Twenty years ago one of my preferred “Get ‘er Done” workouts was grabbing a 32kg KB and doing 10+10 Snatches for 10 sets with 2 minutes rest between sets outside on my deck.
It made me work up a sweat… Gave me a good pump… And was the perfect precursor to “Pizza & Movie Night.” LOL.
The Kettlebell Snatch is considered the Tsar (Emperor) of the Kettlebell Lifts.
That’s because it strengthens :
[+] Your grip and forearms (buh-bye limp handshakes)
[+] Your upper arms ( firms shirt sleeves)
[+] Your shoulders (so they no longer look like a clothes hanger)
[+] Your upper back and lats ( sculpts that ‘power look’)
[+] Your lower back (bulletproofs from injury)
[+] Your hips and hamstrings (hike hills all day )
[+] Your abs/core (without a single crunch)
And when programmed properly it boosts your heart health, your more info VO2Max, and burns body fat… without spending hours a week on the treadmill or elliptical.
Which brings me to a question I got in an email the other day from Jason, in which he asked -
“My question is particularly regarding King Sized Killer. I can discuss at length as to the program’s WTF factor, but can you cover what method are you advocating this program be done in? I guess that is to say it’s a matter of personal taste depending on your goals, but maybe your other online clients may benefit from you covering this topic. I seem to prefer hardstyle training on the lower rep days, and then on the endurance phase my body seems to shift toward a more “efficient” method of sport-specific style. Thoughts?”
Excellent question.
Here was my response:
“I always advocate "HardStyle" or "Athletic" - if you know what that is. (Think Oly lifting.) And that's because it requires more effort .
I can see how your body leans towards "efficient" sport style, because that's the aim of that style - efficiency. Honestly, I think most people "loosen" their technique as the reps get higher.
But yes, at the end of the day, it really is a matter of your objectives .”
Furthermore -
“Sport” style is designed for the competitor to complete as many Snatches as possible in 10 minutes.
In order to do so, the style is designed to decrease fatigue - to conserve energy, and to be as efficient as possible.
“HardStyle” or “Athletic” style is designed to boost power output on each rep. They’re not concerned with “energy efficiency.”
Most of us blokes need to be attentive to:
[+] Muscle retention and Type 2x/2a explosive muscle growth
[+] Keeping the body fat - especially stomach fat - at bay
[+] Improving our VO2Max
… And those 3 things are best addressed with the HardStyle / Athletic type Snatch.
As you become more advanced, and if you want to do marathon sets, you may want to learn the Sport style.
But for me, coming from an Olympic lifting background, that “Juice” was never worth the squeeze .
It’s always just been simpler for me (and my clients and customers) to “EXPLODE!” using the HardStyle / Athletic Snatch.
If you’re new to the kettlebell Snatch, remember the following:
1- Strengthen your hip and grip strength & conditioning through 1-Hand Swings
2- Build your shoulder mobility / stability / flexibility through the TGU and Press
3- Learn how to “Tame the Arc” with the Clean
THEN…
Attack the Snatch.
And for Snatch programming?
Work out in the following order:
1- Technique
2- Strength
3- Conditioning
Stay Strong ,
Geoff Neupert.