Snatch Balance
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A barbell and a rack
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Take a wide snatch grip on a bar racked behind the neck, resting on the upper back.
- Stand with the feet at hip width, as they would be for the pull of a snatch.
- Dip a few inches by bending the knees, keeping the torso upright.
- Drive up with the legs, and as the bar leaves the shoulders, jump the feet out to the catch stance and push yourself down under the bar.
- Punch the arms to lock and catch in a full overhead squat, the bar over the middle of the foot.
- Stand up with the bar overhead, then lower it back to the shoulders.
Common mistakes
- Jumping the feet too wide. They move from the pull stance to the catch stance, a few inches each; a leap sideways lands unstable and slow.
- Sending the bar high and following it. The bar rises a hand's width at most; the work is in dropping under it, and a high bar is a press in disguise.
- Catching forward on the toes. The bar and the weight sit over the middle of the foot at the bottom; if the heels are light, the bar has gone forward.
- Rushing the stand. Settle in the bottom with the arms locked before standing; standing early hides a catch that was not finished.