The Great great man of the east: CrossFit Snatches: Safety vs Stupidity in the Name of Sport (with Video)

CrossFit-Snatches

I take potential spinal injury seriously. So should you. I’m not fucking around, these are beyond-the-pale dangerous.

The women in the video are trying to be the best athletes they can be. That’s awesome. I want that for them, too. However, they won’t have that chance if they needlessly screw up their body.

One bad miss ends their career. Is it ethical to encourage athletes to do something dangerous when they don’t realize how dangerous it really is? And when that danger can be avoided without hurting performance?

There are many snatches in this video that are good, and a few are great. But the ones that are bad are really bad, and more dangerous than most people realize — they can lead to serious injury — injury that CAN and SHOULD be avoided.

Let me be clear: this is not one of those annoying “Bash CrossFit” posts. Rather, I am genuinely concerned for the safety of athletes and their long-term success.

I don’t think the fundamental issue is coaching or training, but attitude.

What I’m against encouraging is the willingness to go for lifts in a way that isn’t safe. That willingness is only ok if you truly grasp the risks. Most people who do this, don’t.

I’m sure many Games athletes do understand the risks. But my concern is not THEM as much as those inspired by them, who may emulate them without realizing what the risks are.

Below are a few of my thoughts on snatching and sports, and at the end I’ve got 2 big tips to keep your spine safe.

Taking Calculated Risks vs Acting Out of Ignorance

I’m OK with someone making a choice to play a dangerous sport and do dangerous things. Surfing, rock climbing, baseball pitching, shark wrestling, MMA, Strongman, and CrossFit are all like this. They are all potentially VERY dangerous.

It’s OK to do dangerous things, but ONLY when you realize the danger and are taking a risk on purpose.

I don’t believe for a second that most people who choose to snatch like this know how dangerous it actually is. That means they are NOT taking a calculated, intelligent, informed risk. They are making a mistake in judgement.

Is it Immoral to Allow Someone to Snatch Like This?

These women are trying to be the best athletes they can be. As I said above, I don’t believe they honestly understand the risks of snatching like that. They are putting their bodies at extremely high risk without ever being told that they could end up ruining their careers over a single bad miss.

In Weightlifting we LIE to people by telling them that snatching is safe. No. Snatching is ONLY safe when done exactly the way Olympic lifters do them under OUR competition rules (which are there to force safety).

There is no press-out in weightlifting because doing so can lead to a barbell slamming onto your cervical spine.

These women are lifting a LOT of weight. If that bar lands on the back of their neck, their spine, imagine the possible injuries. Seriously. Spend time going over the many horrible things that can happen to you if a heavy bar slams into your neck.

Dirty Secret: A Safer Snatch is a Stronger Snatch!

The skills that make a snatch safe will help you lift more weight. I know that’s weird, but it’s also awesome!

In many sports, it’s the opposite. The safest way to throw a baseball is SLOW. But to be a great pitcher, you must go fast. And that speed and technique will destroy your shoulder.

In the snatch, thankfully, the safer you make the movement, the more weight you’ll lift.

Safety Rules for the Snatch

That said, I want you to focus on the safety for its own sake! Your performance is something that will be built upon a foundation of skills that are designed to keep you safe — so that you can train hard tomorrow, too.

Safety is my priority. Performance is only an option for those who I know will be safe.

I’ve got 2 basic rules below. Follow them, and you’ll be safer and stronger.

NOTE: In my gym, if you break these rules, I’ll have to ask you to leave.

It’s not about technique, it’s about your attitude, your willingness to make safe choices in the moment. If you need to lower the weight to do things safely, then do it. It’s people who refuse to do so that I will kick out, not people who are struggling with technique, lol.

Lock Out or FAIL (on Purpose). Period. No Exceptions.

Many CrossFit athletes don’t realize that by “lock out” we mean the arms are IMMEDIATELY straight. It is NOT like a bench press or overhead press: you cannot press the bar up into a lock out. It must already be there, instantly.

If you are snatching a bar over your head, and you are not able to lock out in that exact second, then THROW the bar forward or backward, and run the other way. Every time. Every lift.

A snatch is a BLACK or WHITE lift: either you made it with a perfect lock out, or you bail on purpose. Embrace this. The middle ground (what most of those snatches were) is where injuries come from.

NEVER “Dive” or “Drop” Under the Bar!

Beginners think that weightlifters “dive” under a bar really fast. NO. Weightlifters do what is called a 3rd Pull to literally PULL themselves under a bar faster than gravity can take them.

Pulling under the bar is ACTIVE. Dropping is PASSIVE.

When you “drop” under a bar, you loosen up. At a heavy weight, you won’t be able to tighten back up fast enough. The bar will crash down on top of you.

This is the source of nearly all of the worst possible injuries in a snatch or a clean.

Many beginners hate doing power versions because they want to look like a “real” weightlifter. That’s just ridiculous. But I hear this so often that it’s worth making a point of.

Your ego is not my concern. Your spine is my concern.

Your goal is not to look like a weightlifter, but to perform like one.

A (Counter-intuitive) Fact About the 3rd Pull

Pulling yourself under a bar feels exactly (in the upper body) like a well-performed POWER snatch — They are identical in the upper body. (Only when done right.)

In other words, if you can’t do a PERFECT power snatch, I know you don’t have a good 3rd pull. It’s a diagnostic as well as a teaching tool. The power versions come first because I need to make sure you really get it.

The bar must move FASTER into the finish than it was moving off of your hips! (Just like a 100 meter sprint: start fast, end faster.)

To learn the 3rd pull means that you are learning how to use your upper body (mostly traps) to pull UP on the bar and put continuous increasing speed on the barbell all the way through to the finish.

Clearly this is hard to learn. You have NO business “getting under a bar” if you can’t even do this yet!

By mastering these skills of the 3rd pull, you make the entire snatch active. You are always putting force on the bar. You are always INCREASING your control of where the bar is going. This makes the lift MUCH safer. It means you won’t ever be crushed.

Bottom Line: Know What You’re Getting Into

Dangerous sports are fun, but only when you know what you are getting yourself into. If you want to snatch with dangerous technique, you can. But you had better know that you’re putting your spine at risk!

If you know this, and you don’t care, then be my guest! However, if you snatch like that in my gym, you’re gone.

Now go lift something SAFELY,
Nick Horton