16 July 2013

50 DUs
10 Power Snatch
40 DUs
8 Power Snatch
30 DUs
6 Power Snatch
20 DUs
4 Power Snatch
10 DUs
2 Power Snatch

Time 10:02


My time was bullshit simply because I couldn't get my double unders right. I couldn't get any significant streak going and my time suffered. But on to the good stuff!

I learned how to snatch today and that was fun. I practiced with the 45lb bar to get the technique right. I found that I was not quite getting the timing of the shrug down. Fortunately I have experience doing the movements from my time power cleaning, dead lifting, and over head squatting. The power snatch slightly modifies these movements but they are essentially the same even when you put them all together as such. Obviously follow the Rippetoe video I linked above. He knows more than I will ever know about lifting, technique, and communicating the technique to others.
I find I learn more when I study and then try and explain what I just studied so if I am wrong or you believe there is a better way to do the movement please let me know.

Aside from the hip drive the most important aspect of the movement would be where you grab the bar. It is important your grip is such that the bar hangs right where your hip creases. This will be different for everyone. Stand with feet wide as though you were going to jump and touch the rim and then set your grip. Once you have this hang position you are set to go. Rippetoe talks about pushing the hips back and bending the knees and in this way the bar will naturally move towards the floor. Once it gets to your mid thigh you will stop moving and hold it for a second. This position you will need to check your arms and whether or not your elbows are straight. I found this to be important when I was doing the movement because it will determine your arm position through the explosive phase and ultimately affect your position at the rack position over your shoulder joint above your head. Rippetoe goes into great detail about the importance of your elbow position in the video linked above. I practiced dropping the bar to my hips and then jumping out of that position with straight arms and then shrugging my shoulders. As I said above, the timing of my shoulder shrug was off and in addition to that I found I was rolling my shoulders back rather than shrugging them. It got better when I thought touch my ears with my shoulders. This position eventually leads to you dropping the bar further to just past your knees and jumping up into the air.Rippetoe had the volunteer add the over head portion but for me I started jumping and just shrugging the shoulders. It let me focus more on the hip drive and the shoulder shrug before I complicated things with lifting the bar over my head. When doing power cleans and now this power snatch, I always thought of driving my hips into the place where the wall meets the ceiling. It makes me feel like I am really shooting my hips out of that bent position and creating a lot of force. Rippetoe talks about thinking about the wrists and the movement at the top position and how that is the last thing that will happen. I didn't give this ANY thought when learning the movement and so will have to revisit it next time I do these. Another point to take away is that the bar path is as close to your body as possible. This is to keep the bar over your midfoot which is the most stable position for it to be. After I practiced just jumping and shrugging the shoulders I added in the overhead snatch part. It is more difficult than you think to keep the bar close to your body and that is something I will have to work on. The consequences of not keeping the bar over your feet will become more and more evident the greater the weight on the bar.
The full power snatch is similar to the power clean and so that wasn't too shocking to me. Rippetoe talks about pushing the knees out which is something I do not do and will have to look into it more. It seems to me that position isn't as explosive as if your were readying yourself to jump high or broad jump. I am not sure why he pushes that part.

Key points:
1) Approximately hip width stance
2) Elbows straight and shrug into your ears
3) Explode using your hip drive and jump into the air.
4) Get under the bar after you shrug your shoulders

If you have anything to add to what I wrote please do!

Cheers!