Barbell Snatch
- Stand over a barbell with the balls of your feet placed under the loaded bar slightly wider than hip width apart.
- Squat down and take hold of the bar with a very wide grip; ensure that your shoulders are positioned above the barbell, keeping your back straight and eyes straight ahead.
- Explosively lift the bar by extending your hips from the squatting position and allow the bar to travel along the front of your legs.
- As the bar reaches your hip level, shrug your shoulders and pull the barbell upwards keeping the same line of trajectory if viewed from the side.
- Bending your elbows and allowing the bar to extend overhead, squat your body below the bar so that your position is squatted with your arms fully extended above your head.
- Maintaining a solid grip on the now overhead bar, drive your feet into the floor and rise upwards from the squatting position to complete the lift.
This exercise is a complicated Olympic lift. If attempting for the first time, start with a light barbell or a broomstick for form practice. Ideally, do so with a qualified trainer present.
Related exercises to discover
Barbell snatch is a gym work out exercise that targets glutes & hip flexors and quadriceps and upper back & lower traps and also involves shoulders. Refer to the illustration diagram and instructions above for how to perform this exercise correctly. Gymnastic ring pull-ups / pullups, standing adductor / adduction stretch and inverted rows / reverse pull-ups are related exercise that target the same muscle groups as barbell snatch. Visit our free illustrated exercise directory for more exercises to try in your workouts.
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