Barbell Snatch
A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.
- Equipment
- Barbell
This is a technical lift, best learned under a coach’s eye before loading heavy.
HOW TO PERFORM
- Set up with the feet hip width, a wide snatch grip, the bar over mid-foot, back flat and the shoulders slightly over the bar.
- Push the floor away until the bar passes the knees, keeping it close to the shins and the back angle constant.
- From the upper thigh, extend the hips, knees and ankles explosively and shrug, keeping the bar close to the body.
- Pull yourself under the bar and punch the arms to lockout, receiving it overhead in a full squat.
- Stand up with the bar locked out overhead.
FORM TIPS
- The catch is a full squat. Receiving it with the thighs above parallel makes it a power snatch, which has its own guide.
- The pause snatch holds still for a count partway up the first pull, usually just below the knee, then finishes the lift as above.
TARGET MUSCLES
Primary
- Traps
- Shoulders
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
Secondary
- Lower Back
- Quads
- Forearms
In the app
This guide covers these exercises in the Ægir Iron library:
- Barbell Snatch
- Barbell Pause Snatch
Log it in Ægir Iron to track your PRs and estimated 1RM, and to see the sets each muscle gets every week. Free for individual lifters.