Hang Clean - Below the Knees
This clean variation starts the hang with the bar below your kneecaps rather than at knee or thigh height, forcing you to re-bend your knees and reset your position before pulling. That extra step teaches the transition every clean needs between the first and second pull, making it a useful teaching tool for lifters who rush the middle of a full clean or lose bar position around the knee.
Why it works
A standard hang clean starts high enough that you skip straight into the explosive pull, but a clean from the floor requires a brief re-bend of the knees as the bar passes them, sometimes called the double-knee-bend or scoop. Starting the hang below the knee forces you to rehearse that exact transition under control, building the timing and position awareness that a floor clean asks for in a split second. Lifters who struggle to keep the bar close through the knee on a full clean often clean up that fault by drilling this lower hang position repeatedly.
Set up
- Set the bar just below your kneecaps, either from a rack or by lowering it there from a deadlift start.
- Grip the bar just outside your legs, using a hook grip if you have one.
- Set your shins near the bar with your hips higher than a full deadlift start.
- Brace your core and take the slack out of the bar before you begin.
How to do it
- Push your hips back slightly and let your knees flex forward, guiding the bar up past them.
- Re-bend your knees as the bar clears them, resetting into a position similar to the top of a deadlift's power position.
- Extend your hips explosively from that reset position, driving the bar upward.
- Finish with a hard shrug and rise onto your toes as your arms stay long.
- Pull yourself down and under the bar, rotating your elbows around and forward.
- Catch the bar across your front shoulders and stand fully upright.
Form cues
- Let the knees re-bend as the bar passes them, don't skip that step.
- Keep the bar brushing close to your legs the whole way up.
- Hips finish the pull, not your arms.
- Land the catch with your chest up and elbows high.
Breathing: Brace and hold your breath from the initial setup through the pull and catch, then exhale once you're standing tall with the bar racked.
Common mistakes
Skipping the knee re-bend and pulling straight up from the low hang like a standard hang clean.
Fix: Slow the movement down in practice and consciously let your knees drift forward and re-bend as the bar passes them before you drive your hips.
Letting the bar swing away from the legs during the transition through the knees.
Fix: Keep your lats engaged and the bar brushing your thighs as it passes the knee; a bar that drifts forward here loses speed and pulls you off balance.
Starting the hang too low, well below where a real clean would ever have the bar moving that slowly.
Fix: Set the bar just below the kneecap, not at mid-shin; the point is to rehearse the transition, not to add unnecessary range.
How to program it
- Use this variation as a technique drill rather than your main strength movement, so 3 to 5 sets of 2 or 3 light-to-moderate reps once a week is plenty to reinforce the pattern.
- Program it before your main hang clean or floor clean work in a session, since its purpose is to rehearse a position, not to accumulate fatigue.
- Keep the loads submaximal here; the drill loses its teaching value the moment technique breaks down under too much weight.
Safety notes
- If the knee re-bend feels rushed or unstable at any weight, drop the load and slow the movement down until the transition feels controlled.
- Learn this position with an empty bar first, ideally with a coach checking that your knees are actually re-bending rather than staying locked.
- Because the extra range starts lower than a standard hang, treat your first few sessions with this variation as a skill practice, not a load test.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Category
- olympicWeightlifting
Frequently asked questions
How many sets and reps should I do for hang clean below the knees?
Three to five sets of 2 or 3 reps with light-to-moderate weight works best, since this variation is meant as a technique drill rather than a heavy strength movement.
What's the difference between a hang clean and a hang clean below the knees?
A standard hang clean starts at knee or thigh height and skips straight into the pull. This variation starts lower, below the kneecap, so you have to re-bend your knees and reset your position before pulling, rehearsing the transition a floor clean requires.
Do I need this variation if I already do regular hang cleans?
It's most useful if you're working toward a full clean from the floor or if you tend to lose bar position around the knee. If your floor clean transition is already solid, regular hang cleans and floor cleans may cover what you need.
Why does the bar swing away from my legs on this exercise?
That usually means your lats aren't staying engaged through the knee transition, letting the bar drift forward. Keep your elbows rotated slightly out and your lats pulled tight as the bar passes your knees to keep it close.