Do the Arms Lift the Bar in the Snatch?
Do the arms lift the bar in the snatch?
No… but kind of…
When you actively pull down under the bar, that arm action preserves more of the bar’s upward momentum for longer.
That means the bar continues rising higher than it would without that active arm pull.
And that means you can get under a heavier bar at any given maximal upward speed.
So rely on your legs and hips to accelerate the bar up maximally, but use your arms equally aggressively to pull under.
This idea can be confusing, so often the topic is just avoided or problematically oversimplified.
But without understanding this, athletes often think of the movement under the bar as a drop or fall—a passive motion with no additional upward force on the bar.
This means the bar slows and comes to stop a much faster (not to mention the body doesn’t move down as quickly), and as a consequence, there is less time and space for you to get it locked out overhead.
No… but kind of…
When you actively pull down under the bar, that arm action preserves more of the bar’s upward momentum for longer.
That means the bar continues rising higher than it would without that active arm pull.
And that means you can get under a heavier bar at any given maximal upward speed.
So rely on your legs and hips to accelerate the bar up maximally, but use your arms equally aggressively to pull under.
This idea can be confusing, so often the topic is just avoided or problematically oversimplified.
But without understanding this, athletes often think of the movement under the bar as a drop or fall—a passive motion with no additional upward force on the bar.
This means the bar slows and comes to stop a much faster (not to mention the body doesn’t move down as quickly), and as a consequence, there is less time and space for you to get it locked out overhead.
