Hang Power Clean
Triple extension = sprint acceleration
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Deadlift the bar to standing with a clean grip: hands just outside the thighs, double overhand, or a hook grip if you know it. Stand tall with long arms and the shoulders slightly in front of the bar.
The rep
Push the hips back and slide the bar down the thighs to just above the knees, back flat, arms straight. Then jump: extend the hips, knees and ankles violently so the bar is driven up off the thighs. Shrug and pull yourself under it, whip the elbows forward, and catch the bar on the front of the shoulders in a quarter squat. Stand up to finish, then lower the bar back to the hips.
On the exercise card
- Violent hip extension
- Punch elbows through
- Land in quarter squat
- Tempo
- Aggressive pull
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Pulling with the arms early | The arms stay long until the hips have finished. Bending them early takes power out of the jump. |
| Slow elbows in the catch | The bar lands on the wrists and rolls forward. Whip the elbows through fast so it sits on the shoulders. |
| The bar swinging away from the body | Keep it close and brush it up the thighs. A bar that loops out is a weaker pull. |
| Catching in a deep squat | That is a full clean. Land in a quarter squat with the feet a little wider than at the start. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A clean pull from the hang (the same jump, with no catch), or a hang high pull.
- Harder
- A power clean from the floor, or start the hang lower, from just below the knee.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
The hips, knees and ankles extending together is the same action as the first steps of a sprint, done against a load. AFL, cricket and MMA all program it heavy and low-rep in the power work, before the strength block, so every rep is fast. A rep that slows down has stopped training power.
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Power Clean from Floor | Full-pull triple extension — football, rugby, AFL |
| Hang Power Snatch | Fastest bar-speed Olympic lift — sprint power |
| Clean Pull | Skill-free triple-extension overload — high force, low complexity |
| DB Snatch | Explosive single-arm power, easy to learn |
| Single-Arm DB Clean | Asymmetric explosive pull — combat athletes |
| Trap Bar Jump | Loaded jump — power with no barbell skill |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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