Cycling Snatches

It is about maintaining high-support positions and relying on prime movers (mainly the hips) to build sustainability at a variety of loads and movement pairings.

There are a number of techniques for cycling snatches, which all can be good options depending on the scenario.  The ideal technique for moving a barbell with 90% of your max will not be the as moving a barbell with 40% of your max.  The ideal technique for moving through 5 reps will not be the same as 55 reps. And the list goes on.  

Mobility – Strength – Skill

To maximize your potential, capacity and efficiency for cycling snatches you must master the movement’s specific mobility, strength and skill demands.  Renowned CrossFit Coach, Ben Bergeron, calls mobility, strength and skill the three-headed monster. Let’s take on the monster one “head” at a time.

Mobility Requirements

1) Overhead Position: Having a lockout in your snatch where your joints are stacked is critical in building efficiency when cycling reps.  In other words, if a gym buddy filmed you from the side during lockout, your wrists should be directly over your elbows and elbows directly over your shoulders. This position allows your shoulders to relax because you are balanced.  As soon as the weight deviates in front or behind that line, you lose efficiency because your body must pull that weight back to the center line or point of balance. Here are some of my favorite mobilizations for the overhead position in the snatch: 

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For more on how hand position affects overhead mobility watch…

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2) T-Spine Extension: The Thoracic Spine (or T-Spine) is the upper back segment that attaches to your ribcage.  The T-Spine is often a limiter in mobility because most people spend much of their day sitting, often with poor posture. 

Good luck claiming T-Spine extension under a heavy load and fatigue if you don’t do it when you are sitting around outside of the gym.  If you want to get better a snatches, overhead squats, cleans, wall balls and front squats, you better address your habits first. This is a universal truth: habits > hacks.

Often what people believe to be tightness in the shoulders is really stiffness in the T-Spine.  

If we go back to our rule of thumb, if you have a body part that is in pain, look to the structures above it (upstream) or below it (downstream).  Let’s say you have lower back pain. Chances are you are either immobile and/or lack function in either your T-Spine (upstream) or in your hips (downstream).  Likely it is not a problem with your low back, but most people are unable to follow the breadcrumbs back to source of the actual problem.  

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The Elevated Cat Pose is by far my favorite t-spine stretch and it also targets the lats, pecs and other structures that produce an immobile shoulder joint.  Do not be passive in this stretch, especially when doing it in your warm-up / movement prep. Work to actively pull your shoulders open and extend your upper back.  Create tension because you are preparing for the demands of your workout.

The Kettlebell Anchored T-Spine Opener is another great option to prep movements like cleans and snatches.  Think about pulling the ribcage down with your abs, as if you were preparing to get punched in the gut.

3) An Upright-Torso Squat: Another common problem with overhead squats in having an ‘immature’ squat.  In other words the torso is bent over rather than vertical. To balance a bar overhead efficiently you must be able to stay upright in your squat. 

Often as athletes attempt to force this upright torso they shift onto their toes and lose access to their posterior (glutes and hamstrings). The ability to produce an upright torso comes from the ability of the hips, knees and ankles to organize.  

The most common way this movement mistake shows up is with the shoulder being forced to change angles.  This is most obvious is squatting variations. In the bottom of the squat, the athlete isn’t able to maintain an upright torso so the shoulders are forced to go further behind the body in order to maintain a vertical overhead position. 

After the athlete passes parallel in their squat and the hips come back under the body, the torso turns back to vertical and the shoulders pull the bar forward again to maintain the vertical shoulder angle. This is difficult to explain, but easy to see in the video below.

To claim an upright torso the knees are typically shifted forward.  To do this and maintain a full foot (balanced) you must have great ankle dorsiflexion, otherwise you will be “pulled” onto your toes.

Often athlete do mobility protocols for their ankles that involve a straight knee.  This isn’t specific to the squat where the issue is usually the heels chords (achilles) and soleus (deep, underlying muscle) rather than the gastrocnemius (the superficial muscle you can see).  

To target the right joint in a movement-specific way, I recommend variations of the Elevated Achilles Stretch.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that athletes who struggle to keep their heels on the ground often assume the ankle is the source of the problem. The reality is the hips cause more issues and dysfunction for the ankle than the calf. The hips probably play an equal role in producing an upright torso squat, but addressing hip limitations will carry over the other movement better. I get into why this is the case in this video…

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Having mobility AND strength allow for High-Support Positions, which is the key to expressing capacity in Weightlifting movements. Listen to #014 of The Fitness Movement for more.

Strength Requirements

Strength requirements largely depend on a weight that you are lifting relative to your max.  Rather than going down the rabbit hole of percentages of your max for Met-Con rep ranges, which would have large individual differences, I’m going to take the approach of looking at body part relative strength.  This will be much more universal to all fitness levels and types of workouts.

“In which key body areas do I need to be strong to be efficient at snatches?”

Core

Think of your core as all the musculature between your shoulders and hips that manipulate the pelvis, spine and ribcage.  You must have 360 degrees of strength in your core.

Think of your core as a sphere. That ball of muscle must be tight from all directions to maximize power transfer to the limbs. 

Your core certainly involves your abdominals, but it also includes a host of other muscles certainly not limited to your spine erectors, QL (Quadratus Lumborum), obliques, intercostals, diaphragm and pelvic floor.  All movement is generated from the core, it is the most important area in all movement.

T-Spine

Not only must your T-Spine be mobile, it must also be strong.  Your T-Spine needs a very specific quality of strength: the ability to resist flexion (rounding). 

The first place to address a rounding T-Spine is the core. The next place would be the upright torso in the squat.  I know very few athletes who have a T-Spine strength limiter who pass the tests of t-spine mobility, a strong core and an upright torso. 

Most athletes who believe they have a T-Spine limiter do not. They have poor movement, which breaks down at their T-Spine. It’s like a person searching for a new knee brace to resolve their pain when they are 60 pounds overweight.  Address the root of the problem, not the symptom.

That being said, certain sub-sections of the population will have more difficulty developing mobility for snatches…

Individual factors that impact mobility development: 

1. Biological Age: Athletes with an older biological age (Masters) and a low training age.  Just like the older you get the slower your strength and fitness respond, the same is true for mobility.
2. Sitting Hours: The Desk Athlete will have challenges developing mobility.  In other words, the person who sits all day and then jumps into a CrossFit workout
3. Body Size: Big & Tall athletes especially those with long limbs and relative short torso length (Read: Considerations for Big & Tall CrossFit Competitors)
4. Femur Length: Athletes with long upper legs / femurs (relative to lower leg / tibia length)
5. Torso Length: Athletes with a short torso (relative to limb length)

If you truly believe you have done what you can to maximize your mobility and core strength then this exercise is a fantastic T-Spine strengthener.

Shoulders

The shoulders also play a big role in the snatch, largely stabilizing the overhead portion of the movement.  Even during shoulder intensive variations like the Muscle Snatch, the shoulders aren’t the prime mover. That would be like saying the triceps are the prime mover of a jerk. 

Rather momentum generated by the legs, hips and back is finished with the upper body. The shoulders play a greater role in the squatting variations, as the time under tension for stabilization is higher.

Now we get into the prime movers for snatch: the hips and back.

Hip Hinge

Most variations of snatch require a powerful hip extension, with the exception of “bounced” hang snatches.  In bounced hang snatches you maintain an upright torso so there is very little hinging that happens at the hip.

Because the hip hinge is powerful, it is also energetically expensive, which is why the bounced hang snatch is very efficient.  In all other variations the shoulders come slightly in front of the bar with the hips back and near vertical shins.

In power snatch variations, a powerful hip hinge is the most important factor in a strong lift. Case in point, a Deadlift 1 Rep Max, Power Clean 1 Rep Max and Power Snatch 1 Rep Max are all highly correlated because they all rely on a powerful hip hinge.  

Overhead Squat

In squat versions of the snatch the ability to maintain solid position and effectively use the legs is critical.  Often mobility limitations in the shoulders, t-spine, hips and ankles present themselves as squatting limitations. Caving in the shoulders or knees are obvious signs that strength in the squat prime movers are not the limiter. 

To get an idea of baseline strength levels, your overhead squat max should be significantly higher than your snatch. The better your overhead stability is the easier it will be to hit higher percentages of your back squat in the overhead variation. In rare cases, some elite athletes (the likes of Rich Froning and Jacob Heppner) can overhead squat more than they can front squat.  I explain more as to why here. 

Looking for a Overhead Squat test?
It has been a CrossFit standard for a long time to be able to perform 15 unbroken overhead squat reps at your bodyweight.

Grip

Grip strength and endurance is an important factor in deciding which variation of snatches to complete in a given environment.  An athlete’s ability to claim, maintain or reclaim a hookgrip is crucial to success in cycling any variation of snatches.  

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Skill Requirements

To The Novice…

There are lots of movements that fall under the umbrella of cycling snatches, and within each of those movements there are a number of options to cycle. 

Before we dive into the cavern of information it is important to remember that if you have not mastered basic variations of snatches, you will not benefit from more variety. 

In fact, you will benefit from less. If this is you, do not be distracted by the “shiny object” of cycling snatches in different ways.

Stick with the basics…working Power Snatches and Squat Snatches in non-fatigued settings where you drop and reset the barbell between each rep.  Learn the mobility and positioning, then add speed and weight to the bar, then begin to add in fatigue and do Touch-N-Go reps.

To The Expert…

At a certain point you will get diminishing returns on strength work within the sport of CrossFit.  The energy you spend to PR your snatch by five pounds may or may not be worth it depending on what stage you are in your career. 

In the time it takes you to improve minor amounts in max lifts, you could reap major improvements in barbell cycling capacity due to specific skill and strength development. 

For example, a CrossFit athlete is well served learning how to master efficient hang power clean technique, which would dramatically improve performance in a workout like “DT” (5 Rounds: 12 Deadlift, 9 Hang Power Clean, 6 Push Jerk at 155/105).

For experienced athletes with solid technique, increasing your skill repertoire is important because it allows you to tailor your movement to the demands of the workout.  Every CrossFit athlete knows that their running form will be different for a workout like “Helen” (3 Rounds: 400m Run, 21 Kettlebell Swings, 12 Pull-Ups) when compared to a workout like “Murph” (Run 1 Mile, 100 Pull-Ups, 200 Push-Ups, 300 Air Squat, Run 1 Mile – all in a 20/14lbs vest).  In the same way, the technique you decide to use for cycling snatches will be different based on workout factors.

To Cycle or Not to Cycle?

Should I go Touch-N-Go or Nah?”

Here are some important factors to consider when deciding whether or not to cycle snatches in the first place…

1) Load – Percentage of 1RM

The lighter the workout loading is relative to your max, the more likely it is that you will benefit from doing reps Touch-N-Go.  Often athletes will find dropping and resetting the barbell to be more of an inconvenience than a break when the loading drops below 30% of their one rep max. 

For example, a male athlete with a 225-lb power snatch max will often choose to do power cleans Touch-N-Go at 65lbs regardless of the workout specifics.

Likewise, when the loading climbs above 60% most athletes will opt to drop the bar on the majority of workouts, which the exception of sprint-type events.  Experienced athletes often can’t drop a bar in a sprint event and expect to remain competitive (e.g. “Fran”)

2) Workout Duration

Cycling a bar keeps tension on the body at all times where dropping it allows for brief moments of relaxation.  This is important for both blood flow (constant contraction = occlusion) and breathing (muscular tension increases demand of respiratory musculature). 

In sprint workouts (under 2 minutes), this is often an unavoidable consequence of going fast.

In longer workouts (12+ minutes) it is often best to drop weight to allow for heart rate, blood pressure and systemic tension to stay low. 

Of course, these are generalities and certain workouts will not “follow the rules.”

3) Total Rep Volume

This factor is often closely tied to workout duration.  However, there are exceptions here as well.

For example, “Isabel” (30 snatches for time at 135/95lbs) is a sub 2:00 (sprint) workout for advanced athletes. 

A Chipper style workout with a 30-calorie Row, 30 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups, 30 Handstand Push-ups and 30 snatches has the same snatch volume, but the workout duration is several times longer. 

Likewise, “Double Isabel” would be twice the amount of snatches (60) and take less time than the chipper.

As a rule of thumb, the higher the density of a specific movement (reps per minute) the more likely you will need to drop the weight to allow local (muscular) fatigue to clear, as well as allow recovery of heart rate and blood pressure. 

Muscle blood flow occlusion acts as vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels), which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and skyrockets the sympathetic nervous system (stress response).

Basically, hanging on to the bar isn’t always the way to go.

4) Movement Interference

These are when the movements create greater local (muscular) fatigue because of the way they are paired. 

Two interfering movements would be dumbbell front rack lunges and squat snatches. Both tax tissues in similar ways making it much more likely that you will not complete the squat snatches Touch-N-Go even if the weight is relatively light. 

Conversely, if the squat snatch was paired with rowing for meters, which is a movement you are able to treat as a recovery, you would be much more likely to be well-served with cycling the snatches, especially if they are light.

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Related Read: Rowing for Calories versus Meters

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5) Variation – Power, Squat, Hang

You are better off cycling Hang Power Snatches and Hang Squat Snatches at a higher percentage of your 1RM because you avoid a movement buy-in. 

In this case, the hang variations have a buy-in of a deadlift. On the other hand, Power Snatches and Squat Snatches are only advantageous to cycle reps when the time to reset the barbell is too costly in the workout.  

Cycling Power Snatches

Here are options shown in order from strong to sustainable…

1) “Strength”

Characteristics: Lower Hip Start, Brace before Pull, Powerful Pull, Low Catch, Move Feet & Release Hookgrip, Breathe in the Overhead Position between Reps

Description: This is not a technique you will use in a Met-Con.  This technique is for strength work or max lifts when doing a 2 or 3-Rep Touch-N-Go Max.  Because this technique is the most powerful, it also breaks down quickly due to fatigue. It is not efficient to rest and breathe in the overhead position, but efficiency doesn’t matter in strength work.  All that matters is moving big weights.

2) “Traditional Power”

Characteristics: Higher Hip Start, Grip & Rip, Hip Contact, High Catch, Release Hookgrip

Description: The higher hips allow the knees to be out of the way of the bar, simplifying the movement pattern and making it easier to execute at faster cycle speeds.  Because the weight is lighter, a brace does not need to be “gathered” before the first rep. The higher catch may or may not allow the athlete to maintain the hookgrip. If it is lost, it will need to be reclaimed as the bar returns to the hip for the next rep.  All the characteristics of this variation save you time (under tension) relative to the strength variation and make the movement more efficient.

3) “Snake Snatch”

Characteristics: Higher Hip Start, Easy Pull, High Catch, Keep Hookgrip, No Body Contact

Description: This is a technique that will be used for interval style workouts such as EMOMs, sprint workouts with moderate loads relative to your max and workouts that have other movements that involve pressing.   

How does the Snake Snatch differ from a Power Snatch? 

1. The bar never changes directions, it’s continually moving up.
2. The lockout is much more subtle, often only being an inch or two.
3. The hips go forward instead of back.  You slide the knees forward at the bar drifts overhead.

Why use the Snake Snatch versus a Power Snatch?  

When the barbell is light enough that you don’t need to pull under the weight (not going to power snatch), but the demands of the workout are going to be heavy on the triceps and shoulders where repeated Muscle Snatches might blow up your lockout too quickly.  In other words, if the workout is…too light to Power Snatch but too demanding to Muscle Snatch, the Snake Snatch might be the answer.

4) “Muscle”

Characteristics: Higher Hip Start, Grip & Rip, Easy Pull, Muscle Snatch, Keep Hookgrip, No Body Contact

Description: This is reserved for moving very light relative loads.  I’m defining this as anything under 30% of your one rep max. For most high level competitors, cycling a 75/55lb barbell will be easiest and fastest using the Muscle Snatch. Basically, the only difference is not re-bending the knees to catch the bar.  It is slightly more taxing on the shoulders, triceps and upper back, but is faster and takes some of the toll off the legs.

Common Errors: Cycling When Not Needed

Too many athletes cycle barbells when it isn’t helpful or necessary in a workout.  This is especially true for power and squat snatches that start from the floor. Really the only reasons to cycle a barbell is if 1) the bumper plates on the ends of the bar cause it to bounce all over the place (common with 10s or 15s) and low-density rubber plates, or 2) the weight is very light and it’s simply more convenient and faster to cycle, or 3) the workout is a sprint (very short time domain).

Otherwise, you are best served dropping the bar and doing singles.  Dropping the bar so the ends hit at the same time and so you don’t have to step away or back to the bar is an extremely important skill.  You should be able to drop a bar from the front rack, and without moving your feet regrip the bar and go straight into your next rep. I would go so far to make the claim the ability to do fast singles is a more important skill in CrossFit than barbell cycling for snatches from the floor.

Common Errors: No Body-to-Bar Contact at Heavy Relative Loading

Almost all beginners do not take full advantage of their hips when doing snatches.  A common way this appears is through the barbell never contacting the body above the knees.  While this is an acceptable technique for improving cycle speed at a low relative load for a more advanced athlete, the beginner should be making body-to-bar contact with the upper thigh / hip for all snatches even with light loading, so they can learn the movement pattern. The only time a snatch should not touch the upper thigh / hip is with an advanced athlete during a Met-Con with low loads, relative to their max.

Common Errors: Contacting Too Low on Thigh

Another frequent mistake is contacting the bar too low on the thighs for the power and squat snatch.  This is caused by a lack of engagement in one of the parts of the pulling system.

Most commonly, the shoulders are not retracted (shoulder blades back and down), which can account for a contact point 2-3 inches lower on the thigh.  This tends to leave the bar out in front of the body and the athlete missing reps that they are strong enough to make.

Also, a neutral wrist position can also cause this, when compared to a pseudo false grip. Think “Knuckles down” as you grasp the bar.  

Next, a rounded back (failure to maintain neutral spine) can contribute to the problem, and this is often combined with a lack of shoulder retraction.  It is important to note that athletes with long limb length (relative to their torso) will have a harder time contacting higher on their thighs.

The items above become more important for the long-limbed athlete.  The opposite is true for the athlete with a long torso, who often finds it easy to contact the hip. However, a long torso increases the demand for midline integrity, which is why movements like deadlifting become more challenging.

Lastly, double check grip width.  A narrower grip will cause you contact lower on your leg, almost like a clean.  Moving your grip wider by even a fist width can help create a hair more elevation on the bar, helping you contact higher.

Cycling Squat Snatches

Here are options shown in order from strong to sustainable…

1) “Strength”

Characteristics: Brace before 1st rep, Full Pull, Hip Contact, Move Feet, Release Hookgrip, Breathe in Overhead between Reps

Description: [Same as Power Snatch, See Above]

2) “No Feet”

Characteristics: Grip & Rip 1st rep, Short Pull, Thigh Contact, Stationary Feet, Keep Hookgrip

Description: When the loading of the squat clean becomes relatively light, it no longer becomes advantageous to powerfully finish your pull.  Rather, you want to pull just enough to get under the bar in a good position. The “no feet” technique is a way of identifying an easy pull, rather than a powerful one. 

In this variation, you stand the weight up fully before pulling under, but you don’t execute a violent hip tension. The violent hip extension is crucial to the max lift variation, but it is a metabolically expensive segment of the movement that can be removed to improve efficiency at lighter loads. 

In the max lift, coming up onto the toes is a reaction of a powerful hip extension rather than a conscious action. It is the same as the follow through of a baseball swing. Removing the powerful hip extension also removes the reaction of coming onto the toes.

Plus, it becomes really awkward moving the feet from a pulling stance to a squatting stance and back again and again.  It is easier to leave the feet in a neutral spot (between your pulling and squatting stance) and not move them. That is why this variation is called no feet.

3) “Pull Under”

Characteristics: Grip & Rip 1st rep, Short Pull, No Thigh / Hip Contact, Stationary Feet, Keep Hookgrip

Description: The main difference between the no feet version and this one is a shortened pull.  In the pull under, you do not stand the bar up fully before pulling underneath.

Rather, you pull to waist height and then pull yourself under the bar directly into the overhead squat.  This prevents any wasted vertical movement of the bar, which saves both time and energy with a very light barbell.

This is best executed at loads under 30% of your one rep max, and in sprint style workouts.

Common Errors: Faulty Footwork

There are two common footwork faults when cycling snatches.  These typically occur with the squat snatch or heavier power snatches because both involve picking up the feet and moving them.  

1) the athlete fails to move their feet and they are left in a very narrow stance when squatting

2) the athlete fails to move their feet back to their pulling stance going into the next rep so they are left to pull in a squatting stance 

3) the athlete fails to stay “organized” and consistent with their footwork and the position get sloppy as they get tired

Regardless of the fault, the solution is typically the same.  Find a hybrid stance of your pull and your squat that allows you to do both.  This way you don’t have to move your feet at submaximal loads. 

Common Errors: Pausing at the Hip on the Return or Pulled on the Toes when Cycling Snatches

Error #1: Pulled onto Toes

Why? The bar is out in front.

Think: “Move out of the way of the bar” instead of moving the bar around you.

Error #2: Pausing at Hips

Why?  It’s often a mental thing: position might be fine. If there is an actual positional fault, it’s your contacting a little too high on your leg, contacting lower will help you create more of a slide rather than a stick.

Think: “Slide not Stick”

Cycling Hang Snatches

That includes both from powers and squatting variations.

Here are options shown in order from strong to sustainable…

1) “The Thigh Throw”

Characteristics: Strength Pull with Counter Action, Hip Contact, Move Feet, Release Hookgrip, Low Catch

Description: This is the strength variation of the movement.  For example, a 3-Position Hang Snatch would use this technique because it is as heavy as possible while also being mandatory Touch-N-Go.  The athlete will reclaim the hook grip as the bar comes back down to the hip before going into the next rep. 

2) “The Hip Throw”

Characteristics: No tracing down thighs, Stationary Feet, Higher Catch, Keep Hookgrip

Description: This version differs from the strength variation because you do not allow the bar to trace down the thighs.  Rather, the bar sits in the hip crease. In the double action hip throw, you first catch the bar in the hip crease, stand to regain your composure and take a breath, then perform a high hang snatch. 

In the single action hip throw, the hip “catches” the bar on the way down and then immediately changes directions and “throws” it back up.

The double action takes more time and slightly less efficient (because it has an added movement), but it will also be more consistent at heavier loads or during fatigue. 

The single action hip throw is much quicker and conserves time and energy at lower loads. Loading, comfortability and athlete preference will determine if you maintain a hook grip or release it and reclaim it each rep.

3) “The Bounce”

Characteristics: Bounce off Thighs, Stay Upright in Pull, Keep Hookgrip, High Catch

Description: In this option, you stay upright throughout the movement.  This takes out some of the involvement of the hips, which is why is why it is less metabolically expensive (more efficient), but also requires a more strength (since you can’t effectively use your hips).  The pressure from your hips is redirected to the traps and thighs.

Because the bar changes directions aggressively, the grip is taxed dramatically. The Bounce Hang Snatch is reserved for more experienced athletes who practice this variation in workouts, have the ability to cycle the workout load quickly and in workouts where the total demand on the grip is lower. 

Bounce Finish Options: Power, Snake, Muscle

Common Errors: Not Using A Hookgrip (or) Not Reclaiming the Hookgrip

Because the hang snatch involves a fast change or direction of the bar, the demands of the grip go way up.  A hookgrip allows tension to stay relatively low while grip security remains high.

However, for athletes who don’t use a hookgrip, much higher tension is needed.  This tension causes fatigue and fatigue causes a lack of security in the grip.

Poor security means slower cycle speed, which is turns puts more time under tension on the grip.  Now, you feel as if you are losing the bar and you hold it tighter, causing more fatigue. The negative cycle spirals.

The solution is simple: learn to hookgrip and use it.  No one cares that your hands are small and your thumbs hurt.  People with smaller hands and more sensitive thumbs than you are out there using the hookgrip right now.  Get over it. It may be weaker for a period of time, but it will eventually be stronger than your normal grip.

Other times, athletes start with a hookgrip for the first rep, but at some point during cycling the bar they lose it.  I recommend practicing the skill of reclaiming the hookgrip at lighter loads in an EMOM style until you can do it without requiring any conscious thought.

TLDR | Here’s the Summary

Mobility Requirements

1) The Overhead Position: The organization of 3 body joints: the Shoulder, Elbow & Wrist
2) T-Spine Extension: The upper back must be able to fully extend
3) An Upright-Torso Squat: An angled back will make an overhead squat / snatch more challenging

Strength Requirements

1) Hips & Legs …are the prime movers so they must be strong
2) Core, T-Spine & Shoulders …must be strong to prevent movement

Skill Requirements

It is important to master your technique and create consistency in the strength lift before learning to cycle the bar in different ways.

Deciding: Cycle vs. Singles

Factors to consider… Load – Percentage of 1RM, Workout Duration, Total Rep Volume, Movement Interference, Variation – Power, Squat, Hang, Movement “Buy-In:”

Cycling Snatches

Here are options shown in order from strong to sustainable…

“Strength”
“Traditional Power”
“Snake Snatch” or “Muscle Snatch”
“No Feet” or “Pull Under” for Squat Snatches
“Double Action Hip” or “Single Hip Action” for Hang Snatches
“Bounce Hang Power Clean”

Characteristics to Consider

• Hip height at Pull
• Brace vs. Grip & Rip
• Power of Pull
• Catch Height
• Stationary vs. Moving Feet
• Keep vs. Release Hook Grip
• Breath Ratio

Common Errors

• Cycling When Not Needed
• No Body-to-Bar Contact at Heavy Relative Loading
• Getting Pulled Forward or Pausing at the Hip when Cycling Snatches
• Faulty Footwork: Not using a hybrid stance during light work under fatigue
• Not Using A Hook Grip (or) Not reclaiming the hookgrip

Ready to join the ranks?

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