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by Tom Black
This exercise is a personal favorite of mine, mostly
because it helped me learn how to perform barbell snatches with a basically full
squat. Those who have tried to learn how to perform snatches on their own
may have found it difficult to drop into a squat position or the traditional
lunge position of the barbell snatch. This is especially true if the
lifter is older, as in my case being about 38 at the time that I made my
breakthrough and used the dumbbell snatch as a stepping stone to the barbell
snatch. Analyzing why the dumbbell snatch helps in learning the full squat
snatch I think it's a question of balance, as well as perceived and real
awkwardness of the bar at the top position with the hands held overhead.
Basically, with the dumbbell snatch the lifter has a free hand in which to
balance as well as protect themselves from errors in the lift in which the free
hand can stabilize the dumbbell.
| Lift Description | |
Moving on to the description of the lift, the dumbbell is placed between the legs with the handle parallel to the body and basically closer to the body than the lifters toes, but not going beyond the lifters heels. The legs are spread a bit wider than shoulder width to accommodate the dumbbell. The dumbbell is then pulled upward and overhead in one smooth motion. It is suggested that the lifter first practice a power snatch, which is basically the snatch with no dip in the knees. Once this is mastered the lifter can begin doing the squat snatch by dipping below the weight as the dumbbell is moved upward. It is also highly recommended to use a very light dumbbell at first, focusing more on the flow of the movement. If you find that you are not dipping enough into the full squat, pause with the light dumbbell and then basically do an "overhead squat" to feel the proper balance of the lift with the dumbbell overhead. Basically, the overhead squat is performed by holding the weight with a full arm extension overhead and performing a full squat at the same time. Once the feel for the squat with the dumbbell overhead is obtained, then you should find it easier to go directly into the full squat to "catch" the dumbbell in this position after the initial pull off the floor. From this position the lifter then comes up out of the squat to finish the lift with the dumbbell overhead and legs straight. |
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| One Handed Barbell Snatch | |
The variation of above is to use a barbell instead of a dumbbell, still with one hand. The main difference here is that now the bar itself goes basically over the tops of the feet in the same general orientation as the handle on the dumbbell in the above description. A key aspect of this lift is to preferably have a center knurled bar. If a center knurled bar is not available, a center marked bar is useful. Of course, with your own equipment you can mark the center of the bar if you do not have knurling or a mark. I find that a shorter bar is easier to deal with than a longer bar, especially if it is not marked. Fixed weight barbells are excellent for this exercise. Again, it is useful to start out light, doing deeper and deeper squats with the barbell overhead. On both the barbell and dumbbell one hand snatch the free hand works to keep your balance, and this is a key advantage as I mentioned earlier when eventually learning a full two arm snatch. Practicing with this lift is a good precursor to learning a the barbell snatch with two hands.
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