How to do olympic-style barbell snatches

Barbell snatches are the lesser-known of the olympic lifts. Yet, in many ways, they are just as effective as their most famous cousin, the clean and jerk.

For one thing, snatches build hip flexibility. It requires a kind of flexibility to do snatches, and it requires a lot of training to do them correctly. Before even trying to do this lift with any kind of weight, you have to spend a week or two practicing with barely any weight just to get the form correct.

1: Stand shoulder-width apart, and grip the barbell with a very wide, even grip. Squat over the barbell, arch your back slightly. Arms are straight, shoulders are over the barbell.

2: Pull the bar off the floor using hip and knee extension (DON'T LIFT WITH BACK). Keep your back angle the same and keep the slight arch. Keep the bar close to your legs. Rise steadily, not in a jerky manner.

3: When the barbell passes your knees, shrug shoulders hard. Let the barbell hit your upper thighs. When it passes your upper thighs, jump and shrug and pull upward, bending your elbows as you pull. Pull yourself under the bar. This is the quick, fast part of the movement.

4: Catch the barbell overhead, straight armed, in squat position. When you arms are locked out, squat upward and stand up with the bar over your head.

5: Lower the bar safely. Bend elbows and slightly bend knees, to lower the barbell to knees (don't hunch your back), squat down to put the bar down.

Having someone to coach you on them is optimal, but if not, here's a series of videos to show you. The first video is all the explanation one really needs - olympian Pyrros Dimas doing a snatch at the nationals.

TO POWER SNATCH:

1: Stand shoulder-width apart, and grip the barbell with a very wide, even grip. Squat over the barbell, arch your back slightly. Arms are straight, shoulders are over the barbell.

2: Pull the bar off the floor using hip and knee extension (DON'T LIFT WITH BACK). Keep your back angle the same and keep the slight arch. Keep the bar close to your legs. Rise steadily, not in a jerky manner.

3: When the barbell passes your knees, shrug shoulders hard. Let the barbell hit your upper thighs. When it passes your upper thighs, jump and shrug and pull upward, bending your elbows as you pull. Pull yourself under the bar. This is the quick, fast part of the movement.

4: Catch the barbell overhead, straight armed, in a quarter-squat to half-squat position. When your arms are locked out, squat upward and stand up with the bar over your head.

5: Lower the bar safely. Bend elbows and slightly bend knees, to lower the barbell to knees (don't hunch your back), squat down to put the bar down.

That's the snatch and power snatch for you. Do this on its own or as part of a routine. Lift hard, heavy, right and proud.