Clean Pull, Slowly Lowered

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Overview

Clean Pulls, slowly lowered to the floor, is an exercise mostly for beginners in the initial stages of learning to lift the barbell from the ground. It also helps lifters who display the classic error of lifting the hips noticeably faster than the shoulders at the start of the pull. The strategy of lowering slowly to the floor is based on the conjecture that the lifter can more effectively control their spinal shape by starting from a standing position. Furthermore, lowering the bar slowly and not resting it on the floor between reps helps the lifter learn to maintain the same back angle as they lift from the floor to the knee.

It is a key objective of this skill drill that the lifter learns to keep the back angle the same as the bar is lowered and raised between the top of the kneecap and the ground (see Figure 2 below).

Key coaching points

1. Start by standing up and taking the bar to the waist.
2. Slowly lower the bar to the top of the knees with arms straight, elbows turned out, and eyes looking directly forward. Keep the bar close to the body and sliding on the thighs.
3. Moving the bar slowly helps develop movement accuracy and allows for coaching intervention if necessary.
4. As the bar reaches the knees, pause movement momentarily to ensure the shoulders are slightly in front of the bar, and the shins are vertical (see Figure 1). These two points are very important, and great care must be taken. This is why the bar needs to be lowered slowly.
5. Continue lowering the bar slowly, ensuring the back angle remains the same (see Figure 2) until the weight plates lightly touch the floor. Do not rest the bar on the floor.
6. Without relaxing body tension as the weight plates touch the floor, reverse direction and slowly rise, keeping the back angle the same until the bar passes the knees. This purposefully slowed action increases positional accuracy and control.
7. Keep the shoulders slightly in front of the bar as the bar is lowered and raised between the knees and the ground.
8. The athlete’s attention should be drawn to the small backward movement of the knees, which facilitates the bar’s upward passage and reduces the risk of shin scrapes.
9. The lifter should consider how the knees shift backwards as the bar is lifted from the ground (see Figure 1: Optimal Knee Shift). Figure 1 also shows the common fault of insufficient knee retraction, which causes many lifters to suffer bleeding shins during training and competition.
10. Continue rising slowly until standing upright with the bar at the waist.