7 Power Clean Benefits for Strength and Explosiveness

What better way to boost your workout routine than with a power clean? Okay, in all honesty, there are many, many ways to up your workout game, but hey, power clean is one of them. And when you understand the power clean benefits, you can really get the most out of it. 

It’s a dynamic, full-body lift that has a ton of benefits. Better explosiveness is the first that comes to mind because the power clean has the ability to develop fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are key for anything that’s explosive.

But beyond explosiveness and strength, this lift will improve your coordination, balance, and just athleticism in general. Now we have your attention, right? Let’s get into more details and find out what muscles does power clean work, what are power cleans good for and a whole lot more!

Power Clean – What Is the Difference From Regular Clean

If you don’t know that much about lifting but think that the power clean has a familiar ring to it, that’s probably because you’re mistaking it for the regular clean. It happens all the time, but the two are actually pretty different. 

The main difference is the depth of the squat and the bar speed. For the power clean, you lift the bar from the floor to your shoulders in one quick, explosive movement, but you squat down only a little to catch the bar. This means that your body doesn’t drop as low because the power clean is more about the speed and power than it is about the depth of the squat.

On the other hand, the regular clean (also called the full clean or the squat clean) will have you catching the barbell in a deep squat. After power position, during turnover , you drop into a full squat to catch the bar on your shoulders, and then you stand up to complete the lift.

This type of movement needs more flexibility, balance, and technique because you need to be able to get under the bar quickly and stabilize yourself in a low position. 

Both the power clean and the regular clean target similar muscle groups, including your back, legs, and shoulders, but they do it differently. The power clean is usually easier to learn, so if you’re a beginner, you might want to start with that one. It’s also a good way to start if you’re looking to focus more on your explosive strength. 

The regular clean needs more technique and you’ll often see competitive lifters use it to max out the amount of weight they can lift. 

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7 Power Clean Benefits 

Anyone that’s ever done the power clean will tell you that it’s very dynamic and explosive, so it makes sense that it’s one of the staple exercises in many training routines, especially for people who want to improve their overall fitness. 

Since this is a lift, you’re probably wondering, do power cleans build muscle? Absolutely they can, but they do a lot more than just that! 

The power clean is famous for being able to improve strength, power, and coordination, but there’s more to it than you may think. We’ve come up with a list of the most important power clean exercise benefits so you can see what you can expect if you decide to give it a try. 

✅ Strength & Power

One of the most important benefits of power cleans is that they can build some serious strength and power. Power equals strength multiplied by  speed. And while strength is required to lift heavy weights, speed you get via the explosive movement. 

This is an exercise that targets many different muscle groups at the same time, and this includes your legs, back, shoulders, and arms. It’s explosive so it will help you develop fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are crucial for generating max force in a short period of time.

This is something that’s especially good for athletes whose performance depends on being able to do quick, powerful movements like sprinting, jumping, and throwing. 

If you do the power clean on a regular basis, you can expect significant improvements as far as your power output goes, which also means better performance in different physical activities. 

Tips From the Champ

In my experience, adding power cleans to training not only builds incredible full-body strength but also sharpens athletic explosiveness. This lift is a game-changer for improving overall power output, which translates directly to better performance in almost any sport.

Oleksiy Torokhtiy

Olympic Weightlifting Champion

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✅ Emphasis on Specific Elements of the Clean

The power clean focuses a lot on the first and second pull and the catch phase of the clean and jerk. Since there’s so much emphasis on these specific elements, the power clean can help you improve your technique and efficiency when you do the full clean. 

It will allow you to hone your explosive pull from the floor to the shoulders without the extra squat depth  that comes from the squat clean. This type of focused training is an excellent way to work on your skills and it will make it easier for you to transition to the full clean with better form and more confidence.

The power clean will help you isolate and improve the crucial parts of the clean, so in the end, your overall lifting technique will be better. 

When you practice these elements separately, you’ll be able to master the pull and catch. Incremental skill development is an excellent approach, especially for beginners, but for those that are more advanced, as well. 

✅ Technique Correction

Power cleans are super effective for improving and correcting your lifting technique. This is very important because you need your technique to be correct for the lift to be safe and effective. 

If you want to do the power clean properly, you’ll need precise coordination and timing, so it will force you to focus on your form. This will help you identify and correct any technical flaws that might happen in other lifts. 

For example, keeping the bar path straight and making sure that your hips and shoulders rise at the same time during the pull are important technical aspects that the power clean will help you work on. 

The pull is powerful, but still very controlled, so it will teach you how to align your body properly and it will also teach you about the correct bar path. Over time, you’ll notice that your lifting technique is more refined and effective, which is what you need if you’re going after long-term success in weightlifting. 

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✅ Movement Pattern Efficiency

An efficient movement pattern is absolutely crucial for people who want to maximize their performance and prevent injuries. So… Everyone. 

The power clean is an excellent way to improve this because it needs a high level of neuromuscular coordination. It will help you develop efficient movement patterns, which, in simpler terms, means that your body will learn to do complex actions with minimal wasted energy.

If you keep at it, the power clean will improve your motor skills and you’ll be able to do other compound movements more effectively, both in the gym and in your daily life. 

The big difference between top athletes and their pro colleagues is not only their ability to generate force but also their ability to quickly relax muscle after contraction.

All of this will result in better overall performance and less fatigue during any physical tasks. 

✅ Movement Variety

The power clean will introduce a variety of movements, so your training sessions will be both interesting and challenging, which is what we all want. We want the challenge because that’s what progress comes from, but we also want to have fun and not have the workout feel like a chore. 

This added variety will break the monotony of the exercises you’ve been doing for a while, plus it will target different muscle groups and make sure that the muscles develop in a balanced way. Another great thing about variety is that it’s what helps you get through plateaus because your body will constantly have to adapt to new things. 

Variety in training is crucial if you want to continuously progress. 

✅ Coordination

You’ll need a lot of coordination to do it because the power clean involves a precise sequence of actions, from the first pull to the explosive extension and quick catch. Each phase needs your upper and lower body to be in sync, so if you do the power clean regularly, your coordination will improve. 

Coordination is important for many physical activities, not just lifting. If you work on your coordination, you’ll perform better in sports, your workouts will be more effective, and you’ll be at less risk of injury because you’ll have more control over your movements. 

Power cleans will train your body to work as a cohesive unit, so complex movements won’t be as hard to do. 

✅ Big Carryover to Other Sports – Athletic Performance

This is why the power clean isn’t reserved for just lifters – the benefits from it can carry over to other sports and just athletic performance in general. The explosive power you’ll develop with the power clean will translate very well into other athletic movements, like sprinting, jumping, and quickly changing directions.

A lot of athletes do the power clean on a regular basis to get an edge on the field, like football and soccer players. 

The movement patterns and the muscles that are engaged closely mimic those that are used in many sports, so it’s a super functional exercise. It will improve your speed, agility, and power, so there are a lot of power clean benefits for athletes. 

Conclusion

So, are power cleans worth it? Absolutely! It can really crank up your fitness gem because it’s a full-body lift that engages a lot of muscle groups, enhances performance, boosts your strength and power, and improves coordination and balance.

Why not give it a try and see for yourself? Have you already done that? If you’ve tried it, have you noticed any of the benefits we’ve mentioned? 

Share anything on this topic in the comments because we’d love to know how your experience has been! 

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 10th 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 10th, 2024)
4. Saddam Akbar, Kim Geok Soh, Nasnoor Jazaily Mohd Nasiruddin†, Marrium Bashir, Shudian Cao, Kim Lam Soh, “Effects of neuromuscular training on athletes physical fitness in sports: A systematic review,” Frontiers in Physiology, Sec. Exercise Physiology, Volume 13, September 23, 2022.
5. Thomas Huyghe, Brent Goriss, Ernest DeLosAngeles, Stephen P. Bird, “Exploring The Power Clean,” International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, November 2021, 1(1).
6. Photos by Torokhtiy Media Team.