This Olympic lift not only builds muscle but also flexibility and co-ordination. Targeting your entire posterior chain – all the muscles down the back of your body, from neck to calves – the snatch is more commonly associated with powerlifters than regular gym-goers. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it to improve your explosive power, strength, speed and core stability.
Besides many sports mimic its movement pattern in some form – for example, lifting a rugby player in the lineout. As with all the big lifts, you need to ensure you setup correctly and focus your mind completely on the lift to get it right.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet hop-width apart with your shines touching the bar.
- Squat down, keeping a natural arch in your back, and your chest out, and grip the bar with hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Push down through your heels and straighten your legs to lift the bar off the ground, keeping it as close to your legs as possible.
- As soon as it reaches your thighs, pull your shoulders back and bring the bar up hard and fast. ‘Flipping”the bar over and onto your fingers while getting your body under the bar by dropping into a squat position.
- Finish the movement by standing up out of the squat with your left fully straightened. Holding the bar directly above your head with your arms extended.
