Empty Bar Snatch Complex

This complex is a series of snatch positions and movements done with an empty barbell. It trains the timing of pulling under the bar, catching weight overhead, and moving smoothly from the floor into a squat. Use it as a warmup before heavier Olympic lifting or as a skill drill on lighter days.

Set up with your feet about hip-width or slightly wider, toes turned out a little. Grip the bar wide - when you stand tall, the bar should sit near your hip crease with your arms straight. Start with the bar over the middle of your feet, shoulders slightly in front of the bar, chest up, and back flat. Look forward.

From the floor, stand the bar up to your hips. Lower it to just above your knees, keeping it close to your thighs. Bend your knees and hips slightly, then jump straight up while shrugging your shoulders. As the bar rises, pull yourself under it into a squat and punch your arms straight overhead. Catch the bar with elbows locked, stand up, then lower it back to the start in control.

Breathe in and brace your core before you pull from the floor or hang. Exhale as you stand out of the squat. To make it easier, use a PVC pipe or break the complex into separate pieces. To make it harder, keep the bar in your hands the whole time or add a short pause in the bottom of the overhead squat.

Fault: You bend your arms and curl the bar up. Fix: Keep your arms relaxed like ropes until your hips and legs have finished driving; only then pull under with your arms.

Fault: The bar swings away from your body. Fix: Slide the bar up your thighs and keep it close to you on the way up and down.

Fault: You catch the bar behind your head or too far forward. Fix: As you pull under, punch the bar straight up so it finishes over the back of your head with your ears between your arms.

Fault: You land soft or collapse in the catch. Fix: Lock your elbows hard and push up into the bar while your feet land solid and your core stays tight.