Snatch Pull
- Secondary muscles
- Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves
- Body part
- Upper Legs
- Position
- Standing
- Laterality
- Bilateral (both sides together)
- Category
- Strength
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Taking the wide snatch grip drops your hips lower and puts more back angle into the start than a clean pull, which is exactly what carries over to the full snatch. The bar gets pulled tall with a violent shrug but never caught overhead, so you can handle loads at or above your best snatch.
How to do the Snatch Pull
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell on the ground in front of you.
- Bend your knees and hinge at the hips to lower into a squat position, gripping the barbell with an overhand grip.
- Keep your back straight and chest up as you drive through your heels to lift the barbell off the ground, extending your hips and knees.
- As the barbell reaches hip level, explosively pull it upwards, shrugging your shoulders and pulling your elbows high and to the sides.
- As the barbell reaches its highest point, quickly drop underneath it, pulling yourself into a deep squat position.
- Catch the barbell overhead with your arms fully extended and your knees bent.
- Stand up by extending your hips and knees, keeping the barbell overhead.
- Lower the barbell back down to the starting position by reversing the movement.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Patience off the floor, then explode once the bar passes the knees.
Muscles worked
Primary
Quads · Legs
The quads push the floor away in the first pull and drive the extension at the top.
Secondary
- Hamstrings — The hamstrings load as the bar passes the knees and extend the hip through the pull.
- Glutes — The glutes snap the hips forward at the top of the second pull and provide most of the speed.
- Calves
Common mistakes
- Bending the arms early — the arms stay straight until the hips have fully extended and the shoulders shrug; any early pull with the arms kills the speed.
- Hips shooting up early — keep the chest up and the back angle constant until the bar passes the knees.
- Not finishing the extension — stand all the way up onto the toes with the hips through and the shoulders shrugged at the top.
- Bar swinging away — keep the bar in contact with the thighs through the second pull.
Where it fits in a workout
Snatch pulls go first in a session as an explosive movement, before squats or deadlifts. Pair them with overhead squats using the same bar.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
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Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.