7 Power Clean Alternatives to Boost Your Strength

Looking for power clean alternatives? Well, you’ve come to the right place; that’s why we’re here! 

Power cleans are a staple in many people’s routines but they’re not for everyone. The issue could be limited equipment, worrying about injuries, or you may just want to mix things up. Whatever the case, there are plenty of exercises that can give you similar results and today, we’ll explore the best of them. 

You’ll build strength but you’ll also work on your coordination, balance, and athletic performance overall. So, if you want to add some variety to your routine, we have just the thing. Or, rather, several of them. 

Grab a barbell and let’s not waste any time!

Power Clean – Overview

If you’re interested in the alternatives, you first need to be familiar with the power clean itself. It’s a dynamic, explosive lifting exercise that’s popular in strength training and athletic conditioning. To do it, you lift a bar from the floor to your shoulders in one quick, powerful movement.

It’s a full-body exercise that mostly targets your legs, back, and shoulders, but it also engages your core and arms, so actually, it’s very comprehensive.

Power cleans are absolutely phenomenal for improving performance and developing power, speed, and coordination, so they’re a lot of people’s favorites, especially athletes who want to work on their power, speed, and coordination. 

Another thing they’re good for is improving performance and functional strength. However, keep in mind that every exercise depends on technique to be effective and safe, and power cleans are no different. They’re decently complex so, if you’re a beginner, you’ll need some guidance to get it right. 

Benefits of Power Clean and Alternatives

Let’s just say – there’s a lot of them. Power cleans are an excellent way to improve strength, explosive power, and coordination. They engage a lot of different muscle groups at the same time, so they’re useful for just fitness in general. 

But if you can’t do a power clean for some reason or you’re just kind of bored of it and want a change, you’ll be happy to know that the alternatives offer similar benefits. They still focus on explosive movements, building strength, and improving athleticism, but also they’re often easier to learn. A lot of people also find them more accessible.

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7 Power Clean Alternatives

Okay, now onto the fun stuff – the actual exercises. You’re familiar with what power clean is, what the alternatives can do, so all that’s left is to share the exercises. 

For Who and When?

If you’re an athlete or just a fitness junkie looking to improve their explosive power but you think that traditional power cleans are impractical or too hard to do, then go ahead and give the alternatives a try. 

They’re also good for people who are recovering from injuries, dealing with mobility issues, or just want to switch up an existing training routine. When you include different exercises, you can still target the same muscle groups, but you won’t overload the same joints and tendons repeatedly in the same way.

This will help avoid mileage and prevent future injuries and you’ll still get the results you’re after, like improvements in strength and power. 

Another great thing about the alternatives is that they can help with motivation. Think about it; if your routine feels stale and boring, different exercises will freshen it up and you won’t dread having to work out because exercising will feel interesting and fresh again. 

1. Kettlebell Clean

This one is a great alternative to power clean because you get similar benefits but with a different piece of equipment. It involves lifting a kettlebell off the ground to the rack position at your shoulder in one smooth motion. 

The kettlebell clean engages your entire body – legs, hips, core, and upper body. Here’s a detailed explanation on how to do it:

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and the kettlebell between your feet
• Bend at the hips and knees and grab the kettlebell with one hand
• Swing the kettlebell back between your legs
• Drive your hips forward to generate momentum
• Bring the kettlebell to the rack position at your shoulder, keeping your wrist straight and elbow close to the body. Let the KB rest on your elbow
• Lower the kettlebell and repeat

After a while, you can increase the weight of the kettlebell or you can do it with one arm at a time to improve unilateral strength and stability. The kettlebell clean builds power, of course, but it also improves grip strength and coordination. 

It can be done with single KB or double. Won’t put so much pressure on your wrists just like the barbell would. 

2. Clean (High) Pull

This is another great power clean substitute that focuses on explosive power and strength. It targets your legs, back, and shoulders, and helps you build the power you need for different athletic movements.

Here’s how to do it: 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the bar on the floor
• Bend at the hips and knees and grab the barbell with an overhand grip
• Extend your hips and knees to lift the barbell
• Shrug your shoulders and pull the bar as high as you can
• Keep your elbows pointed up and out as you pull the barbell
• Lower it back down

The clean high pull is excellent for working on the pulling phase of the power clean without the technical demands of turnover. It will build strength, power, and improve your overall lifting technique and coordination. 

3. Single (double) Arm Dumbbell Clean

This is an exercise that needs minimal equipment but it still works wonders for improving strength and power. It’s kind of like a kettlebell clean, but instead of the kettlebell, you use a dumbbell to lift it off the ground to your shoulder. It engages your entire body, improves unilateral strength, plus it can help you address muscle imbalances that can cause injuries. 

This is how you do a kettlebell clean: 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the dumbbell between your feet
• Bend at the hips and knees to grab the dumbbell with one hand (or both)
• Extend your hips to lift the dumbbell
• Shrug your shoulder and pull the dumbbell to your shoulder
• Catch the dumbbell at your shoulder while keeping the elbow close to your body but pointing forward.
• Lower the dumbbell back down

Single-arm dumbbell clean will let you focus on one side of your body at a time, so it will improve your balance. You can make it more challenging if you increase the weight, or you can include this exercise into a complex with other exercises like presses and squats. 

Tips From the Champ

When you’re looking to mix things up, I like to swap out power cleans for exercises like high clean pulls or barbell squat jumps. These alternatives still develop explosive power but can be easier on the joints and provide a fresh stimulus to keep training exciting and effective.

Oleksiy Torokhtiy

Olympic Weightlifting Champion

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4. Muscle Clean

The muscle clean is a simpler version of the power clean because there’s no catching the bar in a squat. You lift a bar from the floor to your shoulders in one continuous motion, but you don’t drop into a squat. 

This is how you do it: 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the bar on the floor
• Bend at the hips and knees and grab the bar with an overhand grip
• Extend your hips and knees to pull the bar to your shoulders and turn elbows in.
• Catch the bar at your shoulders, but don’t drop into a squat to do so
• Lower the bar back down

This is a great way to work on your pulling mechanics and improve the power. The muscle clean isn’t as complex as the full clean and it’s especially good for people who want to improve their technique and strength in the pulling phase of the clean.

5. Power Snatch

If you don’t like the power clean because it’s too explosive, too powerful, etc., this one isn’t for you. But if you appreciate the power clean for all the oomph it has, you’ll really like the power snatch. 

It targets your whole body and helps you develop explosive power and coordination. Here’s how to do it:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the bar on the floor
• Bend at the hips and knees to grab the bar with a wide hook grip
• Extend your hips and knees to lift the barbell overhead
• Catch the barbell overhead with your arms completely extended and your body in a half squat
• Lower the bar back down

It’s challenging for sure, but it’s just as rewarding because it will build strength and power from head to toe. If you like to push yourself really hard, you can increase the weight over time or do more complex variations, like the full snatch. 

6. Kettlebell Swing

Back to a simpler substitute for power cleans with the kettlebell swing. It’s simple, but don’t mistake its simplicity for lack of effectiveness. 

You swing a kettlebell between your legs and then drive it up to shoulder height using your hips and core. It targets your posterior chain, including the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back, and it also engages your core and grip.

Here’s more details on how to do it: 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the kettlebell between your legs
• Bend at the hips and knees to grab the kettlebell with both hands
• Swing the kettlebell back between your legs
• Drive your hips forward to swing the kettlebell up to shoulder height
• Keep your arms straight and use your hips to generate the momentum
• Lower the kettlebell back down

This is a great exercise for anyone that wants to build explosive power and muscle endurance without a barbell. Also, you can easily progress with it by just using a heavier kettlebell or incorporating it into interval training for a high-intensity workout. 

7. Hang Clean

It’s kind of like the power clean, but not really. It’s a modified version that starts with the bar above, instead of on the floor. It focuses on the explosive pull and turnover phases of the clean, so it’s great for improving technique and power. It targets your legs, back, and shoulders, and builds full-body strength.

Here’s how you do the hang clean:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell at your thighs
• Bend a little at the knees and hinge at your hips to lower the bar just below or just above your knees
• Extend your hips and knees to lift the bar
• Shrug your shoulders up and back and pull the bar to your shoulders
• Catch the bar in a squat with your elbows pointed forward and get up
• Lower it back down

This is excellent for honing your clean technique and building explosive power. To progress, increase the weight or do variations that are more complex, like the full clean. 

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Conclusion

Power cleans are great for building explosive power and strength, but they’re not practical for everyone, so if you can’t or don’t want to do them, but you want the benefits, give the alternatives a go. They’ll keep your sessions fresh and effective, and they’ll also help with motivation. 

Have you tried any of the alternatives we’ve listed? Which one do you like the most? Any other exercises you like that build explosive power you want to share? 

Leave a comment and let’s chat some more about this! 

References:

1. Health Promotion Board (HPB) “Prevent Injuries with Proper Form During Workouts,” Singapore University Health Center, https://www.nus.edu.sg/uhc/articles/details/prevent-injuries-with-proper-form-during-workouts (accessed July 12th 2024)
2. Lachlan P. James, Paul Comfort, Timothy J. Suchomel, Vincent G. Kelly, Emma M. Beckman, G. Gregory Haff, “Influence of Power Clean Ability and Training Age on Adaptations to Weightlifting-Style Training,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, November 2019, 33(11): 2936-2944.
3. Mayo Clinic Staff, “Weight training: Do’s and don’ts of proper technique,” Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/weight-training/art-20045842 (accessed July 12th, 2024)
4. Thomas Huyghe, Brent Goriss, Ernest DeLosAngeles, Stephen P. Bird, “Exploring The Power Clean,” International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, November 2021, 1(1).5. Venkat S. R. “What Are Muscle Imbalances?” WebMD, https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/what-are-muscle-imbalances (accessed July 12th, 2024)
5. Photos by Torokhtiy Media Team.