reviews of the sport

A 2024 updated systematic review looked at the six weightlifting reports that counted injuries by body site4. In those, the largest shares were the knee (21%), lower back (19%), hands and fingers (15.3%) and shoulder (15.3%)4. The same review’s authors suggested the knee injuries could come from the greater knee range that weightlifting exercises such as deep squats require4. They noted that several reports covered only competitions, and called for studies of overuse injuries, which build up from repeated loading, in training4.

An earlier review, from 2017, of nine studies found 2.4 to 3.3 injuries per 1000 hours of weightlifting training33. It also named the spine, shoulder and knee as the commonest sites, and rated most studies as low quality33. Both reviews put the knee, the back and the shoulder among the most injured sites4,33. The 2017 review named the spine, and the 2024 one the lower back4,33. The 2017 review judged the risk similar to other non-contact strength or power sports, and low compared with contact sports33.

Elite lifters

Six years of injury records of elite US male weightlifters showed acute and recurring injuries at 3.3 per 1000 hours of weightlifting5. That rate sits within the 2017 review’s range for training5,33. For 90.5% of injuries, the recommended time off was 1 day or less, and the authors judged them mainly overuse injuries5. Most knee injuries were tendinitis, pain and swelling of a tendon, and most back injuries were strains5.

A CrossFit survey and young lifters

In a survey of 308 athletes from German CrossFit gyms, the clean was named in 12 of 146 movements that caused injuries32. One wrist fracture was reported after a clean, and wrist ligament injuries after the clean and rope climbing32.

A 2022 review of weightlifting in children and adolescents reports that injuries can occur, but their rate appears relatively low and severe injury is uncommon34. A three-year MRI study followed twelve competitive child and adolescent weightlifters35. By the final year, four had a pars defect, a crack in a small bridge of bone, in the lumbar vertebrae35. In that year, three reported low back pain35.

Connections

The muscles it works

In one EMG study of untrained lifters, the gluteus maximus, two hamstring muscles, gastrocnemius, trapezius, latissimus dorsi and erector spinae worked as one group18,19. In one study of eight weightlifters at 80%, its second pull asked more work of the quadriceps, the knee extensors, than a minimal-height clean17,19. One EMG study calls the rectus abdominis a stabilising muscle20.

A 2024 meta-analysis of 11 studies grouped the power clean with the squat and deadlift as maximal dynamic lifts36. Changes in those lifts tracked matching isometric tests loosely, and it concluded these are separate kinds of strength36.

In 14 resistance-trained people, a one-arm kettlebell clean, swing and snatch placed different demands on the erector spinae, an oblique and the vastus lateralis37. In a trial of 30 healthy men, 6 weeks of weightlifting gave more back squat strength than kettlebell training, though both groups gained38. A 2019 scoping review judged that comparison unreliable, as the weightlifting group trained heavier and practised most of the tests39.

Power clean loads

Power clean is compared with

Power clean is related to

Sources

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Every source the library cites

Changes

  • First published.