Hamstrings exercise

Clean High Pull

How to do the Clean High Pull with correct form — the muscles worked, equipment, and step-by-step technique from the Fitonist exercise library.

Set your clean starting position tightly and initiate the lift by pushing with the legs against the floor. At mid- to upper-thigh, your shoulders should be at least slightly in front of the bar. Accelerate the bar aggressively with violent leg and hip extension, keeping the bar…
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Illustration showing the Clean High Pull
Targets

Muscles worked

Hamstrings muscle Hamstrings Primary Glutes muscle Glutes Secondary
Gear

Equipment

Barbell Barbell
Technique

How to do the Clean High Pull

  1. 1 Set your clean starting position tightly and initiate the lift by pushing with the legs against the floor.
  2. 2 At mid- to upper-thigh, your shoulders should be at least slightly in front of the bar.
  3. 3 Accelerate the bar aggressively with violent leg and hip extension, keeping the bar close to the body and allowing it to contact at the hips.
  4. 4 As the legs and hips reach full extension, pull the elbows up and to the sides, keeping the bar in immediate proximity to the body.
  5. 5 The aggressiveness of the push against the ground should result in the heels rising off the floor as the extension is completed, and this fully extended position should be maintained by maintaining pressure against the floor until the bar stops moving upward.
  6. 6 Elevate the elbows as much as possible—focus on lifting the elbows rather than the bar in order to ensure proper movement and final position.