Why We Snatch

by TATUM VAYAVANANDA

Snatching at CrossFit Assault, Stuttgart, Germany (Photograph by Tammy St. Denis)

Last week, our CrossFit class introduced the snatch, which is lifting a weighted bar from the ground over your head in a violent but fluid motion. It is one of two Olympic lifts that are practiced in CrossFit.

Olympic weightlifters spend their entire careers working on this movement. For many decades, the snatch was unknown outside the weightlifting world; it was deemed a move that was too dangerous to be done by “the casual exerciser.” But CrossFit has brought on a renaissance to Olympic lifting and has been able to capture the attention of “casual” and elite athletes alike, who are all experiencing the discovery, practice, and routine of snatching.

“To snatch” means “to seize something quickly,” and it is apparent how this quickness translates into success when faced with a heavy, external object.

Why CrossFitters Snatch

You might wonder why, in a strength and conditioning program that emphasizes “functional movements,” we include this technical, skill-specific Olympic lift so regularly into our routine.

Well, here’s my take:

Unique to the snatch is the necessity to be competent in most — if not all — of the ten physical skills.

The ten recognized physical skills are cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina,strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. As you balance and become proficient at all of these, you will become fitter and increase general physical preparedness. (I liken it to a video game character: you don’t want the character who has top speed but no strength, nor the one with awesome moves but no accuracy. You want the one with the leveled attributes who can fight any opponent and exploit their weaknesses.)

Snatching at CrossFit Assault (Photograph by Tammy St. Denis)

Unique to the snatch is the necessity to be competent in most — if not all — of the ten physical skills. Right off the bat, you need strength, power, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy just to complete the lift once. When you’re doing 30 snatches for time (we named her “Isabel”), you’re going to want cardiovascular and respiratory endurance to get you through.

But here’s where the snatch really captures our attention: we cannot become good at the snatch just by repetition. We must build other areas of strength — that is, deadlifts, cleans, overhead squats, front squats. We must build other areas of flexibility — mobilization of the joints, balance of the weight, coordination and finesse of our pulls. We must build more elements of power, thus training our nervous system, improving our agility, and transferring momentum to an external object. But the “quickness” comes with proficiency in the clean, the deadlift, and the overhead squat. It requires hip drive and power, coordination of a vertically-flying bar with your body, and the ability able to receive and balance the bar over your head. To do all of that (in a matter of seconds when performing a snatch), you’ll need the diligence to constantly seek improvement in all ten physical skills.

The snatch, then, is no longer the end-state, but becomes a collateral achievement of our progress in other realms of fully functional fitness.

Advice for New/Beginner CrossFitters

To some beginners, I like to give some words of humble advice:

Find an expert to watch you, critique you, and give you cues. You won’t get this movement right solely by looking in a mirror.

As we all experience, CrossFit is a lot more about lifting things up and putting them down. There’s a lot of technical skill, mental fortitude, proficiency, and down-right primal fighting instincts involved during a grueling WOD. But, unlike yoga or pilates, it doesn’t get easier with time. Diane and Fran will always kick your ass; thrusters and burpees will always suck; and AMRAPS and chippers will always leave you humbled, gasping for air. But you will get stronger. And you’ll crave the suck. As long as you keep with it…

Snatching at CrossFit Assault (Photograph by Tammy St. Denis)

Leave your ego behind. Stress mechanics before weight. Stress form over everything. Make checklists in your head and always run through it before each pull. Not only will dialing in your technique prevent bad habits, but it will also protect you from injury, provide you with finesse and elegance, and help you progress in weight a lot quicker than crappy snatches ever will.

Find an expert to watch you, critique you, and give you cues. You won’t get this movement right solely by looking in a mirror. Don’t forget that people get paid big bucks to get this lift right; you’re not going to get it perfectly, but having someone to coach you through it and lock the technique into your head will have you progressing faster.

I won’t be standing on any podiums anytime soon (if ever), but for now working on the snatch keeps me humble and constantly digging for improvement.

In the beginning, the snatch will elude you. You’re going to have to get up and keep trying. You’ll spend your time rehearsing your movements and honing your technique; watching countless hours watching Olympic weightlifting videos online; critiquing everyone else’s snatch; maybe making videos of your own. You’ll practice variations on boxes and with bands. You’ll snatch with your broomstick, medicine balls, kettlebells. You’re going to try to front squat and power clean almost double someone’s body weight just to hit a snatch that is barely three-quarters of yours.

But have faith: if you put patience, determination, and diligence into improving all elements of physical fitness, you will be rewarded with a snatch of finesse that brings pride to your efforts. Find good resources, trust in your coaches, and let the knowledge of others guide your way! That’s what this community is for, isn’t it? We don’t have to be going to the Olympic Games in 2016 to learn this majestic movement; we just need to be present, in mind and body, and we need to get out there and do what it takes.

Continuing the Pursuit

I won’t be competing in Olympic lifting events anytime in the near future, but it always reminds me to look introspectively into my strengths and my weaknesses. It build my confidence and tracks my progress and keeps me dedicated to the chase — not for a perfect snatch, necessarily, but for a holistic style of fitness and strength I’ve never experienced before experiencing CrossFit.

I won’t be standing on any podiums anytime soon (if ever), but for now working on the snatch keeps me humble and constantly digging for improvement. I am inspired to give it my all everyday and stay wholeheartedly dedicated to the art of CrossFit.

Keep snatching, fellow athletes. Keep CrossFitting!

Tatum is a lead trainer for CrossFit Panzer Kaserne and is a part of the close-knit CrossFit community of Stuttgart, Germany.