Power Clean to Overhead

The power clean to overhead chains an explosive clean directly into a press or push press without a pause at the rack. The bell starts at hip height in a hike position, the hips drive sharp, the bell travels up to the rack and continues to overhead in one continuous line. Arm fully locked at the top.

Where the demand sits

Posterior chain: explosive hip extension drives the bell. Shoulder: receives the bell mid-motion and continues the press. Coordination: any pause at the rack breaks the chain and converts the drill into a standard clean + push press. Timing: the lifter must feel the bell's momentum to time the press correctly.

How it differs from a dead clean

A dead clean returns the bell to the floor between each rep. The focus is posterior chain pure: hip-hinge and grip endurance, repeated. Power clean to overhead replaces the floor reset with an upper-body finish, making the movement more demanding cardiovascularly and shoulder-wise.

Programming

The power clean to overhead closes a ballistic complex as the chained, overhead-finishing alternative to a floor-reset clean. Programmed for low reps per side, it shifts the cost from pure posterior-chain grip endurance toward a cardiovascular and shoulder demand. Keep the bell light enough that the overhead lockout stays clean under fatigue. When the hip drive can no longer launch the bell to a locked arm, drop to a clean without the overhead finish.