Power Clean from Blocks
Also works: Quadriceps
A power clean started with the bar resting on blocks somewhere between the knee and mid-thigh instead of on the floor. Removing the first pull buys you more attempts at the part of the lift that actually decides it — the second pull and the rack — without the fatigue of pulling from the deck every rep.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set the blocks so the bar sits just above your kneecaps for a longer pull, or at mid-thigh to drill the finish.
- Grip just outside your legs with a hook grip, and mark the hand position so it is identical every rep.
- Take the start position with your shoulders slightly in front of the bar and your shins close to vertical.
- Weight spread through the whole foot and biased to the heel, chest up, lats tight, bar touching the thigh.
- Pull the slack out of the bar before you move it — squeeze upward until you feel the plates settle.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Breathe in and brace at the block position, hold through the pull, receive and stand, then breathe out once you are upright with the bar racked. The pull is maximum acceleration; the only slow part is lowering the bar back to the blocks.
Before you load it
- Check the blocks are square, stable and rated for the load before every set. A block that shifts under a loaded bar takes your setup with it.
- Learn to bail: push the bar forward off the shoulders and step back. Never try to hold a clean that has settled onto your wrists with the elbows down.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start with the empty 20 kg bar off the blocks and take at least three sets to sort out the rack position before adding plates. Work at 70-85% of your best power clean. A good rep lands on the shoulders without a crash and you stand up out of it immediately; add weight only once every rep in a session looks like that.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Set the bar down, let it stop moving, then re-establish the position and pull the slack out. The bounce inflates the weight you can move and rehearses nothing you can use from the floor.
Whip the elbows through fast and finish with the upper arms parallel to the floor. Add 20 seconds of empty-bar front rack holds before every set until that position stops being the limit.
Keep the elbows locked until the hips are through. Take 10% off the bar and film from the side — the arms should not bend before the body reaches full extension.
If you are landing below parallel it is no longer a power clean. End the session's top set at the last rep you caught high, or switch to full cleans and program them honestly instead.
Why bother
Bar speed in a clean is decided in the last 30 cm before extension. Pulling from the floor spends energy and attention getting there, and by the time the bar reaches the thigh you may already be out of position. From blocks you begin where the lift is won or lost.
Receiving above parallel caps the weight at roughly 80-85% of your full clean, and that ceiling is useful. The bar genuinely has to be sent high, so a lift that would have been rescued by dropping into a deep front squat simply misses instead of teaching you a bad habit.
Where it fits
Open the session with them: 4-6 sets of 2-3 at 70-85% of your best power clean. Pick one block height and keep it for a whole training block, because changing it weekly means you never learn what the pull from that height feels like. Follow with clean deadlifts or front squats.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
What height should I set the blocks?
Just above the knee if your problem is finishing the pull, mid-thigh if your problem is the turnover and rack. Below the knee is closer to a full pull and mostly duplicates cleaning from the floor. Pick the height that matches the fault you are fixing and leave it there for six to eight weeks.
Is this better than hang cleans?
They train different things. Blocks give you a dead stop with no eccentric, so you can take more quality attempts and load heavier. A hang keeps you under tension on the way down and builds the position itself. If your pull dies at the top, use blocks; if your back rounds on the way down, use the hang.
Why can I clean more from the floor than from blocks?
Because a floor pull gives you a longer runway and a moving bar by the time you reach the thigh, while the blocks make you start from zero. That gap is the honest measure of your second pull. It usually closes within a training block, and closing it makes your floor clean heavier.
Can I just drop the bar back onto the blocks?
Not repeatedly. Bumper plates survive a platform, but blocks and bar knurling do not enjoy being landed on from lockout, and the rebound tempts you into a bounced rep. Guide the bar down to the blocks with the arms and let it settle.