Thread: Power Cleans or Deadlifts?

They won't "interfere", but they can help increase the intensity of your back routine. I don't like the idea of exercises replacing one another. Just continue to cycle exercise in and out for the variety. They are all good, but they lose effectiveness if left in a program for too long.

If done properly, they are a great exercise for the hamstrings, hips, traps, lower back, calves, etc.

Most people don't do them properly though.

I wouldn't replace deadlifts with power cleans. I'd replace your rows/chins with hang cleans and still do deadlifts. That's just me though.

Originally Posted by gtbmed

If done properly, they are a great exercise for the hamstrings, hips, traps, lower back, calves, etc.

Most people don't do them properly though.

I wouldn't replace deadlifts with power cleans. I'd replace your rows/chins with hang cleans and still do deadlifts. That's just me though.

I don't like thinking in terms of replacing exercises either (unless they are variations of the same exercise), but this is probably the best way to do it.

You can really do them all...and I would advise so. It is just a matter of good programming.

A power clean is not a deadlift. A power clean is not a row, or a chin up. A deadlift is not a row or a chin up.

They are all very different movements.

What is your goal? Why are you replacing exercises with others that are not inherently the same movement? It is important to train all movements of the body.

A power clean is a strength exercise, but it is also a power exercise (hence power clean, but any form of the clean is a power exercise). A deadlift is a pure strength oriented exercise. You are training to move resistance.

Power cleans, on the other hand, you are training to move resistance FAST.

Both exercises require an element of power and strength. Both exercise can supplement each other.

The deadlift is, in terms of pure strength, a better exercise. This is because most people can deadlift a lot more than they can clean. If you want to train your posterior chain strength efficiently and optimally, you should incorporate some form of deadlift into your program. The power clean is, in terms of pure power, a better exercise.

My personal example - the most I ever deadlifted was 475 lbs and the most I ever cleaned (full clean) was 220 lbs. Why would I stop training deadlifts? Obviously, my posterior chain was capable of moving more than 220 lbs.

Different exercises, different dynamics.