Exercise Library
Floating Clean Pull
The floating clean pull is a clean pull in which the bar is brought as close to the floor as possible without touching between reps.
Set the clean starting position tightly and push with the legs through the whole foot against the floor similarly to a squat. Maintain even balance over the whole foot and actively keep the bar as close to the legs as possible, and maintain approximately the same back angle until the bar is past the knees. Once at lower to mid-thigh, open the hips explosively while driving vertically with the legs even harder to accelerate maximally.
Extend the entire body approximately vertically—don’t try to mimic the hyperextension of the hips we would have in an actual clean. Here we want to focus on vertical power and balance.
As the legs and hips finish extending, shrug up and back and bend the elbows slightly to actively keep the bar against the body through the extended position—at no point should it move away.
The heels will rise naturally with the effort to push against the ground forcefully. Keep the entire body tight and continue pushing against the ground until the bar stops moving up, then drop back to flat feet as the bar falls.
Reverse the motion to lower the bar in the exact same positions as the way up. Bring the bar as close to the floor as possible without touching, then change directions and complete the next rep. Make sure you maintain tension and balance as you change directions in the bottom to avoid unwanted shifting in position.
Notes
Conventionally the first rep of a set is taken from the floor as a normal rep; for example, in a set of 3, only the last 2 reps are technically floating.
Purpose
The floating clean pull increases the strengthening of the pull from the floor and the postural strength of the first pull. It can also help lifters become more familiar and comfortable with their proper starting position, and to better understand proper balance.
Programming
Generally the floating clean pull should be done for 2-5 reps per set anywhere from 80%-110% of the lifter’s best clean. Newer lifters whose cleans are significantly limited by technique will likely need to pull much heavier percentages to adequately train strength in the pull. Because of the difficulty and continuous effort, loading will not quite reach what a lifter is capable of in a normal clean pull.
In any case, the weight should not exceed what the lifter can do with reasonably proper positioning—if being used for posture, position and balance training, weights need to be controlled to allow perfect positioning and movement. As a heavy strength exercise, it should be placed toward the end of a workout. Typically pulling exercises are performed before squats, but this order can be reversed for lifters who need to emphasize squat strength over pulling strength.
Variations
The floating clean pull can be performed on a riser, with flat feet at the top, with slow eccentrics (3-6 seconds typically), with one or more pauses on the way up, with slow concentrics in the lower range to emphasize control over posture and balance, with a pause in the floating position, with or without straps, and many other possibilities.
Set the clean starting position tightly and push with the legs through the whole foot against the floor similarly to a squat. Maintain even balance over the whole foot and actively keep the bar as close to the legs as possible, and maintain approximately the same back angle until the bar is past the knees. Once at lower to mid-thigh, open the hips explosively while driving vertically with the legs even harder to accelerate maximally.
Extend the entire body approximately vertically—don’t try to mimic the hyperextension of the hips we would have in an actual clean. Here we want to focus on vertical power and balance.
As the legs and hips finish extending, shrug up and back and bend the elbows slightly to actively keep the bar against the body through the extended position—at no point should it move away.
The heels will rise naturally with the effort to push against the ground forcefully. Keep the entire body tight and continue pushing against the ground until the bar stops moving up, then drop back to flat feet as the bar falls.
Reverse the motion to lower the bar in the exact same positions as the way up. Bring the bar as close to the floor as possible without touching, then change directions and complete the next rep. Make sure you maintain tension and balance as you change directions in the bottom to avoid unwanted shifting in position.
Notes
Conventionally the first rep of a set is taken from the floor as a normal rep; for example, in a set of 3, only the last 2 reps are technically floating.
Purpose
The floating clean pull increases the strengthening of the pull from the floor and the postural strength of the first pull. It can also help lifters become more familiar and comfortable with their proper starting position, and to better understand proper balance.
Programming
Generally the floating clean pull should be done for 2-5 reps per set anywhere from 80%-110% of the lifter’s best clean. Newer lifters whose cleans are significantly limited by technique will likely need to pull much heavier percentages to adequately train strength in the pull. Because of the difficulty and continuous effort, loading will not quite reach what a lifter is capable of in a normal clean pull.
In any case, the weight should not exceed what the lifter can do with reasonably proper positioning—if being used for posture, position and balance training, weights need to be controlled to allow perfect positioning and movement. As a heavy strength exercise, it should be placed toward the end of a workout. Typically pulling exercises are performed before squats, but this order can be reversed for lifters who need to emphasize squat strength over pulling strength.
Variations
The floating clean pull can be performed on a riser, with flat feet at the top, with slow eccentrics (3-6 seconds typically), with one or more pauses on the way up, with slow concentrics in the lower range to emphasize control over posture and balance, with a pause in the floating position, with or without straps, and many other possibilities.
