Barbell Split 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 as you would to snatch: feet hip width, wide grip, bar over mid-foot, back flat and the shoulders slightly over the bar.
- Push the floor away until the bar passes the knees, then extend the hips, knees and ankles hard and shrug.
- Pull yourself under the bar while splitting the feet, one forward and one back, and punch the arms to lockout overhead.
- Land with the front shin vertical, the back knee bent and the bar over the middle of the body.
- Recover by stepping the front foot back halfway, then bring the back foot forward to meet it and stand tall with the bar overhead.
FORM TIPS
- Recover the front foot first. Moving the back foot first tips the bar forward.
- Push the head through the arms in the receive so the bar sits over the hips.
TARGET MUSCLES
Primary
- Traps
- Shoulders
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
Secondary
- Lower Back
- Quads
- Forearms
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.