Exercise library

How to do the Kettlebell Hang Clean

A intermediate compound exercise using kettlebell, working the hamstrings.

Primary musclesHamstrings
Secondary musclesCalves, Glutes, Lower back, Shoulders, Traps
EquipmentKettlebell
LevelIntermediate
TypeCompound
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Place kettlebell between your feet. To get in the starting position, push your butt back and look straight ahead.
  2. Clean kettlebell to your shoulder. Clean the kettlebell to your shoulders by extending through the legs and hips as you raise the kettlebell towards your shoulder. The wrist should rotate as you do so.
  3. Lower kettlebell to a hanging position between your legs while keeping the hamstrings loaded. Keep your head up at all times.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the kettlebell hang clean to a routine and your previous weight and reps sit beside every set, so the decision to add load is made by what is already on the screen rather than by memory. Exercise history and volume trends are one tap away, and logging works offline for the gyms where signal does not reach.

Because OneRep tracks food on the same timeline, a stall on this lift can be read against what you were actually eating that month — which is the difference between a programming problem and an eating one. More on that in tracking progressive overload without a spreadsheet.

Where the instructions come from

The steps above come from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. They are general guidance, not coaching for your body: if a movement hurts, stop and get someone qualified to look at it.