Barbell Muscle Clean
The Barbell Muscle Clean is a powerful exercise that develops strength and explosiveness in your upper body and legs.
To perform the exercise:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell at thigh level with an overhand grip.
- Engage your core and pull the barbell up, extending your hips and knees simultaneously.
- As the barbell reaches your chest, rotate your elbows under the bar and catch it in a front rack position.
- Stand tall, ensuring your elbows are high and the barbell is resting on your shoulders.
How to perform the Barbell Muscle Clean
- Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Barbell Muscle Clean using your barbell.
- Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your primary working muscles.
- Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.
Coaching cues
- Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
- Drive force through your working muscles rather than momentum.
- Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.
Common mistakes
- Using too much weight and losing positional control.
- Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
- Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.
Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.
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