Snatch

Snatch is an extremely technical exercise that involves lifting the bar off the ground by bringing it over the head in one go. You need to know that learning the right technique is difficult and requires patience.

However, it is not impossible, especially if you dedicate time and hard training. Below you will read 5 tips for Snatch and the first pull:

WITHOUT MOBILITY, THE BEST TECHNIQUE IS NOT POSSIBLE
Mobility in weightlifting is often overlooked. Many athletes arrive at the gym and are ready to lift in 5 minutes. Some Snatch with an empty bar and are ready.

Weightlifting is a sport of extreme positions. Welcome the bar in full motion. Requires optimal mobility of almost all joints and muscles in the body. Your warm-up should reflect just that: Different types of stretching and activation exercises.

In Snatch, the most commonly missed are the spine, shins and hamstrings, but in many cases athletes have tight flexors and quadriceps.

For the thoracic spine, the foam roller is good. For the shins, do a deep squat by placing a barbell on the shins near the knees. Get your back straight and stay there for a few minutes. For the hamstrings, lie on the ground and pull a leg (straight) towards your chest using a rope.

In terms of activation exercises, squatting with a Snatch grip in a squat position for a few repetitions is a good choice. As well as Goodmornings with an empty bar. Drop Snatches can be used to warm you up for the lifting speed element. Some repetitions with an empty bar are a good warm-up. Try several things and see what works best for you.

THE POSITION OF THE HEAD IS THE KEY.
For some reason, many athletes and coaches pay close attention to hip and leg height, but little attention to head position. If you look at an international weightlifter, you will see that he is looking over the horizontal bar. His neck is full.

This is very important as it helps the lifter to achieve the proper extension of the thoracic spine. In other words, it fixes your back and allows you to pull smoothly while keeping your shoulders above the bar.

START PULLING IN A CONTROLLED WAY (SLOWLY) AND THEN ACCELERATE WHEN THE BAR GOES THROUGH THE KNEE.
Starting the traction in a controlled manner will allow you to have more control over the bar that allows you to adjust yourself properly for the second pull (that above the knees). The real explosive force must occur after you cross your knees as your goal is to accelerate the barbell to put yourself under it. Starting in a controlled and slower way allows proper bar travel. When you start too fast or too strong you create a chaotic path.

Since weightlifting is a sport of positions, it is important to maintain the athlete’s control over the bar. If you can not get the right positions, you can not succeed in large loads.

RELAX YOUR HANDS.
It is often the case that CrossFitters who train in Weightlifting put too much tension in their hands. This is not correct, as the mechanics of the lower pull will change a lot. The bar will move away from the body more often as the arms are too rigid to bend smoothly under the bar, which creates an excessive arc. Sometimes using lifting straps (straps) can relax the hands.

FORGET THE JUMP AND THE SRUG
Many CrossFitters learned the lifts by jumping and lifting the bar. This is a huge technical error. Consider this: weightlifting is a sport in which you want to push the bar and use this momentum to pull yourself down. This tells us that the transition from the explosion to descent/attraction must be rapid. If you jump and then get up, you will spend more time than you need at the top of the pull. Beyond that, the mechanics of pulling change dramatically. It becomes difficult as the back and hips have already reached full length.