Snatch, Part 1, How To, Olympic Weightlifting

The California Strength team demonstrates the first of three parts on how to learn Olympic Weightlifting snatch technique. Jon North, Donny Shankle, and Caleb Ward demonstrate while Glenn Pendlay narrates and David Spitz films.
The intro is Nikolay Hristov snatching 180kg. Nikolay trained with California Strength from 2006 to 2008 when Ivan Abadjiev was the coach of the team.
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[@CaliforniaStrength]

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[@blahMan83]

Watched all three parts about 3 times each, went to the gym, grabbed a bar, did the steps in order for about an hour and a half straight.... Completely improved my snatch and OH squat technique tremendously! Honestly, you do this for a good hour and focus EACH rep accordingly, like your life depends on it, you'll nail it! I was having sooooo much trouble getting the snatch down but god this saved my life... Literally (probably)! I would go to a bar, grab it wide and throw it up thinking I was the man... And man was I wrong! After watching these vids and practicing till it bothered me, my confidence in snatching has gone up by 100% and I feel like a pro! Thanks! (Also! Don't forget to stretch your body out beforehand!)

[@water7144]

Juan Llerena ok

[@1339hesam]

Thank you for teaching us the proper form and technique for snatch in detail.I've been practicing it for a while but could not get the form right ,now because of this clip I am getting a lot better

[@n3hemiah]

I'm a powerlifter but I feel qualified to answer this. The collision of the waist and the bar is actually very light and only makes the bar move slightly forward. The weight travels overhead due to the immense momentum imparted to it by the powerful "triple extension" when the bar approaches the waist: knees, hips, and ankles all extend explosively. The lifter then ducks under the bar to catch it as low as possible. All of the upward force comes from the pull after the bar clears the knees.

[@TINutrition]

Man am I glad to read your admission. Im also glad the comments section gets to read this. Let it be known that bluemousedesign has discovered the universal way to train for the olympic lifts, and lifting in general. All other methods are necessarily inferior to his, and all the record holders and top level athletes have clearly robbed themselves of strength because they did not listen to you and trained with heeled shoes.

[@Ebvardh]

You're doing an amazing job teaching, Mr Pendlay. Thank you.

[@teckdeck2008]

I really like how you broke it down. I'm trying to learn how to do some of these power lifting techniques to increase my explosive power for Judo and this type of explanation has been the most helpful yet. Thanks.

[@dazzelya]

Awesome. I've always been sort of interested in these kinds of lifts (besides, military presses, squats, deadlifts etc. that is) but haven't tried them yet. This will certainly get me going. Subbed!

[@efarmer385]

The scaling of the snatch is done very intuitively. I think I might use this to build up my snatch in the gym.

[@devinwhite-wilson3118]

I never looked into Olympic Lifts. I am going to watch all of your vids before i try with weight, But im gonna go practice with an empty bar. Awesome. Just wish i had an Olympic bar.

[@HighVolume12]

Go buy one :P

[@devinwhite-wilson3118]

Yeah, I should.

[@davelassell]

I'm glad I saw this today. Wish it had been yesterday. I think my snatch grip has been wrong. Thanks, guys.

[@Gggmanlives]

Those sandals though

[@Dipshitmalone69]

+Gggmanlives Teaching Oly lifting by day, fighting Persians by night.

[@ralexlu]

+Justin Jansky lmfao!!!

[@ezralogan]

When you gotta teach a class at 3 but your going to cruise 2nd century Jerusalem at 4.

[@sandraozga1991]

hilarious hahah

[@thecarmendsanchez]

Y'all killed me with these reply! 😂😂😭😭

[@Noobieedu]

Great videos! I really appreciate you taking the time to make these series. I've always been wanting to learn olympic lifts and I feel like your CJ and snatch vids are clearest ones I've seen so far.

[@LizCortes]

Thanks you filming this. It's been a few years since I did this lift in college at track practice. Perfect review to refresh my memory on the form and progressions.

[@MacroholicsAnonymous]

Developing confidence in the bottom of the overhead squat takes a decent amount of flexibility in the hips/shoulders. Search for the Mic'd Instructor - Overhead squat. It will give you a solid idea of the optimal positions you need to hit.

[@aphag5071]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to teach. No one at my gym does any cleans or snatch. Everyone stared in awe as I was stumbling my way through my first set! I would have killed my self if I didn't have videos to watch like this!

[@L3AV3R2000]

@CaliforniaStrength great video.. I have been working some snatches into my routine . About a week ago I was doing overhead squats focusing on shoulder mobility, I can do them but its pretty uncomfortable due to a overall lack of flexibility. I did a set of just the bar and a set at 65lbs, afterwards I had a numb tingling from my thumb, index, and inner forearm. Pretty sure I pinched a nerve. I went to the doctor the day after and they gave me motren, its been a week now and still numb.

[@jonathanyocom4404]

Great simple way to teach and progress

[@lvdjn]

thanks for this great detailed explanation. there re so many specialists here in this youtube..... they talk talk talk and talk, but teaches nothing!

[@Kocis19]

This is an awesome post, really helped me realize I need to get my flexibility in check before attempting this correctly. Thanks for the video.

[@TroutXIII]

VERY helpful. Thanks very much for uploading this.

[@dankstakc]

This is so amazing you guys, basically learning from the pros for free!!!! Thank you

[@Bultish]

Hi Glenn and california strength! My main question is how I should dispose of my training time between all the different training exercises. I am new to Olympic lifting, but is otherwise a very active 29 year old. Thanks for all the tips, this seems a blast!

[@fanClassicRock]

Very good video. Liked and subscribed. Will be seeing more of your videos. Thank You.

[@mothersai09]

Thank you. great instructions and very simple to follow.

[@robertroseti]

speed, strength, flexibility, explosiveness, the list goes on and on...

[@nixodian]

brilliant lesson, will try tonight during workout :) thanks

[@jamnin94]

god damn! look at the stability of the catch on that first lift!

[@balancefitnesspeterborough2662]

thanks so much for your contributions, i've just found your youtube channel and have learned so much already!! Alex Peterborough, Ontario

[@TheLiberatedMonkey]

Great set of videos for this lift! Thanks!

[@MariahZInnash]

Really enjoyed this video! Super helpful. Thanks!

[@filiplebduska6163]

coordination, accuracy and it's full body exercise

[@Znasdaddah]

I would like to learn these exercises. Ive been bodybuilding to this day for 2/3 years now. But now im getting more intrest in impressive power instead of impressive looks.

[@326nnorth]

In the first vid, that's a lot of weight, my question is should the bar/ weight feel "weightless" while you squat into the squat snatch position and the weight is going over head? hope that makes sense.. great vids! i've learned a lot!

[@chrisanstey695]

Great video. Cheers

[@q8ieng]

Thanks I had problem doing snatch, I will try the Grab trick hopefully it works

[@WanderleiSilva29]

i just took a dump.... As I frippled out the chocolate toothpaste out of my farthole, it coiled around multiple times like coral snake.... and it was very buoyant and floated nicely on top of the crystal clear toilet water..... After I wiped my crack, I didn't want to ruin the artwork that I created, so I through the toilet paper in the trash instead so I could admire my creation for a few more minutes. After about a half hour, it was still floating... so I put a small flag on a toothpick into it to make it look like a little ship with an SOS flag mounted on it. I am making a video of it as we speak.... your comment was the inspiration....

[@Sandarpan]

WanderleiSilva29 Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat????????

[@sezerarslan604]

thank you for sharing this. it helpes us to learn more. I appreciate it.

[@arlenehernandez7620]

enjoying all these videos wish i could actually go to your gym but its so far :( keep up with all these awesome videos:)

[@kachunar]

good teaching! i love it ! thank you so much

[@SluggerStark]

Really helpful video! Thank you!

[@TheBusySleeper]

superinformative thanks!

[@KettlebellGym]

This is excellent. Thankyou!

[@freedom1856]

Amazing content.

[@LlenadeMalo]

great help. thank you

[@auz181]

I was just wondering, are you meant to keep the bar as close to the torso when pulling the bar upwards? Or is pulling the wrong word? In other words would you begin with a sort of snatch grip upright row and then get under or do you allow the bar to come away from the body? Thanks for the help enojy the vids keep 'em comin'

[@sionneg]

REALLY GOOD BREAK DOWN

[@Thevenver]

Thanks a lot for those videos. I have a question though: Where does the force come from to put the weight above the head? Is it from the collision of the waist on the bar? Can that move 200+ Kg?

[@cuatin]

love your sandals, where you got them ?

[@nocensorship69]

Awesome tutorial.

[@edmundkim007]

I feel that my form for deads and squats are pretty good, and I still get lower back pain. I also golf a lot which I think is what irritates my back, which is then exacerbated by my lifting. I feel that even if I did not golf, my back would still experience some kind of pain. Is this something you go through with your athletes? If so, what do you recommend for them?

[@benjaminallen5824]

Awesome video, been working on this transition. Side note, the dude furthest from the camera is making me physically cringe every time he drops that empty bar. Wth, dude.

[@Requiem0719]

you probably need a wider grip. As you see in the beginning of the video, if your grip is too close, the bar sits too low, and the wider you hold it, the higher the bar hits. So the crease of your hip is PROBABLY above where you're having problems, so a wider grip should remedy the problem.

[@TramTran7]

How did I just find this video!? It was super informative!

[@troyvincent8933]

Damn I keep seeing you everywhere on oly lifting. Das coo

[@StrychnosToxifera]

very good work !

[@hellsweethell]

Awesome, thanks!

[@vFighterHD]

technique of your squat and dl. Do you train your abs? if not , start doing it.

[@Twigge125]

Building functional strength and joint, tendon, ligament etc strength.

[@bignesslisa2954]

priceless information - thank you

[@umanegi5208]

great teaching

[@mcclurgoman]

Glenn, you don't seem to make a big focus on use of the traps at the top portion of the lift. Is there a reasoning behind this? How do you correct "swinging" the bar? Thanks

[@Erlkonig24]

Thank you so much for valuable tips.

[@luciferthefallenangel991]

and what would those be? a shoe with a certain grip or something or a specific make?

[@luciferthefallenangel991]

Wow man thanks! :) I had no idea.

[@Y0y0Jester]

I wish I could be a members of CalStrength

[@clearasil11]

I have a question: Is it okay to do the snatch and the clean&jerk for repetitions of 2 or 3. I don't have access to the proper facilities or bumper plates so I have to lower the weight myself. When I go near my max I feel pain in my shoulder when I'm lowering it, but I don't want to miss the benefits of these movements. Doing reps of 2 or 3 seems safe, but I'm not sure if it's as beneficial for my performance as maxing out. Thanks.

[@CoachKeithRobinson]

Thanks guys

[@Goliath58]

I'm having a lot of difficulty pulling off the over head squat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can develop the balance/flexibility I need for this lift?

[@jasonfit9448]

good post !

[@Howie262]

Thank you for the tutorial, Im on my Way!

[@asmzobayer4605]

hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to learn about weight lifting training routines try Basarto Weightlifter Warrior Blueprint (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some incredible things about it and my friend got great success with it.

[@mnogokoraviq]

Браво Ники като по учебник изпълнено движение :)

[@TwinRoss]

im trying to learn how to do the snatch, but i cannot do the overhead squat, do not have the flexibility for it. any tips to how to get flexibility for the overhead squat

[@zuhausetraining]

Great explanation!!! THX!!!

[@StephenMBauer]

this is excellent

[@MaDMadZ101]

On the first part where I'm finding correct width grip, what should I do if the olympic bar is not long enough? I am 6'5" and the widest possible (little fingers next to the sleeves) grip leaves the bar a few inches below my hip crease.

[@johnateen1]

very good

[@alexpihlak4688]

Donny Shankle just chillin

[@speednecromancer666]

I can't wait to get a bar! wooo

[@kendellreese8555]

I noticed that the guy at the end's lumbar rotates under at the bottom of the squat much like mine...how can i correct this? I'm guessing increased flexibility movements and mobility but is there anything in particular? I'm really working on trying to get a proper position in the hole.

[@Euphorica]

Tips on trouble with overhead squats/stemming from flexibility issues?

[@freqeist]

i need to practice my squat part at i topple forwards

[@86JJF]

Thanks!

[@TINutrition]

so your saying that heavier weights dont allow for greater overload during training?

[@NyakzOTSD]

Thanks for this.

[@ikb500]

What are the benefits of doing snatches?

[@Obsidian1392]

Much appreciated, thank you

[@RustyIsScared]

shouldnt the hang snatch be performed by hinging at the hips and not excessive bending at knees`? so the hip can be used when you extend?

[@iskaykandarkar]

When u do e jump. Do you concentrate to pushing up on e balls of the feet? It makes me feel like falling forward.

[@gilroy21b]

2:20 = magic

[@keithMiklas]

Thank you thank you thank you.

[@jessicae9729]

So you have a video on the turnover portion of the move? Having troubles with this one.... Feels like my body doesn't want to let me do it.

[@Sam22music]

Turnover? Sorry I'm not quite sure I understand.

[@liliamferragini7821]

Thank you!

[@mikearminiusdemo7931]

u also have to remember to feel the yoke on the positive of this movment

[@mihaka1234]

awesome !!!!

[@KatieKarma11]

Hi - I have a question. What would you recommend for how far apart feet should be during this?

[@hotsauce3888]

K so I keep hitting near my pubic symphysis and it kind of hurts, so that just means I need to use a wider grip?

[@cmecu]

It has many benefits. First its a movement that is not for everyone. Mainly because of flexibility and or physical limitation. Your working many muscles in this movement. Your legs when you pick it up, your shoulders when you shrug the weight , explosive hip power, shoulders to lock out the weight. Legs again when you receive the weight and stand up. This is a HIGH risk Movement, remember that. Please make sure to get proper technique, else you will be plagued with injuries.

[@shankrl1]

Thank you!!!

[@DaxXx988]

"3 different body types" - buff buff and buff :D

[@brucedickinson12]

what gear do you recomend and what dosages

[@faresh8908]

sandals

[@brucedickinson12]

how many per day tho

[@s00xmyc00x123]

The bar needs to hit the same position as when you are standing with the bar using the snatch grip