The Kettlebell Snatch Chain
- Keith Jennings
- Jun 16, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 17, 2020
Of all of the core kettlebell exercises, the snatch is perhaps the most dynamic as well as the most fun. This explosive lift strengthens the entire posterior chain, requires full body commitment, and is sure to challenge your conditioning when performed for higher reps. All of this also makes the snatch quite technical, and has a lot of moving parts that can be pretty overwhelming for newer lifters.
The snatch incorporates many different kettlebell movements that are essential to perfect in order to get the most from snatch training. The primary movements that make up the kettlebell snatch are the swing, the clean, and the high-pull. It is strongly suggested that you work to master each of these movements during your journey to snatch mastery. The swing is used to develop your back swing; and the better your back swing, the easier the front swing. The clean is where you learn how to "catch" the kettlebell on the back of your arm without smashing your forearm with every rep. Lastly, the high-pull is how you get the kettlebell to float before the punch to the overhead lockout position.
After you work on perfecting each of the above movements in isolation, then you are ready to chain them all together. This is where the Kettlebell Snatch Chain comes in. I use it
with students who are learning the snatch for the first time, or need to re-calibrate their snatch technique as they move up the next size bell.
To perform a single round of the Kettlebell Snatch Chain, grab a single snatch sized bell and perform five reps of cleans, swings, high-pull, then finally the full snatch all on the same side. From there, do a hand exchange and repeat on the other side. Notice the clean comes before the swing in order to keep everything fluid. Three sets of this should be plenty!
Check out the link below to see the Kettlebell Snatch Chain performed with a 24kg kettlebell, and my current goal for my next five minute snatch test, the 28kg.
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