Exercise guide · Advanced · Compound

Barbell Clean and Press: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The barbell clean and press is a compound exercise that targets the quads and involves lifting a barbell from the floor to the shoulders (clean) and then pressing it overhead (press). It requires strength, coordination, and explosive power.

Primary muscles
Quads
Equipment
Barbell
Level · type
Advanced · Compound
Demonstration of the barbell clean and press
Front view: muscles worked by the barbell clean and press. Primary: quads. Secondary: glutes, shoulders, hamstrings and triceps.
Back view: muscles worked by the barbell clean and press. Primary: quads. Secondary: glutes, shoulders, hamstrings and triceps.
Primary Secondary

How to do the barbell clean and press

  1. Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell on the floor in front of you.
  2. Step 2: Bend your knees and hinge at the hips to lower down and grip the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  3. Step 3: Drive through your heels and extend your hips and knees to lift the barbell off the floor, keeping it close to your body.
  4. Step 4: As the barbell reaches your thighs, explosively extend your hips, shrug your shoulders, and pull the barbell up towards your chest.
  5. Step 5: As the barbell reaches chest height, quickly drop under it and catch it at shoulder level, with your elbows pointing forward and your palms facing up.
  6. Step 6: From the catch position, press the barbell overhead by extending your arms and pushing the barbell straight up.
  7. Step 7: Lower the barbell back down to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the barbell clean and press by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Barbell Clean and Press alternatives

More exercises that train the quads as their main target:

More quads exercises

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Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.