10 Best Dumbbell Clean Alternatives for Glute Power
If you can't do the Dumbbell Clean, pick exercises that reproduce explosive hip extension and load the posterior chain. Try Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell swings, trap-bar deadlifts, hip thrusts, or jump squats—hinge at the hips, drive through the heels, and squeeze the glutes at lockout to mimic the clean's glute activation.
Original Exercise: Dumbbell Clean
How to Perform Dumbbell Clean
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
- Bend your knees and lower your hips into a squat position, keeping your back straight and chest up.
- Explosively extend your hips and knees, driving through your heels to jump off the ground.
- As you jump, shrug your shoulders and pull the dumbbells up towards your shoulders, keeping them close to your body.
- Catch the dumbbells at shoulder height, with your elbows pointing forward and your palms facing up.
- Lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position by reversing the movement.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Best Dumbbell Clean Alternatives
1. Dumbbell Deadlift
93.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing forward.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your body, arms extended downwards.
- Bend at your hips and knees, lowering the dumbbells towards the ground while keeping your back straight.
- Push through your heels and extend your hips and knees, lifting the dumbbells back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
2. Barbell Sumo Deadlift
90.1% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing outwards.
- Place a barbell on the ground in front of you, centered between your feet.
- Bend your knees and lower your hips, keeping your back straight and chest up, to grip the barbell with an overhand grip.
- Engage your core and drive through your heels to lift the barbell off the ground, extending your hips and knees simultaneously.
- As you lift, keep your chest up and back straight, and push your hips forward to fully engage your glutes.
3. Barbell Rack Pull
90.1% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Set up a barbell on a rack at knee height.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing slightly outwards.
- Bend at the hips and knees to lower yourself down and grip the barbell with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core and lift the barbell by extending your hips and knees, pulling your shoulders back and squeezing your glutes at the top.
- Lower the barbell back down to the starting position by bending at the hips and knees.
4. Barbell Deadlift
85.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell on the ground in front of you.
- Bend your knees and hinge at the hips to lower your torso and grip the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your back straight and chest lifted as you drive through your heels to lift the barbell off the ground, extending your hips and knees.
- As you stand up straight, squeeze your glutes and keep your core engaged.
- Lower the barbell back down to the ground by bending at the hips and knees, keeping your back straight.
5. Dumbbell Straight Leg Deadlift
84.3% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
- Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, hinge at the hips and lower the dumbbells towards the ground, allowing your torso to lean forward.
- Continue lowering the dumbbells until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, keeping your knees slightly bent.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom, then engage your glutes and hamstrings to lift your torso back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
6. Barbell One Arm Side Deadlift
83.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell in one hand with an overhand grip.
- Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
- Bend at the hips and lower the barbell towards the outside of your leg, keeping your arm straight and your chest up.
- Lower the barbell as far as you can while maintaining good form.
- Pause for a moment, then slowly return to the starting position.
7. Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlift With Stepbox Support
82.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in your right hand.
- Place your left foot on a stepbox or elevated surface behind you.
- Keeping your back straight and core engaged, hinge forward at the hips, lowering the dumbbell towards the ground.
- As you lower the dumbbell, simultaneously lift your left leg behind you, maintaining a straight line from head to heel.
- Lower the dumbbell until you feel a stretch in your right hamstring, then return to the starting position.
8. Barbell Stiff Leg Good Morning
80.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
- Hold the barbell across your upper back, resting it on your traps.
- Keeping your back straight, hinge forward at the hips, pushing your glutes back.
- Lower your torso until it is parallel to the ground, feeling a stretch in your hamstrings.
- Engage your glutes and hamstrings to return to the starting position.
9. Clean Pull
79.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- 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.
- 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 and elbows out. Move the weight with control as you continue to above the knees.
- 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. Full extension should be violent and abrupt, and ensure that you do not prolong the extension for longer than necessary.
10. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
79.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
- Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, hinge at the hips and lower the dumbbells towards the ground, allowing your knees to bend slightly.
- Lower the dumbbells until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then push through your heels and engage your glutes to return to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Why You Might Need a Dumbbell Clean Alternative
You may substitute the Dumbbell Clean for several reasons: mobility limits, technical skill, joint pain, or lack of safe explosive training space. Cleans demand fast triple extension and robust grip-to-shoulder transition, stressing wrists, shoulders, and low back. Selecting a substitute that isolates hip extension or slows the eccentric phase reduces peak joint stress while preserving glute recruitment. For example, perform a Romanian deadlift with a soft knee and long hip hinge, cueing a deliberate 2–3 second eccentric to increase hamstring and glute loading without ballistic forces.
How to Choose the Right Substitute
Choose a substitute based on your goal: power, hypertrophy, or rehabilitation. For power, use kettlebell swings or jump squats and cue aggressive hip snap and full glute squeeze at lockout. For hypertrophy, favor hip thrusts and slow-tempo Romanian deadlifts, emphasizing time under tension and maximal glute contraction. If you have joint issues, pick trap-bar deadlifts to reduce lumbar shear—keep a neutral spine and drive through the mid-foot. Match movement pattern (hip hinge vs. vertical squat) and loading method to preserve the glute activation you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
What muscles does Dumbbell Clean work?
The Dumbbell Clean primarily targets the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves via hip and knee extension, plus the traps and shoulders during the pull-to-rack. It relies on rapid triple extension (hips, knees, ankles) and core stabilization to transfer force from the lower body into the upper body.
What is the best bodyweight alternative to Dumbbell Clean?
A broad jump or repeated jump squat is the best bodyweight alternative for replicating explosive hip extension. Cue a full hip hinge before the jump, drive through the heels, and land softly with knees tracking over toes to maintain glute and hamstring engagement.
Can I build muscle without doing Dumbbell Clean?
Yes. You can build glute and upper-leg muscle with compound lifts like hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, and trap-bar deadlifts using progressive overload. Focus on controlled eccentrics, full hip extension, and progressive loading to stimulate hypertrophy without cleans.
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