Want to learn The Snatch

[Brett Hagmann]

i've been power snatchin for a year now, but i want to learn the olympic snatch so i can start putting up madd weight. i can power snatch 205 right now, which isn't too bad, but i want to learn The snatch. Should I start w/ drop snatchs first OR over head squats. I tried overhead squats today and my wrists were takin a beating. Will they get used to that feeling over time or do I need to start flexin my wrists?

Thanx for the help guys!

[Bob Feeney]

I'm no expert but oh squat/sn balance, hang snatch. you wanna learn/develop speed under the bar/pulling under the bar, while maintaining correct positioning

[Jalaine Ulsh]

i've been power snatchin for a year now, but i want to learn the olympic snatch so i can start putting up madd weight. i can power snatch 205 right now, which isn't too bad, but i want to learn The snatch. Should I start w/ drop snatchs first OR over head squats. I tried overhead squats today and my wrists were takin a beating. Will they get used to that feeling over time or do I need to start flexin my wrists?

Thanx for the help guys!

I'm a competitive OLer; the only time I've done overhead squats to any great degree was when I felt my snatch grip OH strength was a little low. When I learned to squat snatch, overhead squats weren't part of the training progression since I could already do them as a skill exercise when I started squat snatching. If I had balance issues with OH squats, my coaches would have had me focus on them first.

The progression I learned with was power snatch, power snatch lowering into a squat, squat snatch. Snatch balances were also done in one of my six sessions/week to help with my lockout speed, since that was one of my initial weaknesses in the squat snatch.

If you do have balance issues with OH squats, I'd go ahead and focus on them first until you're comfortable with doing full squats with a snatch grip. But since they do beat up the wrists quite a bit, they're usually done with lower volumes and intensities.

[Brett Hagmann]

The progression I learned with was power snatch, power snatch lowering into a squat, squat snatch. Snatch balances were also done in one of my six sessions/week to help with my lockout speed, since that was one of my initial weaknesses in the squat snatch.

But since they do beat up the wrists quite a bit, they're usually done with lower volumes and intensities.


1. so what ur saying is...do a power snatch, then squat w/ it (an OH squat then).?

2. can u explain "snatch balances" for me?

3. by "lower volumes" and "lower intensities," you mean lower sets and lower reps? (im just tryin to get the lingo right)

fyi...i train twice a day 5 days a week. the morning session is either cardio, light lift, or mix. should i practice my technique for snatch and clean in the morning since it'll be light?

thanx,

BRETT

[Jalaine Ulsh]

1. so what ur saying is...do a power snatch, then squat w/ it (an OH squat then).?

Yes - ideally, you want to make the power snatch to OH squat a smooth transition so it doesn't look like two separate movements. The more you practice the transition and the smoother you can make the transition, the easier it will be to start catching the snatch in a full squat position. That's why I didn't want to tell you to do a power snatch and then an overhead squat.

2. can u explain "snatch balances" for me?

A snatch balance starts with the bar on your shoulders (behind your neck), hands in snatch grip. Slightly dip and drive the bar up, then drop into a squat and receive the bar overhead, punching the lockout as quickly as possible. You want to try and receive the bar in as deep a squat position as possible, but you have to be very aggressive with snatch balances to do this. I usually have beginners start with snatch grip jerks and have them try to drop lower and lower each time they receive the jerk until they're receiving in a full squat. Does this make sense?

3. by "lower volumes" and "lower intensities," you mean lower sets and lower reps? (im just tryin to get the lingo right)

Pretty much. Since OH squats are rough on the wrists - even to an experienced OLer - you don't do maximum effort work with them unless testing for some specific reason. If I wanted to work on strengthening my OH strength, I'd do something like this during one of my sessions:

60% of snatch max x 1 set x 5 reps
70% of snatch max x 1 set x 5 reps
80% of snatch max x 3 sets x 3 reps

And once you get comfortable with squat snatches, there's really no need to do overhead squats, especially if you're also doing snatch balances. IMO, snatch balances are just the better exercise for learning how to squat snatch since they work both timing and balance.

fyi...i train twice a day 5 days a week. the morning session is either cardio, light lift, or mix. should i practice my technique for snatch and clean in the morning since it'll be light?

You can definitely split up your training like this. Unless I'm in a very specific strength cycle, I always do the explosive lifts first while I'm fresh and then finish with the pure strength lifts. When I do double sessions, my first session is usually snatch and snatch pulls; second session is clean and jerk and squats. My coach will move those exercises around a bit to throw me off sometimes, but usually I snatch before clean and jerk since the snatch is the more technically challenging of the two exercises and is generally also the lighter in weight of the two.

[Brett Hagmann]

do you focus on back squats, front squats, or both? obviously front squat is more crucial in oly lifting, but i wasn't sure if u do back squats also.

[Jalaine Ulsh]

do you focus on back squats, front squats, or both? obviously front squat is more crucial in oly lifting, but i wasn't sure if u do back squats also.

We actually focus more on the back squat than the front squat - you can handle more weight with the back squat, so it's a better strength exercise for leg strength. Not that we don't also front squat, but the volume for back squat to front squat tends to be 2:1. That's not counting the squat clean volume, just the squat specific volume.

[Brett Hagmann]

what kind of weight should i be startin w/ for snatch balance, and once i get the form down pat what would u estimate my squat snatch to be around if my power snatch is 205 right now. My goal is 225 by aug 1st...is that enough time to get the form down and build balance and explosive "out of the hole" leg power?

i would love to be able to snatch 315 or more someday in the next 365 days :)

[Jalaine Ulsh]

what kind of weight should i be startin w/ for snatch balance, and once i get the form down pat what would u estimate my squat snatch to be around if my power snatch is 205 right now. My goal is 225 by aug 1st...is that enough time to get the form down and build balance and explosive "out of the hole" leg power?

i would love to be able to snatch 315 or more someday in the next 365 days :)

Honestly, I know quite a few competitive OLers who have very close squat snatch and power snatch numbers. This isn't a good thing, but the squat snatch requires a timing that can be difficult to master without active coaching, and flexibility that some athletes just don't have. So it's hard to estimate your squat snatch.

Do you have access to a coach?

With the snatch balance, you'll have to feel it out to some degree. Start light (bar) and work up in 5-10 kg increments. Don't do more than 3 reps/set, since the key to this exercise is explosiveness and timing. If you're not able to punch the lockout and are pressing out, you've gone too heavy.

[SqeezeMasterFlash]

Go to this page and scroll down to the learning the lifts section. It's got a great program for learning the snatch

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~keen0018/newwl.htm