Thank you for joining us here at Kettlebell Movement! Today we are in the park for a workout where we are going to perfect the heavy dead snatch. This will not be our final instructional video on this wonderful exercise, but a stepping stone and a how-to on moving up to your heaviest potential weight. The reason I spend so much time teaching this move is because to me, it is the single most demanding and exhilarating lift. Taking heavy weight from the ground to the overhead lockout position in one powerful move is going to require unparallelled technique, concentration and unity. Putting enough power on a weight to take it from stationary on the ground to overhead in one move is all about setting up and accelerating smoothly. You will need just as much mobility as you have power if you wish to come close to lifting to your potential.
To keep the bell close to your body, you will need to reach hip extension at the point of maximal power, otherwise the bell will project forward, making it feel much heavier than it should. Ultimately, this will limit your total lifting capacity and also make the movement less safe and injury prone. You will need good flexibility in your glutes and hamstrings to prevent your back from rounding, this will tell your nervous system to shut the power off to prevent injury. If your shoulders are tight, you won’t be able to reach lockout in the overhead position. This will make the bell feel much heavier than it should when it reaches the top, again limiting your capacity and potentially causing injury. All of these factors rely on adequate mobility to allow you to use the power you have to your advantage.
Watch the video and play along with me using the bell that is right for you. I am using an 88lb (40KG) kettlebell, that is roughly two fifths of my bodyweight. However, I won’t be doing low reps, as this practice is designed to allow you to develop enough strength and technique to perform this lift with up to half your bodyweight! The final video in this series will take us to our full potential, but bring the rep count down a little bit. For today, this practice is fifty snatches total, or twenty five per hand. I will alternate hands with every snatch to allow the grip muscles to recover between each rep. The heavy weight will cause the heart rate to climb very quickly so work at your own pace with the right weight for you. If you feel like you are not quite ready for a bell as proportionately heavy as I am demonstrating, simply lower the weight and complete the practice. Come back to the workout again and again until you develop the technique that will allow you to work to your potential. That is what this session is all about, creating the strength and developing the movement to maximize your ability.
The dead snatch is my favorite lift. To me, it represents the pinnacle of strength training. Forget bench presses and bicep curls, the dead snatch is going to require far more overall strength than anything you’ve done before. Real strength is in your nervous system, your mobility, your confidence and the strength of the muscle too. In order to be your best here, you must develop a relationship with every aspect of strength evenly, and along the way you will learn about your body. Use this workout to build up your strength and confidence, you will be glad you did when our final workout in the series takes you up to even heavier weight. Thank you for training with me today, I hope you have fun getting much, much stronger!
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