Stretching Exercises for the Snatch in Olympic Lifting

A snatch involves pulling a barbell in a single movement above the head into squat followed by a stand upright. Catching the bar in an overhead squat position requires a great deal of mobility and flexibility through your shoulders, hips and ankles. You'll find that targeting these specific areas helps you hit the correct positions of the lift and hopefully hit a personal record in the snatch.

  1. Static Stretching

    • Static stretching is a passive stretch method held for an extended period, from 10 seconds to upward of three minutes. While they are typically recommended post workout, it can be beneficial in certain cases to perform static stretches before your workout too. Performance coach Mike Robertson notes that a pre-workout static stretch can be beneficial for those that need extensibility in a specific muscle group. In general though, a scientific literature survey published in “The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports” found that static stretching for 45 seconds or more can reduce strength in the stretched muscle by 5.5 to 8.3 percent and power output as much as 2.8 percent.

    Dynamic Stretching

    • Dynamic stretching entails an active, stretched-based movement. An example of a dynamic stretch would be to swing one leg forward and backward while holding on to a stable object, or walking lunges where the objective is to stretch the hip flexor. Dynamic stretching effectively increases blood circulation, muscle activation, and mobilization of the joints to better prepare for the snatch.

    Static Stretching Pre-Workout

    • Trainers generally recommend that you start off with dynamic stretches before you exercise and finish with static stretching. But if you that have problems obtaining the requisite mobility to catch the snatch in the full bottom squat, you may need to include static stretches before your workout. The potential loss of some power output and strength does not outweigh correct positioning in the snatch. Even so, avoid holding a static stretch for longer than 15 seconds.

    Considerations

    • Static stretches and dynamic stretches help you obtain the requisite mobility -- and so does performing the full lift itself. Make sure that you're not compensating by either rounding your back or placing the bar in a dangerous overhead position. Over time, you'll find that doing the full lift itself can help you obtain the specific mobility and flexibility you need.