What is the Power Clean?

When you go into a gym, the vast majority of what people are doing exercise-wise is easy to understand and emulate. Nobody really needs explanations as to how to do a dumbbell curl or a push-up. However, some of the more advanced exercises may look intimidating and complicated to perform, and for that reason novices will often shy away from these techniques for fear of getting it wrong and hurting themselves. One such exercise is the Power Clean, and this technique is as fundamentally important to real training as any other. For that reason alone everybody should be practicing it, but in order to do so we should first understand what it is and what is involved in its execution.
First of all, the power clean is done by taking a barbell from the ground, and then hoisting it explosively into the air and catching it at your chest. All the work is done by the legs, core and back, with the arms actually doing no lifting. The move is done fast, and involves converting strength into power, so that you are able to lift the weight very quickly. This is significantly different from similar moves like the squat, where speed is not of the essence. The power clean is an excellent move for athletes to use since many competitive sports require explosive bursts of strength and speed, and helps them convert strength gains into acceleration, precision and control of the field. 
There are a variety of different kinds of power cleans, with the variations lying in how the legs are positioned, and whether the weight is lifted in one go or in two stages. If the trainee lifts the barbell to their thighs, pauses, and then lifts it to their shoulders it is called the Continental Lift; if the barbell is lifted in one go to the shoulders but the trainee falls into a split leg stance, it is called a Split Clean. If the weight is lifted without a preliminary squat or split, it is called a Power Snatch. Finally, if the trainee falls into a full squat upon lifting the weight, it is called quite simple a Clean.
As you can see there are a variety of different ways to execute the Power Clean, each having its benefits and adherents. What matters however is that you add it to your repertoire and in so doing improve your power and performance.

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