Snatch

How to Perform the Snatch

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart with the barbell on the floor, shins close to the bar, and take a wide snatch grip (hands wide enough that the bar sits in the hip crease when standing).
2. Set your starting position with hips above knees, shoulders over or slightly in front of the bar, back flat, and arms straight.
3. Initiate the first pull by driving through your legs to lift the bar off the floor, keeping it close to your body as it passes your knees.
4. Once the bar passes the knees, explosively extend your hips, knees, and ankles (triple extension) to accelerate the bar upward.
5. As the bar reaches its peak height, aggressively pull yourself under the bar by dropping into a deep overhead squat, punching your arms to lockout overhead.
6. Receive the bar in the bottom of an overhead squat with your arms locked out, core braced, and feet in a squat-width stance.
7. Stand up from the squat position with the bar overhead, fully extending your hips and knees to complete the lift.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Muscles Worked

Benefits

• ✓Develops explosive full-body power that transfers to virtually every sport
• ✓Builds exceptional shoulder stability, hip mobility, and total body coordination
• ✓One of the most effective exercises for improving athletic speed and rate of force development

Pro Tips

• ●Learn the snatch progressively: start with overhead squats, then snatch balances, then power snatches before attempting full snatches.
• ●Work with a qualified Olympic lifting coach if possible, as the snatch has the steepest learning curve of any barbell exercise.
• ●Use hook grip (thumb wrapped around the bar, fingers over the thumb) for a more secure grip during heavy snatches.

Recommended Sets & Reps