Skip to content
ascend.
Exercise guide

Hang Clean - Below the Knees

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

CompoundBarbellIntermediatePull
Primary muscles

Quads

Secondary

Calves, Forearms, Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back, Shoulders, Traps

Equipment

Barbell

Step by step

How to do the Hang Clean - Below the Knees

  1. 1

    Begin with a shoulder width, double overhand or hook grip, with the bar hanging just below the knees. Your back should be straight and inclined slightly forward.

  2. 2

    Begin by aggressively extending through the hips, knees and ankles, driving the weight upward. As you do so, shrug your shoulders towards your ears. As full extension is achieved, transition into the third pull by aggressively shrugging and flexing the arms with the elbows up and out.

  3. 3

    At peak extension, aggressively pull yourself down, rotating your elbows under the bar as you do so. Receive the bar in a front squat position, the depth of which is dependent upon the height of the bar at the end of the third pull. The bar should be racked onto the protracted shoulders, lightly touching the throat with the hands relaxed. Continue to descend to the bottom squat position, which will help in the recovery.

  4. 4

    Immediately recover by driving through the heels, keeping the torso upright and elbows up. Continue until you have risen to a standing position.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

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

Related

More quads exercises

Ascend Club

The app is free. Club adds the coach, leagues and analytics.

Core tracking stays free forever — the climb, streaks, logging and your league tiers. Club is for when you want the full coach, worldwide competition and the depth, at about the price of one coffee a month.

See Club plans

14-day free trial · no card to start

 FreeClub
Tracking, the climb and streaks
Per-set logging, PR detection, wearables
Muscle-league tiers
The AI coachnudgesFull conversation
Worldwide leagues and challenges
PR projections and deep analytics
Unlimited crews
Themes, export and higher AI limits