Snatch Pull

The snatch pull is a snatch variation that stops before you catch the bar overhead. It trains the same pulling positions and power as the full snatch while building strength through your hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and upper traps.

Set up like you are about to snatch. Stand with your feet in your snatch stance, usually about hip width. Take a wide snatch grip on the bar. The bar should start over the middle of your foot, your shoulders slightly in front of the bar, and your spine neutral from hips to head. Brace your core and set your chest up.

Start the pull by pushing the floor away with your legs. Keep the bar close to your shins and thighs as it rises. Once the bar passes your knees, accelerate by driving through your legs and hips until you are fully extended. Finish tall through your shrug, with your elbows high and out, then lower the bar back down with control. There is no catch in this movement.

Take a full breath and brace your torso before you pull. Keep that tight brace from start to finish. To make it easier, pull from a hang or blocks, or reduce the range of motion. To make it harder, add a pause just below the knee or at the power position, keeping your positions perfect the whole time.

Fault: Your hips shoot up first and your back rounds as the bar leaves the floor. Fix: Start with your hips lower and think about pushing the floor away with your legs while keeping your chest up and your back flat.

Fault: You bend your arms early and try to row the bar up with your arms. Fix: Keep your arms long like ropes until after your hips and legs have fully extended; the shrug and high elbows happen at the top, not before.

Fault: You stop short of full extension or fall backward at the top. Fix: Drive tall through your legs and finish with a strong shrug, staying balanced over the middle of your feet.