How to Perform the Barbell Clean and Press | Form Guide
Master the barbell clean and press with our expert guide. Learn proper form, avoid common mistakes, and build explosive full-body power.
How to Perform
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and the barbell over the mid-foot, gripping the bar just outside your knees.
- Lower your hips and keep your chest up to set a flat back before initiating the pull from the floor.
- Drive through your heels to pull the bar upward, extending your hips and knees explosively once the bar passes your mid-thigh.
- Shrug your shoulders and quickly rotate your elbows under the bar to catch it across the front of your shoulders in a front rack position.
- Stand tall and stabilize your core before pressing the bar vertically until your arms are fully locked out overhead.
- Lower the barbell back to your shoulders with control and then return it to the floor by reversing the initial pull.
Common Mistakes
- Rounding the lower back during the initial pull from the floor.
- Using the arms to pull the weight rather than generating power from the hips.
- Pressing the bar forward instead of in a straight vertical line over the mid-foot.
- Failing to fully reset the stance and core tension between repetitions.
Muscles Worked
Primary movers
- Shoulders
Stabilizers
- Hamstrings
- Upper Back
- Glutes
- Triceps
Related Guides
- Arm Raises (T/Y/I) — Shoulders
- Arnold Press — Shoulders
- Australian pull-ups — Shoulders
Shoulders · Shoulders