Barbell Squat Clean
What Is the Barbell Squat Clean?
Barbell Squat Clean is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads, glutes, hamstrings and lower back and also engages the trapezius, shoulders, calves and core. It is an advanced-level movement in which the barbell is pulled explosively from the floor, received on the front of the shoulders in a full front squat and then stood up to finish.
This is the clean as weightlifters compete it, and it makes up the first half of the Barbell Clean and Jerk, one of the two Olympic lifts. Receiving the bar in a full squat means it only has to be pulled high enough to get under at the bottom of a front squat, so lifters can handle more weight than in any higher catch. That is why competitive lifters almost always squat their cleans. It is also a regular part of CrossFit training and of strength and power programs for athletes who are coached in the Olympic lifts, usually placed early in a session while you are fresh.
The Barbell Power Clean is the same lift caught with the thighs above parallel, which demands a higher pull and caps the load. The Barbell Hang Clean keeps the full-squat catch but starts from above the knees, so it skips the pull from the floor. Compared with a power clean, the squat clean puts much more of the work on the quads, since every rep ends in a heavy front squat, and it asks for the ankle, hip and upper-back mobility to sit upright at full depth with the bar on the shoulders. Coaches often compare the clean with the front squat: a proficient lifter typically cleans about 85 to 90% of their best front squat, so a clean well below that points to the pull or the technique, and a clean close to it means squat strength is the limit.
It suits weightlifters, CrossFit athletes and other athletes who train the Olympic lifts with a coach. Before adding it, build a strong, upright Barbell Front Squat and a solid pull with the Barbell Clean Pull, and learn the turnover with lighter drills such as the Barbell Muscle Clean. Many lifters then learn the catch from the hang with the Barbell Hang Clean before cleaning from the floor.
Muscles Worked
- Biceps Femoris
- Primary
- Erector Spinae
- Primary
- Gluteus Maximus
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Adductor Magnus
- High
- Rectus Femoris
- High
- Upper Trapezius
- High
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Rectus Abdominis
- Medium
Instructions
- Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and your toes turned slightly out, with the barbell over the middle of your feet.
- Squat down and grip the bar overhand with your hands just outside your legs. Use a hook grip if you have learned one.
- Set your hips low with your shoulders slightly in front of the bar, arms straight, chest up and back flat, then brace your core.
- Push the floor away and lift the bar, keeping your back angle the same and the bar close to your shins.
- Once the bar passes your knees and reaches your upper thighs, drive your hips forward and straighten your legs explosively, keeping your arms straight.
- At full extension, shrug and pull yourself down under the bar, keeping it close to your body as your feet move into your squat stance.
- Turn your elbows quickly around and forward under the bar and catch it on the front of your shoulders as you sit into a full front squat.
- In the bottom, keep your elbows high, your chest up and your fingertips loosely under the bar so the weight rests on your shoulders.
- Stand up out of the squat with your elbows high until your hips and knees are fully straight.
- Lower the bar to your thighs and then to the floor under control, and reset before the next rep.
Common Mistakes
Pulling with the arms early
Bending the elbows before the hips and knees have finished extending takes power out of the pull and tends to swing the bar forward.
Bar drifting away from the body
Letting the bar move out in front of the shins and thighs pulls you onto your toes and makes the catch land forward.
Cutting the extension short
Dropping under the bar before the hips and legs finish extending leaves the bar too low to catch at the bottom of the squat.
Letting the bar crash
Falling under the bar and losing contact with it lets it land heavily on the shoulders, which jars the wrists and knees and often bounces you out of position.
Low elbows in the catch
Elbows that drop or rest on the knees let the bar roll forward and the chest collapse, which strains the wrists and usually ends in a missed rep.
Rising with the hips first
Letting the hips shoot up when standing out of the squat tips the chest forward and pulls the bar off the shoulders.
Injuries
Barbell Squat Clean is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It moves a heavy bar fast through a full range, so the lower back takes strain in the pull from the floor, the knees in the deep catch, and the wrists, elbows and hands, especially the thumbs with a hook grip, in the front rack. A 2024 review of injuries in Olympic weightlifting, the sport this lift comes from, found 2.4 to 3.3 injuries per 1,000 hours of training, with the knee, lower back, shoulder and hands or fingers the most common sites.
Most problems come from the bar crashing onto the shoulders or the lifter collapsing in the catch. Practice the turnover and the bottom position with light weights until you meet the bar in the squat rather than falling under it and getting hit. In the rack, keep your elbows high and your grip loose on your fingertips so the bar sits on your shoulders, not on your wrists. Train on a platform with bumper plates, and if you miss, push the bar forward and step back out of the way rather than trying to save it.
To regress, catch higher with the Barbell Power Clean, start from the hang with the Barbell Hang Clean, or practice the parts separately with the Barbell Clean Pull and the Barbell Front Squat. To progress, build the load gradually over several sessions, then add the jerk with the Barbell Clean and Jerk.
Stop if you feel sharp pain in the lower back, knee, wrist or elbow, numbness or tingling in the hands or legs, or if your elbows start dropping and the bar keeps crashing as you tire.
Other Names for the Barbell Squat Clean
The Barbell Squat Clean is also known as:
- Barbell Full Clean
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: What is the difference between a squat clean and a power clean?
The depth of the catch. A squat clean is received in a full front squat, while a Barbell Power Clean is received with the thighs above parallel, which needs a higher pull and limits how much you can lift.
- Q: Is the squat clean the same as the clean in the clean and jerk?
Yes. Competitive weightlifters almost always catch the clean in a full squat because it lets them receive the bar lower and lift more, so the squat clean is the first half of the Barbell Clean and Jerk.
- Q: How much should I be able to clean compared with my front squat?
Coaches commonly expect a proficient lifter to clean about 85 to 90% of their best front squat. If your clean is well below that, work on the pull and technique; if it is close, a stronger Barbell Front Squat is what will raise it.
- Q: Why do my wrists hurt when I catch a clean?
Usually because the elbows are low and the hand is squeezing the bar, which leaves the weight on bent wrists instead of on the shoulders. Lift the chest, drive the elbows high and keep a loose fingertip grip, and if the pain persists, stop and have it checked.