Clean Deadlift
Trains the Hamstrings.
- Equipment
- A barbell
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner


How to do it
- Set a loaded barbell on the floor over the middle of your feet, stance about hip-width.
- Bend down and take an overhand grip wider than your shoulders — the grip a clean uses.
- Set your hips lower than in a conventional deadlift, chest up and back flat.
- Push the floor away and lift the bar, keeping it close to your legs.
- Keep the torso angle steady through the first half rather than letting the hips rise first.
- Stand tall at the top, then lower along the same path.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips shoot up first. The lower start position and the steady torso angle are the whole point — if the hips rise and the bar stays put, this has become a conventional deadlift from an inefficient start.
- Taking a conventional grip. The wide, clean-width grip is what lowers the hips and lengthens the pull; a narrow grip undoes both.
- Loading it like a conventional deadlift. The longer range and the higher chest position mean less weight, and that is the trade this variation makes.
- Rounding the upper back to reach the bar. A wider grip means a longer reach, and if a flat back will not get there, the bar goes on blocks.