Power Snatch

How to do it

1. Set a loaded barbell on the floor over the middle of your feet.
2. Take a wide overhand grip, back flat, arms straight.
3. Lift the bar close to the legs with the torso angle steady.
4. Drive the hips forward and extend explosively as the bar reaches the hips.
5. Turn the hands over and catch the bar overhead with the hips above parallel.
6. Stand tall, then lower it under control or drop it if the platform allows.

Common mistakes

• Catching below parallel. The power version is defined by receiving high; sitting into a full squat makes it a snatch, with a different weight.
• Letting the bar loop away from the body. A wide grip puts the bar lower at the start, so keeping it close through the knees takes more work than in a clean.
• Pressing it out overhead. Arms lock before the bar arrives; a press-out is the pull falling short.
• Adding weight before the overhead catch is comfortable. Holding a bar overhead with straight arms and a wide grip has to be owned before anything is thrown into it.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Hamstrings

Secondary

• Calves
• Glutes
• Spinal Erectors
• Quads
• Shoulders
• Traps
• Triceps