Thread: snatches

I've been trying to fry my back lately with new exercises since I feel it is a lot weaker than it should be...I can barely get 10 pullups with my own bodyweight.

anyway when it comes to snatches, if I am correct the emphasis of the movement is in the twisting motion performed when the bar reaches peak height, and not on the pressing motion used to raise it over your head.

I use incredibly light weight to do this, the bar plus 20lbs. if I let the bar drag on my body as I raise it, I find it almost impossible to prevent myself from pressing the bar over my head rather than twisting it up.
I need to let the bar hang about an inch in front of my body while raising to hit the twist.

If anybody knows a thing about this let me know.

Originally Posted by ExiledX66

I've been trying to fry my back lately with new exercises since I feel it is a lot weaker than it should be...I can barely get 10 pullups with my own bodyweight.

anyway when it comes to snatches, if I am correct the emphasis of the movement is in the twisting motion performed when the bar reaches peak height, and not on the pressing motion used to raise it over your head.

I use incredibly light weight to do this, the bar plus 20lbs. if I let the bar drag on my body as I raise it, I find it almost impossible to prevent myself from pressing the bar over my head rather than twisting it up.
I need to let the bar hang about an inch in front of my body while raising to hit the twist.

If anybody knows a thing about this let me know.

Think of your arms simply as hooks from which the weight hangs. You should have a strong pull at the bottom and explode when the weight gets to about knee level. Shrug and raise up on your calves; drop down under the bar and catch it overhead; stand up. You can also do power snatches (my favorite) which involve only a single bend of the knees during the movement.

What I have described here should NOT be your only guidance to doing this movement. Find a slow motion video of an olympic lifter doing a snatch and study it many times over. Mimic the movement while watching it without a bar, then try the movement with an empty bar next time you lift (or right then). Just make sure you're absolutely positive that your form is as good as it can get before adding more weight. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you're throwing a weight into the air and catching it over your head.