1 Arm DB Snatch

I watched a video of a 1 arm DB snatch and the guys knees were still bent pretty good when his arm was fully extended. Does that sound right?

With the Oly lifts you’re trying to get yourself under the weight and then use your legs to squat it up. Even with a power snatch you’re going to bend your knees a bit. But to complete the lift you have to lock out your knees. This is usually much less pronounced with the DB version, but I’d think you could benefit from completing the lift with a 1-arm overhead squat. I guess it depends on why you’re doing the lift in the first place.

I thought close to lock out too. That’s why I asked. It’s in the exercise section on Berardi’s PN website. Can’t remember if it was in members section or not. It looked to me like the guy didn’t follow through after the catch, maybe the video was cut there? I’m doing them as my first PR on second day of EDT. I got the EDT book around 6 months ago and loved it, but didn’t start until I read it through a couple times and had a good stopping point in my old routine. I definitely went way too light my first time at them. I knocked out 70 reps each side in my 15 mins.

This is a little bit of an old topic, but I’d like to comment, as DB snatches are my favorite exercise.

IDEALLY, your arm would be straight at the same time your in an ATG overhead squat. Most of us cant get into the position easily though, so as low as your comfortable with. If your legs are already straight when you catch the weight your timing is off.

I just read all the discussions about how DB snatches are really dangerous, and how many people have hurt themselves with them. Ive seen how many people perform them, and its clear why people are hurting themselves.

People tend to be dominant in the upper body, and fling the weight full force into the “lockout” position. They forget to try and coordinate the timing of the catch with the jump, and thus add a lot of extra torque at the shoulder.

Heres are videos, of what IMO is a “dangerous” db snatch.

Both are from well respected strength coaches, and both individuals may never have any problems with snatching.

I believe the problem with both lifters, is that they using enough weight. If your not lifting near your max, you shouldn’t use the same level of explosiveness. The weight will try to continue upwards faster, and this is where the danger comes in. This may not cause any problems what so ever depending on the individual, as I doubt it did in either case, but if your gonna push the intensity/volume up you want to do it the safest way.

I had a hard time finding a video of someone doing it really good, but this guy seems to have the catch pretty well

If you look at someone doing a barbell version of the clean or snatch, when they catch the weight, they give a bit. For the DB version, your usually able to lift the weight with more speed, because its much lighter, and thus most people fling it over head.

Its hard to describe but i prefer a good foot stomp on the landing of the jump followed by the catch, imediately followed by a deceleration of downward movement. But I prefer to catch the weight just as its moving down.

****Note, im not trying to say the two coaches’ videos above were in any way bad form, but IMO this would be likely to lead to injury of the elbow or shoulder if anything. Also, the two videos were of female lifters, who may or may not be more flexible than the average lifter, and that may be why it seems to me like a bad catch.

Having said everything above, I prefer to train DB snatches, either focusing on technique, or working fairly heavy with low volume. This is a technical exercise, and I dont believe it should be performed with the normal EDT parameters. (75% 1rm sets of 5 goal of 60 or so reps)

You can leave the weight at 75% or go up to 85% but I prefer sets of 2. I also dont rush through the EDT workout, but try to go for impecible form on every rep. I also like to shoot for 25-35 reps maybe 40 max.

Hope this helps…

[quote]dankid wrote:
This is a little bit of an old topic, but I’d like to comment, as DB snatches are my favorite exercise.

IDEALLY, your arm would be straight at the same time your in an ATG overhead squat. Most of us cant get into the position easily though, so as low as your comfortable with. If your legs are already straight when you catch the weight your timing is off.

I just read all the discussions about how DB snatches are really dangerous, and how many people have hurt themselves with them. Ive seen how many people perform them, and its clear why people are hurting themselves.

People tend to be dominant in the upper body, and fling the weight full force into the “lockout” position. They forget to try and coordinate the timing of the catch with the jump, and thus add a lot of extra torque at the shoulder.

Heres are videos, of what IMO is a “dangerous” db snatch.

Both are from well respected strength coaches, and both individuals may never have any problems with snatching.

I believe the problem with both lifters, is that they using enough weight. If your not lifting near your max, you shouldn’t use the same level of explosiveness. The weight will try to continue upwards faster, and this is where the danger comes in. This may not cause any problems what so ever depending on the individual, as I doubt it did in either case, but if your gonna push the intensity/volume up you want to do it the safest way.

I had a hard time finding a video of someone doing it really good, but this guy seems to have the catch pretty well

If you look at someone doing a barbell version of the clean or snatch, when they catch the weight, they give a bit. For the DB version, your usually able to lift the weight with more speed, because its much lighter, and thus most people fling it over head.

Its hard to describe but i prefer a good foot stomp on the landing of the jump followed by the catch, imediately followed by a deceleration of downward movement. But I prefer to catch the weight just as its moving down.

****Note, im not trying to say the two coaches’ videos above were in any way bad form, but IMO this would be likely to lead to injury of the elbow or shoulder if anything. Also, the two videos were of female lifters, who may or may not be more flexible than the average lifter, and that may be why it seems to me like a bad catch.

Having said everything above, I prefer to train DB snatches, either focusing on technique, or working fairly heavy with low volume. This is a technical exercise, and I dont believe it should be performed with the normal EDT parameters. (75% 1rm sets of 5 goal of 60 or so reps)

You can leave the weight at 75% or go up to 85% but I prefer sets of 2. I also dont rush through the EDT workout, but try to go for impecible form on every rep. I also like to shoot for 25-35 reps maybe 40 max.

Hope this helps…

[/quote]

Great post. I agree with everything said here. I do DB snatches and always lock out the knees at the end of the movement.

[quote]dankid wrote:

<<<I believe the problem with both lifters, is that they using enough weight.
[/quote]
Did you mean that it is safer to use MORE weight?

I’m trying to learn this lift and am not getting it yet. Any way you could post a video of yourself doing it?

And what do you think of this guys:

His stance is much wider, but I wonder if that would work better for me as I also have a short torso and long legs.

His form is good, but he still uses too much upper body, and flings the weight into lockout.

I would go as far as to say you want to catch the weight with your elbow slightly bent.

It all has to do with timing and coordination though. This is an explosive movement, and unless your using near your max, if you explode fully, your going to be putting extra stress on your elbow and shoulder.

Its very similar to a boxer throwing punches. As long as theres a bag or opponents face to stop the momentum, your shoulder is fine, but if your constantly throwing maximal punches that are not hitting anything, your shoulders gonna pay.

The snatch is the same way, if your doing higher reps, and lighter weights, you need to learn to “regulate” how much velocity you move the db.

The easiest way to do this for me, is to use heavier weight, assuming you learn the form first, or when i use lighter weight, i use more lower body, and practice jumping under the weight instead of lifting the weight .

Hope this helps.

Keeping elbows bent is always a challenge for me as they naturally hyperextend about 20-25 degrees. The videos you posted both have a “soft” look to the arms during the catch. Also, I will focus on jumping under the weight as I try to learn the form.

Thanks for the tips.