I won’t point fingers at specific organizations that actually promote this but; I have seen it become quite commonplace. The pull that I am talking about of course is the triple extension. When the bar in a snatch or clean rises above the knees and moves into the hips, you explode with the hips, the ankles and shoulders follow. The force that is then exerted upon the bar causes it to move upwards to where a quick turnover becomes possible. The bar then loses momentum and you catch it.
The height of the catch is entirely determined by the force exerted on the bar.
What do I mean by this? It comes down to the “power” or “full squat” variations of the lifts. A “power” version is where the catch happens when the femur is parallel with the ground or above and the “full squat” variation is when the catch happens below parallel. So, which version is better at building power? They are in fact the same lift during the triple extension. One should not produce more power than the other. Does it require a greater amount of force to move the bar overhead as opposed to pulling under to catch? Yes but, you are missing the full picture.
When we perform the triple extension, maximum force is always exerted. If we don’t exert maximal force, we are not using power by the very definition of what power is. Due to the fact that maximum force is always generated in Olympic lifts (or rather should be); both the Power and full Squat variations have applications towards training for power. The one thing you must remember though is to catch the bar where it lies. This means that if you pull 100kg and you catch it above parallel, keep doing that. If you pull 150kg and it only comes up to about belly button level, you have to pull yourself under the bar into a squat position. The force that you have exerted on the bar is the same but; the mass is greater so therefore you must exert a greater force. How do you exert a greater force if you are already at maximum?
Now that the natures of the power and full squat catch positions have been covered, let me go back to the people out there not finishing their pulls. How are they not finishing their pulls? Let’s take the example above with the lifter who can power Snatch 100kg and squat Snatches 150kg. The lifter is training and pulls 100kg but then, they quickly pull under to a squat Snatch. Now the lifter has squat snatched a weight that they can normally get all the way over their head and catch higher. What has happened?
They cut short their triple extension and pulled under.
This is a problem as it means they didn’t achieve maximal power production. Sometimes this “lift error” is done on purpose. Why? Well, some of these organizations believe that it is more taxing due to the range of motion increase that is added by the squat version. However, those that use the Olympic Lifts in training for conditioning purposes miss the true purpose of these lifts. Are they taxing, yes but, the purpose is power generation. You need to generate maximal power and you can’t do that if you’re constantly landing in the hole. Put some speed on the bar, pull like hell and catch the bar where it lies.
2 comments:
I agree that both the squat snatch and power snatch, when done properly, should have the same intended maximal force generation at the point of triple extension, however, other factors need to be considered in respect to programming for an intended outcome of the training. If it's a question of just developing pure power from the hips, then simply putting more weight and/or speed on the bar would be the best protocol (this doesn't have to be a snatch, it can be as simple as a clean pull). So a better argument might be not whether doing a squat snatch is "better" than a power snatch, but asking what and who the movement is for.
As an example, certain sports require a specific timing and positioning of the force against an implement, especially in sports where overcoming inertial forces at certain points in the movement need to be stressed. For example, in a highland caber toss, a power snatch is more applicable than a full squat snatch in certain phases of training (not all) because, although both will cultivate power generation from the ground up, a power snatch requires the athlete to continue accelerating upwards with the arms moving overhead, and with the least amount of pull underneath the bar. This derivative of the traditional lift facilitates a similar movement execution in the caber toss as the athlete may need to learn how to accelerate all the way from the toes to the fingertips, with the release point well over the head with arms fully extended. The caveat here is that, although the movement pattern and timing of the power snatch is comparable to flipping a caber, less weight can be used. Therefore, if a needs analysis conducted on said athlete shows that he/she needs to work on total power, then more weight on the bar doing clean pulls could be a logical choice here. What is the force/movement problem and how can it be solved most efficiently?
In conclusion, they both have their place in training, however, other factors need to be considered (athlete in question, ability level, tools available, movement specificity, phase of training, etc.). Like arguments in any arena, the purported truth lies in context, not in right versus wrong. The again, in the case of flipping cabers, one might be better suited to just flipping cabers instead of just arguing about whether or not a power snatch is better than a squat snatch. Just as Occam's razor states, sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution.
I am not arguing that one should be used over the other. I am simply stating that weight dictates form and that there is no difference in initial power generation from the triple extension. It may very well be more beneficial to use a Power version of the lift in many cases as it keeps the weight lighter and allows for continued reps to maintain a balistic nature for the lift. The balistic nature can be very beneficial towards developing a shortened amortization phase.
Just making sure that people understand that you DO NOt ever shorten the pull to get under the weight. If you can Power Snatch/clean 135lbs then do so. Don't squat snatch/clean it because that is a "true" olympic lift.
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