2 Key Exercises To Improve Your Snatch Performance

When you first started CrossFit or weighlifting, you were getting stronger almost every day.

This stagnates tremendously after training for a few years. Bummer! Sometimes it takes months and months just to put another pound on the bar. It can be so frustrating!

You may also have noticed, that snatching more often hasn’t really helped you either.

But why is that?

One of the big problems is lack of positional strength. For example: your starting position when you pull the bar off the floor or when you catch the weight overhead in a deep squat.

In order to progress you will have to get stronger in these 2 positions:

1. Not enough strength to receive a bar in a deep squat

You can pull yourself under the bar but when you catch it your shoulders give in.

The perfect exercise for this is “snatch balance”.

The snatch balance is a dynamic snatch receiving position exercise that can help you gain positional shoulder strength and stability. It also reinforces self-confidence getting under the bar.

Start standing with the barbell resting on your neck (snatch-width grip) and your feet under your hips. To begin, bend the knees while maintaining an upright chest. Then push away from the floor by extending your knees explosively in order to create an upward momentum on the barbell. Jump your feet into your squat stance as you push yourself under the bar into an overhead squat. Make sure you lock your elbows immediately. Never just drop under the bar. Always maintain control of the movement by absorbing the downward force and sitting down the rest of the way. Hold the deep overhead squat position for 2-3 seconds before standing back up.

2. Not enough strength to keep position as you pull the bar from the ground

You can maintain a straight back but the weight is pulling you forward causing your butt to moving up first. In this case, the back is stronger than the legs.

“Romanian Deadlifts” will help get those legs stronger for the pull from the ground. Here is how to do them:

From standing position: Feet are hip wide (maybe an inch more) apart, hold the bar in a clean grip (not a mixed grip), knees slightly bent, chest up. Keep your knees slightly bent throughout the movement as you hinge at the hips as far as you can while keeping your shoulders back and not losing the arch in your back. Once you reach mid-shin (you can do a light touch & go), return to standing while pulling from your hamstrings.

– Elli