Glutes exercise
Kettlebell CleanHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Glutes, Hamstrings
- Also works
- Traps, Forearms
- Equipment
- Kettlebell
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Kettlebell Clean?
- Hold the bell in one hand, feet shoulder-width apart.
- Hinge back and swing the bell between your thighs.
- Snap your hips forward and pull the bell in close.
- Turn your hand round the handle so the bell rests on your forearm.
- Hold the rack, then drop the bell into the next swing.
Cues
- Keep the bell close, like zipping up a jacket.
- Elbow tucked into your ribs.
- Wrist straight, stand tall.
Common mistakes
- Letting the bell swing wide and bang your forearm.
- Elbow drifting out to the side.
- Leaning back to catch the bell.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
One-arm swing clean, right hand (the arm nearest the camera). Feet about shoulder-width apart, toes forward to 15° out. Right elbow tucked down against the ribs, wrist straight, forearm near vertical. The left arm hangs relaxed by the side.
The movement
From the rack, tip the bell off the forearm and let it fall; the right arm straightens and turns so the palm faces back. Stay tall until the forearm reaches the hips, then hinge hard: hips back, trunk forward with a flat back, knees a little bent. The bell passes high between the thighs and travels back under the hips, with the forearm against the inner thigh. Snap the hips forward and squeeze the glutes. As the bell rises past the hips, keep the elbow close to the body and pull the bell in, so it travels up close to the front of the body rather than out in an arc. Open the hand a little and turn it round the handle so the hand slips under the bell, and the bell lands softly on the outside of the forearm in the rack, at the same moment the hips and knees lock out. Hold the rack for a moment before the next drop.
End position
Bottom: deep hip hinge, bell behind the knee line. The backswing numbers are the parent swing's; the clean's bell path is tighter, so the bell passes a little higher between the thighs.
Tempo
Rack hold 0.4 s, drop 0.5 s, backswing to the turn-round 0.35 s, hip snap and pull to the rack 0.65 s, settle 0.3 s. The app tells users to finish the set, then switch hands.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance, heel to heel | 1.0 × shoulder width | hip width to 1.3 × shoulder width | [1][3] |
| Hip flexion at the bottom of the backswing | 80° | 70–90° | [4] |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 25° | 15–40° | [4] |
| Bell at the bottom | behind the knee line, handle above knee height | never below the knees | |
| Wrist in the rack | straight, 0° | ±10° | [3] |
| Hip and knee in the rack | 0° | 0–5°; up to 15° knee during the catch | [1][4] |
| Trunk lean in the rack | 0° | under 5° back or forward | [2] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Kettlebell Clean is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
