10 Best Clean Alternatives for Hamstring Strength

Original Exercise: Clean

Primary Muscle

Hamstrings

Equipment

Barbell

Difficulty

Advanced

Type

Compound

Secondary Muscles: Calves, Forearms, Glutes, Lower Back, Quadriceps, Shoulders, Traps

How to Perform Clean

1. With a barbell on the floor close to the shins, take an overhand (or hook) grip just outside the legs. Lower your hips with the weight focused on the heels, back straight, head facing forward, chest up, with your shoulders just in front of the bar. This will be your starting position.
3. Begin the first pull by driving through the heels, extending your knees. Your back angle should stay the same, and your arms should remain straight. Move the weight with control as you continue to above the knees.
4. Next comes the second pull, the main source of acceleration for the clean. As the bar approaches the mid-thigh position, begin extending through the hips. In a jumping motion, accelerate by extending the hips, knees, and ankles, using speed to move the bar upward. There should be no need to actively pull through the arms to accelerate the weight; at the end of the second pull, the body should be fully extended, leaning slightly back, with the arms still extended.
5. As full extension is achieved, transition into the third pull by aggressively shrugging and flexing the arms with the elbows up and out. 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.
6. Immediately recover by driving through the heels, keeping the torso upright and elbows up. Continue until you have risen to a standing position.

Pro Tips

• Category: Olympic weightlifting
• Force: Pull
• Movement type: Compound

Ranked Clean Alternatives

Best Match

1. Snatch Deadlift

92.6% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. The snatch deadlift strengthens the first pull of the snatch. Begin with a wide snatch grip with the barbell placed on the platform. The feet should be directly under the hips, with the feet turned out. Squat down to the bar, keeping the back in absolute extension with the head facing forward.
2. Initiate the movement by driving through the heels, raising the hips. The back angle should remain the same until the bar passes the knees.
3. At that point, drive your hips through the bar as you lay back. Return the bar to the platform by reversing the motion.

2. Power Clean

91.4% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Start with the barbell on the ground in front of you, with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend down and grip the barbell with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
3. Keep your back straight and chest up as you lift the barbell off the ground, extending your hips and knees.
4. As the barbell reaches your mid-thigh, explosively pull it upwards, shrugging your shoulders and pulling your elbows high and to the sides.
5. As the barbell reaches its highest point, quickly drop underneath it, rotating your elbows around and catching the barbell on your shoulders in a front squat position.

3. Sumo Deadlift With Bands

89.6% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. To deadlift with short bands, simply loop them over the bar before you start, and step into them to set up. Ensure that they under the back half of your foot, directly where you are driving into the floor.
2. Begin with a bar loaded on the ground. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip.
3. Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
4. As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
5. Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.

4. Sumo Deadlift With Chains

89.6% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. You can attach the chains to the sleeves of the bar, or just drape the middle over the bar so there is a greater weight increase as you lift. Attempt to keep the ends of the chains away from the plates so you don't hit them when you lower the weight.
2. Begin with a bar loaded on the ground. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip. Relax the shoulders, which in effect lengthens your arms.
3. Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
4. As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
5. Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.

5. Reverse Band Deadlift

89.3% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Set the bar up in a power rack. Attach bands to the top of the rack, using either bands pegs or the frame itself. Attach the other end of the bands to the bar.
2. Approach the bar so that it is centered over your feet. You feet should be about hip width apart. Bend at the hip to grip the bar at shoulder width, allowing your shoulder blades to protract. Typically, you would use an overhand grip or an over/under grip on heavier sets.
3. With your feet, and your grip set, take a big breath and then lower your hips and bend the knees until your shins contact the bar. Look forward with your head, keep your chest up and your back arched, and begin driving through the heels to move the weight upward.
4. After the bar passes the knees, aggressively pull the bar back, pulling your shoulder blades together as you drive your hips forward into the bar.
5. Lower the bar by bending at the hips and guiding it to the floor.

6. Sumo Deadlift

89.3% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Begin with a bar loaded on the ground. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip. Relax the shoulders, which in effect lengthens your arms.
2. Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
3. As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
4. Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.

7. Clean Deadlift

88.6% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

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

8. Reverse Band Sumo Deadlift

88.6% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Begin with a bar loaded on the floor inside of a power rack. Attach bands to the top of the rack, using either pegs or the frame itself. Attach the other end to the barbell.
2. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip. Relax the shoulders, which in effect lengthens your arms.
3. Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
4. As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
5. Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.

9. Double Kettlebell Alternating Hang Clean

86.9% Match

Hamstrings Kettlebell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Place two kettlebells between your feet. To get in the starting position, push your butt back and look straight ahead.
2. Clean one kettlebell to your shoulder and hold on to the other kettlebell.
3. With a fluid motion, lower the top kettlebell while driving the bottom kettlebell up.

10. Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift

85.3% Match

Hamstrings Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Grasp a bar using an overhand grip (palms facing down). You may need some wrist wraps if using a significant amount of weight.
2. Stand with your torso straight and your legs spaced using a shoulder width or narrower stance. The knees should be slightly bent. This is your starting position.
3. Keeping the knees stationary, lower the barbell to over the top of your feet by bending at the hips while keeping your back straight. Keep moving forward as if you were going to pick something from the floor until you feel a stretch on the hamstrings. Inhale as you perform this movement.
4. Start bringing your torso up straight again by extending your hips until you are back at the starting position. Exhale as you perform this movement.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Why You Might Need a Clean Alternative

You may substitute the Clean for several reasons: shoulder or wrist injury, limited coaching for the complex triple-extension pattern, lack of equipment, or a goal shift toward pure hamstring hypertrophy. Substitute exercises can isolate the hip hinge and reduce spinal-shear or overhead stress while preserving eccentric hamstring loading and hip-extension power. Use cues such as “push hips back, keep a flat back, soften the knees” to emphasize hamstring recruitment and limit knee-dominant torque when you replace the Clean.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Select a substitute by matching movement pattern, equipment, and training goal. For power and rate of force development choose the kettlebell swing or trap-bar deadlift and cue explosive hip extension, drive hips forward and snap the hips at the top. For hypertrophy pick the Romanian deadlift or barbell hip thrust and emphasize slow eccentrics (3–4 seconds down) to increase time under tension and stretch-mediated hamstring activation. If you have unilateral deficits, pick single-leg RDLs and keep hips square while hinging to correct imbalances.

Frequently Asked Questions

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