Barbell Split Clean

A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.

This is a technical lift, best learned under a coach’s eye before loading heavy.

HOW TO PERFORM

Set up as you would to clean: feet hip width, bar over mid-foot, hook grip just outside the shins, back flat.
Push the floor away until the bar passes the knees, then extend the hips, knees and ankles hard and shrug.
Pull yourself under the bar while splitting the feet, one forward and one back, and catch it on the front rack with the elbows high.
Land with the front shin vertical and the back knee bent, weight shared between both feet.
Recover by stepping the front foot back halfway, then bring the back foot forward to meet it and stand tall.

Recover the front foot first. Moving the back foot first tips the bar forward.
The split receives the bar higher than a squat clean, so the feet have to land fast and far enough apart front to back to hold it.

Log it in Ægir Iron to track your PRs and estimated 1RM, and to see the sets each muscle gets every week. Free for individual lifters.