Snatch Complex

A snatch complex is a series of snatch movements done back-to-back without letting go of the bar. It builds full-body power, coordination, and the positions you need to move a barbell from the ground to locked out overhead.

Set up the same way you would for a snatch. Stand with your feet under your hips and the bar over the middle of your feet. Grip the bar wide, outside your shoulders, using a hook grip. Keep your back flat, chest up, shoulders slightly in front of the bar, and your eyes looking straight ahead.

Start the first movement of the complex - often a snatch pull, hang snatch, or power snatch. Pull the bar from the floor or hang while keeping it close to your body. When the bar reaches your hips, extend fully, then shrug and pull yourself under into a squat. Catch the bar overhead with locked arms and a stable torso. Stand up, then move straight into the next lift in the sequence. Repeat for all the movements in the complex before lowering the bar.

Breathe in and brace your core before each lift, then let the breath out once you are stable overhead or standing. To make it easier, practice each piece of the complex separately before chaining them together. To make it harder, add a pause in the bottom of the catch or an extra pull between reps.

Fault: The bar drifts away from your body during the pull. Fix: Keep the bar close by sweeping it in toward your hips and keeping your elbows high and out as you turn over.

Fault: You catch the bar forward of your head. Fix: Finish your pull with your shoulders behind the bar and pull yourself straight down under it.

Fault: You rush under the bar before fully extending your hips and knees. Fix: Wait until you have reached a tall, fully extended position, then pull under aggressively.

Fault: Your elbows bend or your arms collapse when catching overhead. Fix: Lock your elbows as soon as the bar is overhead and actively push up into the bar before standing.