"Finishing" The Extension: Snatches on Snatches

You may have noticed over the last four weeks that we’ve been covering some snatch technique complexes that feel related to one another but not exactly identical. We started off working from different starting positions to develop some awareness around posture and position, then began to segment the snatch by basically forcing you to do the pieces of the full lift and then put them all together — we did this first from the hang, and then from the floor, and then from the hang again.

On Tuesday we’ll incorporate the “snatch pull” which can feel awkward to some mainly due to the finish position at the top of the movement where we basically maintain pressure through the floor with the legs while exhibiting full hip, knee, and ankle extension. We aim to keep the bar close to the body (with shoulders elevated, elbows moving up and out) and the balance point of our system straight up and down (no falling back, no getting pulled forward, no re-bending of the legs). While this may not exactly “feel” like what you do in an actual snatch (where, in general, we start pulling under once the bar has left the hips and continues to elevate) it does re-enforce the proper habit of CONTINUING TO PUSH THROUGH THE FLOOR to reach full extension… or to “finish” as some weightlifting coaches like to mysteriously say at seemingly every chance they get.

By almost exaggerating this “finish” via making you hold it for a beat at the top the thought is that you’ll carry-over this complete “finish” to the power snatch and then to the full snatch. This is why high level weightlifters can be seen doing pulls (whether they be snatch pulls or clean pulls) as a regular part of their training — they are re-enforcing the very same feeling of “finishing at the top” without pulling under to complete the lift.

WOD For 10-16-18:

Snatch Pull + Power Snatch + Squat Snatch:

10 Minutes to Build to a Top Set (not a max)

-then-

FIVE Cycles of 1:30 Work / 1:30 Rest For MAX REPS:

10 Handstand Push-ups

50 Double Unders

MAX REPS Power Snatches @ 115/75 lbs