Exercise guide · evidence-graded

Snatch

The snatch is the Olympic lift in which you pull a barbell from the floor to arms' length overhead in one continuous movement and catch it in a deep overhead squat. It develops whole-body explosive power through the legs, hips and back, and it is the most technical barbell lift in common use.

Also called: Full Snatch, Squat Snatch, Barbell Snatch, Olympic Snatch · Equipment: barbell · Pattern: compound

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How to do it

Step by step

Stand with the bar over the middle of your feet, feet about hip-width apart and toes turned slightly out. Take a wide grip so the bar sits in the crease of your hips when you stand with straight arms, and hook your thumbs under your fingers.
Squat down to the bar with your shins close to it, hips above your knees, chest up, back flat and arms straight, shoulders just in front of the bar.
Push the floor away to lift the bar, keeping your back angle the same until the bar passes your knees. Keep the bar close to your shins.
As the bar passes your knees, bring your hips towards it so the bar slides up your thighs with your shoulders over the bar.
When the bar reaches the top of your thighs, drive hard through your legs and hips to full extension and shrug, keeping your arms long.
Pull yourself down under the bar, turning your elbows over and punching your arms straight as your feet move out into your squat stance.
Catch the bar with locked elbows in the bottom of the squat, bar over the back of your head and shoulders pushed up into it.
Stand up with the bar held overhead, then bring it down to your hips and to the floor under control. If a lift goes wrong, push the bar away and move out from under it onto the platform.

Coaching cues

Bar close to your body all the way up
Patient off the floor, fast from the hips
Legs finish before the arms bend
Pull yourself under the bar
Punch up and lock your elbows overhead
Chest up and back flat through the pull

In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.

Muscles worked

What it trains

Muscle	Role	Evidence
Gluteus maximus	Prime mover	C
Quadriceps: vastus lateralis	Prime mover	C
Erector spinae	Prime mover	C
Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head)	Prime mover	C
Trapezius: upper	Secondary	C
Lateral deltoid: lateral	Secondary	C
Anterior deltoid: anterior	Secondary	C
Gastrocnemius	Secondary	C
Rotator cuff	Stabiliser	C
Posterior deltoid: posterior	Stabiliser	C
Forearm flexors	Stabiliser	D
Serratus anterior	Stabiliser	C
Obliques (internal/external)	Stabiliser	C
Rectus abdominis	Stabiliser	C

Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.

Common faults

What goes wrong, and the fix

Hips rising faster than the shoulders off the floor

Fix: Push through the whole foot and hold your back angle until the bar passes the knees.

Bar swinging out in front

Fix: Keep the bar brushing your thighs and hips as you extend.

Bending the arms early

Fix: Keep your arms long until your hips and knees are fully extended.

Pressing the bar out overhead

Fix: Punch your arms straight as you drop so the elbows lock as you meet the bar.

Catching high, then riding down

Fix: Pull under faster and meet the bar in the bottom of the squat.

Bar caught in front of the head

Fix: Finish with the bar over the back of your head and your shoulders pushed up.

Programming

What the research says

Power · first choiceSport performance · first choiceStrength

Power — Measurements of competitive lifts show the snatch pull produces some of the highest power outputs per kilogram of body mass recorded in weight training, far above squats and deadlifts.
Strength and speed — Reviews of power training find that maximal strength underpins power, and that stronger athletes gain more from high-speed lifts such as the snatch and its variations.
Sets and reps — Weightlifting programmes commonly use sets of 1–3 reps with full rest, with snatches placed early in a session. There is no direct research comparing snatch rep schemes.
Variations — Reviews of weightlifting variations describe pulls, hang and power versions as ways to train the explosive pull with more load or less technical demand than the full lift.

Alternatives · VALDA FLEX

Swap it mid-workout

With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.

Log the snatch in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.