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Exercise guide

Clean Deadlift

How to do the Clean Deadlift with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

CompoundBarbellBeginnerPull
Primary muscles

Hamstrings

Secondary

Forearms, Glutes, Lower Back, Mid Back, Quads, Traps

Equipment

Barbell

Step by step

How to do the Clean Deadlift

  1. 1

    Begin standing with a barbell close to your shins. Your feet should be directly under your hips with your feet turned out slightly. Grip the bar with a double overhand grip or hook grip, about shoulder width apart. Squat down to the bar. Your spine should be in full extension, with a back angle that places your shoulders in front of the bar and your back as vertical as possible.

  2. 2

    Begin by driving through the floor through the front of your heels. As the bar travels upward, maintain a constant back angle. Flare your knees out to the side to help keep them out of the bar's path.

  3. 3

    After the bar crosses the knees, complete the lift by driving the hips into the bar until your hips and knees are extended.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Clean Deadlift set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your hamstrings volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More hamstrings exercises

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