Smith Machine Hang Power Clean

How to do it

1. Set the Smith machine bar at about mid-thigh height and take an overhand grip just outside the legs.
2. Unrack the bar and stand tall, then hinge at the hips to lower it to just above the knees.
3. Drive the hips forward and stand up hard, shrugging as the legs finish.
4. Pull the elbows high and then whip them under so the bar lands on the front of the shoulders.
5. Catch in a quarter squat, then stand.
6. Lower the bar back to the thighs and hinge for the next repetition.

Common mistakes

• Expecting the bar to come to you. The fixed path means the body has to move to where the bar is; the feet are set so the bar rises along the thighs.
• Pulling with the arms. The hips do the lifting even on a fixed track; an early arm pull is a curl with a shrug.
• Catching with the elbows down. The elbows whip under and forward so the bar sits on the shoulders; low elbows leave it on the wrists.
• Standing too far from the bar. If the bar cannot brush the thighs, the pull is out in front of the body.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Hamstrings

Secondary

• Glutes
• Spinal Erectors
• Quads
• Shoulders
• Traps