Snatch

What it is

With a wide grip, the bar travels from the floor to locked out overhead in a single pull. It demands speed, mobility and technique in equal measure.

Muscles worked

Primary: Glutes, Hamstrings, Shoulders. Secondary: Quadriceps, Traps, Core, Upper back.

How to perform it

1. Take a wide grip so the bar sits at the hip crease when standing, and set up with a flat back over the bar.
2. Pull the bar past the knees, keeping it close, then extend the hips and knees explosively.
3. Pull yourself under the bar, catching it overhead with locked arms in a squat.
4. Stand up with the bar stable overhead and control it back down.

Common form faults

• Bar looping away from the body on the pull. Keep the lats engaged and the bar brushing the thighs; a looping bar cannot be caught overhead.
• Catching with soft elbows. Punch to a locked elbow the moment you turn the bar over. Work on overhead range if you cannot.

Programming

Singles and doubles at submaximal loads, done fresh. Technical practice, not conditioning.