Dumbbell clean and press
Also called double dumbbell clean and press, dumbbell clean & press.
What is a dumbbell clean and press?
A dumbbell clean and press takes two dumbbells from the floor to your shoulders, then presses them overhead. This guide uses a full squat catch, followed by a standing strict press. Your legs drive the clean; after you stand and settle, they stay still for the press.
How do you perform a dumbbell clean and press?
Set up
- Clear enough floor space for both weights and check the space above your head. Choose a pair you can press overhead without using your legs and lower under control.
- Place one dumbbell just outside each foot, with your feet about hip- to shoulder-width apart. Bend your hips and knees to take the handles, palms facing inward. Keep your arms long, back flat and trunk braced.
Execution
- Push through the floor and raise your hips and chest together. As the weights pass your thighs, extend your hips and legs briskly, keeping the dumbbells close.
- Move your elbows under the weights and receive them beside your shoulders as you descend into a full squat, with your hip crease below the tops of your knees. Keep your chest up and the weights supported over your elbows.
- Stand all the way up from the squat. Settle your balance, take a breath and brace again with the dumbbells at your shoulders.
- Keep your knees and hips still as you press both weights overhead. Finish with straight arms and the dumbbells above your shoulders, without leaning backward or knocking the weights together.
- Lower both weights to your shoulders, then guide them down to your sides. Bend your hips and knees to place them on the floor under control. Reset there before the next clean, or release the handles when finished.
Common mistakes
Starting the press with another knee dip
That adds leg drive and makes the overhead portion a push press. Use a lighter pair if you cannot press from a settled standing position.
Letting the dumbbells swing far in front
Keep them near your body through the clean and bring your elbows underneath. Reduce the load if you have to reach forward to receive them.
Rushing from the squat into the press
Stand and regain your balance first. The squat clean and strict press are separate parts of this repetition.
Dropping straight from overhead to the floor
Return to your shoulders and then your sides before lowering to the floor. Use a load you can control through that whole return.
Where it fits in a session
Use it where your session calls for a clean followed by an overhead press, after your planned warm-up.
Practise the clean and press separately with light weights before combining them. Choose the load for a controlled strict press and floor return. End the set when you need leg drive for the press or cannot receive the clean in balance.
Muscles worked
Primary
Secondary
Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
The quadriceps straighten your knees and the gluteus maximus extends your hips during the clean. The front deltoids raise the arms and the triceps straighten the elbows in the press. The upper trapezius helps lift and rotate the shoulder blades. These roles do not rank muscle growth or make this a complete list of every muscle involved.
Variations
- Clean and jerkThe family guide uses a barbell clean and a split jerk, with leg drive and an overhead receiving position rather than a strict press.
- Dumbbell shoulder pressThe linked guide teaches a seated press from shoulder level, without a clean from the floor.
Frequently asked questions
Is the press strict or leg-driven?
It is strict in this guide. The clean uses the legs, but you stand and settle before pressing without a new knee dip. A clean followed by a push press or jerk is a different combination.
Does every repetition start on the floor?
Yes, for this version. A hang clean starts with the weights already off the floor. Keeping the dumbbells at your shoulders for several presses also changes the sequence described here.
Do you have to catch the clean in a full squat?
This guide chooses a full squat catch. A power clean catches the weights higher, above a full squat. The starting point and catch depth are separate choices: both can start on the floor.
Can you do it with one dumbbell?
Yes. A single-arm clean and press uses one dumbbell and works one side at a time. The two-dumbbell version moves both weights together.
Sources
- J. Gordon Betts et al. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 11.6. OpenStax, 2022. https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/11-6-appendicular-muscles-of-the-pelvic-girdle-and-lower-limbs
- Mohammed A. Miniato; Prashanth Anand; Matthew A. Varacallo. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Shoulder. StatPearls, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK536933/