If You Could Only Train One: Snatch vs. Clean & Jerk

Lets say you only could train one of the lifts? Which one would you pick? Why?

PERSONALLY, I think I would focus on the snatch. I think the C&J is easier to learn, but I think the power/strength obtained from the snatch would transfer more to the C&J. If you have a big snatch, you will with some training have a big C&J. But I don’t think it’s always works the other way around. Plus if you can snatch a big weight, you are literally strong everywhere!!

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Odd premise.

Clean and jerk. Because shoulders and I’m bad at the snatch.

C&J, heavier weight can be used, and you do a pull, a squat and an overhead movement.

Classic Article: Alexeev’s Training, from John M Cissik’s blog. January 12th, 2012


The breakdown of his training volume by type of exercise varied by whether it was the preparatory period or the competition period. This is detailed in the table below.

Preparatory Periods	Competition Periods

Snatches 30% 40%
Clean and Jerks 6% 10%
Snatch Pulls 11% 10%
Clean Pulls 9% 7%
Squats 40% 27%
Presses 4% 6%

As you can see from the table, there is a much higher emphasis on the snatch than the clean and jerk. Squats, pulls, and presses made up between 50% and 64% of the training volume depending upon the time of year.

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