How to Do Snatch

Start and end of one clean rep of Snatch.

Quick facts

How to perform Snatch

1. Place your feet at a shoulder width stance with the barbell resting right above the connection between the toes and the rest of the foot.
2. With a palms facing down grip, bend at the knees and keeping the back flat grab the bar using a wider than shoulder width grip. Bring the hips down and make sure that your body drops as if you were going to sit on a chair. This will be your starting position.
3. Start pushing the floor as if it were a moving platform with your feet and simultaneously start lifting the barbell keeping it close to your legs.
4. As the bar reaches the middle of your thighs, push the floor with your legs and lift your body to a complete extension in an explosive motion.
5. Lift your shoulders back in a shrugging movement as you bring the bar up while lifting your elbows out to the side and keeping them above the bar for as long as possible.
6. Now in a very quick but powerful motion, you have to get your body under the barbell when it has reached a high enough point where it can be controlled and drop while locking your arms and holding the barbell overhead as you assume a squat position.
7. Finalize the movement by rising up out of the squat position to finish the lift. At the end of the lift both feet should be on line and the arms fully extended holding the barbell overhead.

Muscles worked

• Quads (primary): extends the knee to drive squats, lunges and jumps.
• Biceps (secondary): bends the elbow and turns the palm up during pulls and curls.
• Glutes (secondary): extends and stabilises the hip — the engine behind hinges, squats and sprints.
• Hamstrings (secondary): bends the knee and extends the hip through hinges and pulls.
• Core (secondary): braces the trunk and resists twisting to protect the spine.
• Shoulders (secondary): raises and rotates the arms and drives everything overhead.
• Back (secondary): pulls the arms down and toward the torso and keeps the spine stable.
• Triceps (secondary): straightens the elbow to lock out every press and pushdown.

Sets & reps by goal

Pick the row that matches your goal. If you're newer, anchor in the hypertrophy range while you groove the form.

Form tips

• Keep the knees tracking in line with the toes and push the whole foot into the floor.
• Keep the bar path close and stacked over your mid-foot; letting it drift forward wastes force and loads the lower back.
• Prioritise speed and position over load — a fast, well-timed pull beats a heavier sloppy one.
• Warm up the pattern with a couple of lighter, submaximal sets before your working sets.

Common mistakes

• Letting the knees cave inward as you push out of the bottom.
• Loading the bar heavier than your form allows and turning strict reps into a whole-body heave.
• Muscling the bar up slowly instead of moving fast underneath it.

Frequently asked questions