Nietzsche said that, “ideas emerge from the ground of our actions” and this is exactly what happened. Different people were trying to reach different ends/goals with the kettlebell snatch. Through their practice and by trying new things that potentially would align with what they wanted to do, slowly the technique of the snatch and how it was performed started to change to achieve a certain purpose.
In Speed Metal, StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Derek Toshner provides probably the most comprehensive analysis of the snatch and the different techniques for different applications. Be it Q&D, AXE, or the TSC Snatch Test, the same exercise can have a different look from the outside.
Why to Snatch
The kettlebell snatch is often regarded as the “Tsar of all kettlebell lifts” and that for good reason. From a technical standpoint, it is an exercise that constitutes the sum total of our fundamental kettlebell skills taught at the SFG Level I Certification. It requires good overhead mobility and stability, a flawless and powerful hinge pattern, and the ability to move the kettlebell in unison with the body.
But if you put in the time and effort in to fulfil these requirements, the snatch delivers: “An iron back. A grip of steel. Hard charging hips. Explosive legs. Shoulders swelling with muscle. Ruthless endurance. Aggressive fat loss. The hard style kettlebell snatch does it all.”
There are a few other exercises that are strong contenders for the title of “Tsar” (like the clean and jerk), but for whatever reason, there is a fascination in lifting a (heavy) weight overhead in one uninterrupted motion that draws people’s attention and captivates them.
Based on the requirements mentioned above (especially the overhead mobility and stability), the snatch is certainly not the most “democratic exercise” and not a good fit for every girevik and girevichka out there. But everybody who enters the StrongFirst community with the goal of earning their SFG I Instructor title will have to work on this skill at least to the point of being able to pass the snatch test. Yet this can mean something totally different for different people. The kettlebell snatch challenges strength in some and conditioning in others, and also demands mental preparedness.
Why to Snatch Heavy
The kettlebell snatch with different implements is an exercise and a lift that has a long history. It used to be a competition lift in Olympic lifting until 1924, and heavy kettlebell snatches with various implements have been a staple for many of the old-time strongmen:
- Herman Görner (The Mighty) was able to swing a 50kg kettlebell overhead when he was 14 years old (in the old times, “swinging a weight overhead” referred to what we would now consider a snatch) and performed a one-arm snatch of 77kg with a thick-handled barbell at a later part of his career.
- The French weightlifter Ernest Cadine has a recorded one-arm dumbbell snatch of 96kg at a bodyweight of 85kg.
- George Hackenschmidt could snatch 196 pounds with one arm and mentions in his book “Way to Live” that “[s]everal French and German athletes snatch about 180 lb. with one hand.”
While there are some exceptions like Görner, most of the old-timers preferred the dumbbell or even barbell for heavy one-arm snatches because of the way it can be loaded. The kettlebell, by contrast, was and still is mainly a fixed weight implement and does not lend itself for single lifts with a maximum weight like a barbell or dumbbell does. But it brings with it an advantage over these two implements due to its form: a kettlebell can be swung back between reps, allowing for multiple repetitions performed back-to-back.
This allows us to focus on kettlebell heavy snatches for lower reps without abandoning all the other benefits the kettlebell brings. With the rise of Strong Endurance™ and A+A (which later turned into AXE), heavy snatches for lower repetitions (2-6 reps) per set started to become very popular. A great example of this is Harry Westgate’s “A+A Light” program from his recent article on this site.
But just like swinging a (heavy) kettlebell doesn’t mean that you are performing a proper kettlebell swing, being able to lift a heavy weight overhead in one motion doesn’t necessarily mean that you performed a proper snatch. Obviously, there are technical standards that (especially for safety reasons) should be adhered to, but there is another key element: speed. A heavy weight is not an excuse for a loss of velocity. The kettlebell has to be properly accelerated and move fast, or you will miss a lot of the benefits the kettlebell ballistics can deliver.
This is the limitation the kettlebell sets. “Heavy” doesn’t mean the heaviest weight you can somehow move, but the heaviest weight that you can move powerfully—properly accelerating every repetition of a set without a loss in velocity—and with good technique.
So, while it might sound tempting to tackle a 50kg kettlebell snatch like Görner did in his youth, we need to differentiate between a feat or demonstration of strength and the training of an exercise to get the benefits we want.
How to Snatch Heavy
Obviously, the right to do an exercise with a heavy weight has to be earned. You have to practice and put in the time and repetitions with lighter weights first, because this will not only improve the technique, but also prepare the connective tissue for subsequent heavy lifting.
But a heavy weight will not only magnify technical deficits, it can also be a teacher, provided you are ready for these kinds of lessons. Your technique has to be dialed in to the point that you don’t have to consciously focus on every detail that’s going on as you perform the movement(s) of the snatch but are able to “listen” to your body by feel; what Gray Cook calls “the language of the body”.
To be able to handle a heavy load in the snatch (a heavy weight as well as a high speed of movement), there are several things you need to pay attention to.
As always, it starts right at the setup. As you sit into the hinge position, the goal is to load the hips instead of reaching for the kettlebell. Not only will this ensure that you’re able to powerfully initiate your first repetition, but you will also end up in a position in which you are properly anchored to the ground with your heels loaded. The importance of this becomes apparent once you initiate the first hike pass and when a kettlebell of substantial weight moves in front of your body—even with a tamed arc. If most of the weight is shifted forward on the balls of your toes, you’ll easily be pulled out of balance.
Next is your grip. To control a heavy weight, especially when accelerated, requires a firm grip. So instead of hooking the bell with your fingers, as you would with a medium weight for higher reps, use a deep grip that places the handle deeper in the palm, like you use in the clean, press, and get-up. Yes, this will obviously increase the friction of the handle in your closed hand, but you will get used to this and build a thicker skin over time, and you won’t be performing as many repetitions per set.
A deep grip—together with a slight bending of the wrist to tilt the kettlebell and the open v-position for grip—allows you to connect everything from your shoulder down (as well as the arm to the torso) due to a strong activation of the latissimus dorsi. Activating this chain is the first requirement to tame the arc. Our goal is to keep the kettlebell as close to the body as it moves overhead. Every inch that unnecessarily increases the distance between the kettlebell’s center of mass and our own increases the likelihood of being pulled out of balance.
As the kettlebell travels overhead, it is critical to maintain the standing or vertical plank. The asymmetrical nature of the snatch is another factor (together with the weight of the kettlebell and velocity) that increases the load on the body. The stability provided by this position allows you to guide the moving weight upwards to the lockout and to resist the kettlebell’s “intention” of pulling you out of position. That said, with a heavy kettlebell, a small “lean” will occur in order to stay balanced over the mid foot, but this movement happens in the ankle, not the spine.
The last point I want to stress is absorbing instead of catching the weight in the drop, and since Brett Jones, StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Emeritus, described this so well, I will just let him speak here:
Absorbing the drop means you are guiding the kettlebell down and back into the hips/hinge, so the energy and force of that drop are caught by the hips, not the arm. Done successfully, this absorbing “loads the spring” to redirect that energy into the next snatch. Powering the hip extension by the eccentric loading of the drop and distributing the energy throughout the body.
Catching the drop means just that. The drop is caught, so the momentum of the kettlebell almost stops. Once you “stop” the kettlebell, you will need to “dead start” the next snatch, requiring more effort for every rep. This also creates skin stress in the hand as the kettlebell wants to continue dropping, pulling the skin violently to stop the kettlebell. Not to mention the loading of the working arm and shock through the system as the kettlebell is caught.
How to Program Heavy Kettlebell Snatches
Another deceptively simple but very effective template:
- Do a few increasingly heavy singles up to a comfortable maximum weight.
- Then move to a medium-heavy weight and perform medium rep sets of about 3–5 reps OTM like you would do in Kettlebell Axe, for a total volume of about 100 reps.
If this sounds somehow familiar to you, it’s probably from an older thread in our community forum where Pavel Tsatsouline posted a program for the bent press, or because you’re following StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Pavel Macek’s fantastic training log.
Following a very similar approach led me to snatch the 60kg kettlebell and be able to perform 5 singles per side with 56kg, followed by multiple sets of 3–5 reps with 44kg and 48kg.
Derek Toshner presented a program to improve power in the kettlebell snatch—heavy singles and doubles performed OTM—which was inspired by the OTM training from weightlifting, going back to Joe Mills some time ago in our newsletter, and is part of the Speed Metal curriculum. And if you think that this sounds tempting to try with the double snatch—yes, it does! I’ve tested this for quite some time now, but more on that at a later point.
One last possibility I want to mention because it worked so well for me is the Variable Method from Strong Endurance™ and its load parameters for power exercises. One option is to work in ladders, similar to how you would in the Rite of Passage program for the military press:
- First ladder: 2 snatches right, 3 snatches left, 5 snatches right
- Second ladder: 2 snatches left, 3 snatches right, 5 snatches left
- Perform all the sets back-to-back, one set every full minute (OTM)
- Continue for a total volume of about 100 reps. Do more or less according to your capacity to handle volume and/ or use the Delta 20 principle from Plan Strong™
This protocol allows for a high volume with a heavy weight, two points that usually contradict each other.
Conclusion
Performed correctly, the kettlebell snatch can be a one-stop-shop and all you need to support your athletic endeavors—or an exceptional base on which you can expand your further training. Once a technical foundation is laid, a heavy weight has an amazing potential to increase all the benefits the “Tsar” of all kettlebell lifts can deliver. Heavy snatches might be daunting to you, but in order to stop fearing heavy weights, you have to face and train with them.