The best weightlifters in the world do many things better than the rest of us, but one thing they do exceptionally well is getting under heavy barbells really fast. 

Speed under the bar is one of the biggest keys to improving your clean, yet it’s often the hardest piece of the puzzle for many lifters to learn.

There are many ways to get faster under the bar, but if you don’t know HOW to get under the bar, this drill could be a game changer.  

P.S. If you’re interested in learning the olympic lifts, then check out my free Weightlifting101: Beginner Guide + 6-Week Program here!

What is the Tall Clean?

The Tall Clean is a drill for the clean that is designed to isolate and practice getting under the bar fast. To understand how this works, keep in mind the following:

Legs move the bar up, arms move the body down. 

In the Clean, your legs should do all the work to elevate the bar to its highest position, or peak. At the moment the bar reaches its peak, then your arms may begin to pull, but not to elevate the bar further. Instead, you must use your arms to pull yourself under the momentarily weightless barbell. This phase of the lift is called the Third Pull.

How To Perform

To perform the Tall Clean, start with your hands in your clean grip and the bar hanging at your waist. Initiate the lift with a shrug, then, without any assistance from your legs, pull yourself under the barbell with your arms. 

This can be very challenging to do, so make sure to practice several times with an empty barbell before loading any weight on the bar. 

Some coaches may program this with a calf raise in combination with the shrug to better mimic the positions you will be in during a snatch, however, I’ve found this to be more limiting than helpful. 

Check out the demo video here!

Implementation 

The Tall Clean works well as a movement primer before your normal clean workout, but it can also be used as a stand-alone exercise before your front squat workout like I frequently program on the Skills & Strength days in my 5-Day OlyStrong Online Weightlifting Team.

As I mentioned earlier, this lift can be very challenging, so keep in mind that you’ll need to stay much lighter for this compared to other exercises. Try programming these for 3-5 sets of 2-5 reps, between 20-40% of your best clean. 

Hopefully, this clarified some things for you and maybe even gave you a lightbulb moment with your technique. If you ever need a free form check on your videos, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and drop your video in the #form-checks channel. 

By the way, I’ve got a free beginner weightlifting guide and a 6-week program! If you’re new to the olympic lifts, then check it out here!

And if you’re looking for a weightlifting program designed to help you set PRs, improve your technique, and get strong af, then check out a FREE WEEK TRIAL of my 3 & 5-Day OlyStrong Team at the link below!