The muscle clean brings the bar from floor (or hang) to the shoulders with no re-bend of the knees and no drop under - after the hip extension, the arms and traps alone finish the turnover. Stripping away the catch forces a perfect, close bar path and builds the specific pulling strength of the clean's third phase. It looks humble and feels harder than it looks: a heavy muscle clean is a serious display of trap and arm strength.
| Level (x Bodyweight) | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| beginner | 0.35x | 0.22x |
| novice | 0.55x | 0.38x |
| intermediate | 0.78x | 0.55x |
| advanced | 1.05x | 0.78x |
| elite | 1.3x | 1x |
1RM as a multiple of bodyweight.
Where does your Muscle Clean land?
Log it once and the app places you on this table automatically, then tracks the trend.
Extend completely, then keep the elbows moving up and out before spinning them around - the bar travels up your torso the whole way. No hitch, no re-dip: if the knees re-bend, the rep doesn't count for the drill's purpose. Loads of 40-60% of your clean, sets of 3-5, in warm-ups or after main lifts. It's the prescription when an athlete's clean turnover is slow or the bar crashes: two weeks of muscle cleans and the rack position starts arriving on time.
Progression: PVC and empty-bar muscle cleans belong in every clean warm-up. The movement is its own scale - the strictness is the training effect, so just lower the weight.
Enter your 1RM above to see your training percentages.
Log every result, see your progress over time, and know exactly where you stand.
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