Isabel

Isabel is a benchmark conditioning workout made up of 30 barbell snatches for time. It trains explosive hip power, shoulder speed, and the ability to repeat a technical lift while tired. Because it is fast and high-rep, it is only a good fit if your power snatch is already technically sound.

Set up with a loaded barbell on the floor. Stand with feet about hip width, toes under the bar. Take a wide hook grip. Hinge at the hips, keep your back flat, shoulders over or slightly in front of the bar, arms straight, and eyes forward.

Start each rep from the floor. Drive through your legs and keep the bar close to your body as it rises. Extend your hips hard, then pull yourself under the bar into a quick overhead catch. Stand to full extension with the bar locked out. Lower or drop the bar under control, reset, and repeat for 30 reps as fast as you can keep good technique.

Take a sharp breath and brace before each pull. Exhale as you catch or stand. To make it easier, use a lighter load or perform one snatch every 20 to 30 seconds. To make it harder, use a heavier load or switch to full squat snatches.

Fault: The bar swings away from the body on the way up. Fix: Keep your elbows high and outside, pull the bar back into the hips, and think "keep it close" on every rep.

Fault: Catching the bar slowly or pressing it out overhead. Fix: Turn your hands over early and punch yourself under the bar quickly; the catch should be fast and locked out.

Fault: Pulling with the arms instead of driving from the legs and hips. Fix: Start each rep with a strong leg drive and a big hip extension; let your arms guide, not yank, the bar.

Fault: Touch-and-go reps when form is breaking down. Fix: Stick with singles, reset your start position, and only go again when you are set and braced.