Paused Snatch
Performance
70% x 2 x 5
Fitness
5 x 2
Use a load that allows you to perform 5 technically sound doubles.
Pause at the knee for a 2 count with the weight back towards the heels and shoulders in front of the bar. Set up tight and maintain tension throughout all the positions. It’s okay to bail and reset between reps.
Post loads to comments.
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Every minute on the minute x 3 rounds:
Minutes 1, 4, 7, and 10
5 Power Snatches + 5 Overhead Squats 115/80
Minutes 2, 5, 8, and 10
5 Bar Muscle-Ups
Minutes 3, 6, 9, and 12
12 Burpees
The load on the barbell should be on the light side and unbroken. Hit the same positions on the first 2 pulls as you did in the lifting portion. The sub for Bar Muscle-Ups is Jumping Bar Muscle-Ups or Chest-to-Bar (or Jumping C2B) Pull Ups. If you have Bar Muscle-Ups but not 5 in less than a minute, then scale volume so as to leave at least 15 seconds of transition time. Same for Burpees: if necessary, scale volume in order to finish them in no more then 45 seconds.
Post work and Rx to comments.
Coach Arturo gives Melody W. a tactile cue during Kipping Pull-Up practice in our Anti-Gravity class. Check out Anti-Gravity with Coach Noah today at 2pm!
- Schedule change: This Tuesday’s 6:30pm Active-Recovery class is cancelled.
YOU SHALL NOT SNATCH, or, Thoughts on the Absolute Necessity of the Hook Grip
By Noah Abbott
Originally posted 7.1.2014
Lately my coaching comrades and I have been noticing a strange phenomenon. Normally conscientious and dedicated Crossfit padawans, attempting the two toughest things we do at the gym—the snatch and clean, without the use of a hook grip. While we talk about the hook grip in Foundations, I think it may be prudent to inject a bit more philosophical and theoretical gravity into its use, to ensure that it is used every single time you Olympic lift, until you are so comfortable with it that you will feel weird doing anything else.
What is the hook grip and why do we use it? It is simply a method of gripping a barbell, or anything of roughly barbell diameter. To secure your hook grip, follow these steps:
1. Open your hands as wide as possible and push the bar deep into your palm.
2. Wrap your thumb around the bar as far as you can.
3. Tightly grab your thumb with your index and middle fingers and pull it further around the bar, while your
ring and pinky fingers hold onto the barbell.
4. ?????
5. PR
The hook grip is as old as time immemorial. American weightlifting legend Tommy Kono says that when he started lifting (roughly 1945 or so) he used the hook grip, which he had seen in a book. That legacy has continued, and EVERY SINGLE competitive Olympic lifter in the world, universe, and likely in uncharted galaxies uses the hook grip. So you should too. Need more proof than every gold medal won at every Olympics, ever? Ok, fine, here goes:
1. The hook grip is strong as hell. You are basically turning your hand into an Organic Lifting Strap (extra hipster cred for sustainability!). Want a test? Go hang from a barbell with a normal grip, then try using a hook grip—which do you want to bet lets you hang longer. In fact, you will probably quit from thumb discomfort before your hook grip actually fails. This is a test, so please don’t actually use a hook grip to do pull-ups, unless it’s to win a bet.
2. The hook grip allows you to accelerate the barbell with loose arms. Since the grip is “passive”—the bar is held by the friction caused from the weight of the barbell clamping your thumb into your fingers—you can secure a rock solid grip on the bar without contracting the muscles in your forearms. Loose arms translate to better pulls. Ever have a coach correct your early arm pull or tell you to “whip your elbows faster?” You can’t do either of those without a hook grip.
3. The hook grip allows for proper rack delivery in the clean. This dovetails off the last point, but the passive and relaxed nature of the grip makes it easier to open your hands and deliver the bar to your shoulders with high elbows. People who don’t hook grip and squeeze the hell out of the bar end up with their hands glued fully around the bar, a bad rack position, and subsequently FAILZ.
Ok, so I’ve convinced you, right? Well, we still get lots of complaints about the hook grip, and since this ol Crossfit thing is a customer service business, we endeavor to satisfy your complaints, or at least confuse you enough that you drop the subject. Common gripes generally fall into two categories:
1. My hands are too small! No, they are not. Likely, you haven’t really shoved the bar deep enough into your palm, or gripped it tightly enough with your fingers. Halil Mutlu won three consecutive Olympic Golds, standing 4’11” tall and beginning his career at 56KG (118 lbs), before beefing up to a scale shattering 62KG (136 lbs.) Dude was little, and his hands were tiny, and he hook gripped like a boss. Further, at the gym we have a range of barbells (33, 25, and 15#, or yellow, green, and white tape), which are smaller in diameter than the 20KG/45# bars. That said, they are generally 25mm diameter vs the normal 28mm, so they aren’t exactly toothpicks. Unless you are literally a baby—not a wimp, but an actual infant—your hands are just fine.
2. It hurts! Well, life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something. Seriously, the wisdom of Wesley/T.D.P.R. aside, discomfort caused by the hook grip is temporary, and generally lessens with familiarity. Simply using the hook grip all the time will make the discomfort vanish, replaced by the sweet caress of PRs and resultant glory.
If you really feel tight and restricted, Greg Everett of Catalyst Athletics suggests you implement this stretch: Make a fist with your thumb tucked tightly inside and ulnar deviate your hand; that is, tilt your hand away from the thumb side. You should feel a stretch around the base of your thumb and probably a little up into your wrist as well. You can also flex the wrist from this position to get an additional and somewhat different stretch. So do that. If you want to be a real badass/masochist, deadlift with a hook grip—cleans and snatches will seem like a manicure after that.
Lastly, you can tape your thumbs before you lift, which should reduce some of the discomfort. Here’s Rich Froning talking in GREAT DETAIL about how to wrap tape around your thumb, which doesn’t seem too complicated to me, but then again, he’s the champ, and I write things on the CFSBK blog. Some people differ on their approach to taping your thumbs. The aforementioned Greg Everett, for example, says you should NOT tape over the joint, and instead tear a strip of athletic tape in half (after you’ve ripped it free from the roll, do not give Coach Fox an aneurism) and tape north and south of your thumb joint. This will allow your thumb to move a bit more freely than if it is taped like a big burrito, which Everett claims can lead to discomfort, or even a broken thumb. (I am highly skeptical of the broken thumb claim, but again, I have about 1% of 1% of his experience, or less.)
So, as per normal, I’ve covered a simple topic in exhaustive, pedantic, teeth gnashing depth. Not much left to be said, except for this: You know who wished he used the hook grip? This guy.
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The Snatch in Slo Mo Team USA
The Poet Idolized by a New Generation of Feminists NY Times Magazine
1. Hilarious and persuasive article! The Lennie Small reference was perfection!
2. I don't need to be convinced to use hook grip– can't imagine doing clean/snatch/DL without it. However, I actually have the opposite problem where I can't let go of hook grip, especially in the snatch. I know that if I loosened the hook grip as I land my snatch, the barbell would rest more in my palm like in an OHS–but I can't figure out how to loosen my fingers and thumb mid-snatch. Does anyone else have this problem?? Or advice?
3. The hook grip was uncomfortable at first but now it's second nature– the "pain" definitely subsides. Just like false grip. Or the burn I used to get from a simple :30 hollow hold. …everything gets easier with consistent effort and practice!
Allie- I have the same problem. Once it's in I can't let go, which limits my ability to catch in the right position without making my t-spine uncomfortable. Yet another thing I need to figure out. Maybe something to think about today…
Awesome article Coach Noah! You definitely have a way with words…lol. I'm gonna start deadlifting with a hook grip from now on. And I'll do my best not to give coach Fox an aneurism by ripping tape down the middle…while still on the roll!
Allie, you are not alone girl. I have the same problem when I snatch. It's one of the things I'm working on with coach Frank…along with not holding onto the bar with a death grip…lol.
AG
A)
3RNFT
5 Strict Chins
10 Shoulder Taps (PU, Wall facing, Kickup)
10e Box Hamstring Curls
B) EMOM 10 min
E:Max Pistols R/L, stop at :30
O: :30 Hollow
C)
8 RD
Max Pushups
Sprint 100 YD
Rest is Walk back
Allie B, I don't know if it's right or not but I always keep the hook grip in throughout the movement. It just feels right and more secure for me.
9am with Whit
Perf snatch work at 125#.
EMOM work at 95#. Planned on doing it at 115# but Whit wanted them all unbroken and that wouldn't have happened Rx'd.
Bar Muscle Ups are one of those movements that take a while to get into a rhythm.
1st round – 3 with some misses
2nd round – 4 singles
3rd round – 3/2
4th round – 5 unbroken
Looking forward to a beautiful day in the park.
I love this article! But I feel it should be paired with the article on callus care. I have some wack calluses now that I use hook grip all the time.
@Allie and @Charlie — I *think* I've grown accustomed to releasing it in the snatch during the third part of the lift (the pull under) but I'd have to double check. It's definitely not something you want to think about too much. Perusing hookgrip's Instagram (um, I see what I did thar) I really quickly came across two lifters who do not release the hookgrip in the snatch: a a dude and a lady. So nothing at all abnormal about not releasing it!
Also: Greg Everett talks about it on this thread
Interesting stuff!
Whoops, a gal who does not release her hook grip in snatch (courtesy of hookgrip).
Thanks Amanda!!! I did think about it for, like, a second today, but decided to focus on pulling the bar towards me instead as I can only really think of one thing at a time when snatching.
Enjoyed the pause today as I have been working on that. Did 73 x 2 x 5 with a miss somewhere in there at 78. Some day I'll go heavy… Not dropping fast enough but today was better than yesterday.
The WOD was fun too. I scaled to 63# on the snatches which was perfect and I did 3-5 C2B pull-ups with mixed grip.
Ran to and from the gym. Enjoy this beautiful day, friends!!
9am with Whit
Snatches – 75, 95×2, 105, 115×4
Snatches felt really good today. Was able to really find the bottom and make these full snatches today. Feel like it's been a while since I've done that. For full snatches I find I have to release my hook grip as I can't find the range of motion in my wrist and t-spine with it still in to make it all the way down. For cycling power snatches I leave it in.
Emom work at 95# which felt perfect
Bar muscle ups:
Round 1 – fail
Round 2 – fail
Round 3 – fail
Round 4 – fail
Sigh. Whatever magic I had during the open left me. Instead of hearing Matty's proud cries of joy I just heard his crushing silence of disappointment today.
Much fitness happened this weekend:
Saturday with Comp Class:
Front squat: 115×12, 125×12, 135×12.
Went too heavy on the back squat earlier this week, so was much more conservative today when trying to find a good starting place for a set of 12.
Burpee, Row, and Snatch extravaganza in 17:09.
Today:
Snatches at 78#. Felt fast under, could have worked more on getting full extension. Was focused on my feet – left foot still keeps wanting to move in front.
EMOM WOD at 78#, 3 C2B pull-ups each round, and 12 burpees. Broke up the power snatches from the beginning at 4-1 to prep for the OHS, then 2-2-1 for last two rounds.
Felt energized, so decided to get in Saturday's WOD (I really like DT and wanted to get this is). 11:03 Rx. Has to break up push presses as 2-1 from the third round on to keep myself honest and not jerk them.
As Kayleigh mentioned, lots of good training this weekend!!
Saturday Comp:
3×10 Waiter Squats with 20kg KB. harder on L. woof.
2 sets each side 20kg 1-arm OH carry… about 60-70' each time. (crates to platform and back)
Burpee, Row, and Snatch extravaganza: 18:32
-snatches all in sets of 5. burpees good pace. rowing = boring death. must increase capacity here!
TODAY 12PM class after coaching the morning!
paused snatches
93x2x5
all felt pretty great. sharp, pulling under well today, good footwork. need to stay patient, a few were early.
EMOM x12… changed it up since i did power snatches at 80# twice this week and burpees too
min1: 10 alternating DB Snatch @ 40#
min2: 3 bar muscle ups! no fails!
min3: 5 pistols L, 3 pistols R
BMU: yay for 12 reps, no failures! def more confident with these, but still chicken winging a bit… R side over first every time. need to do skillwork and drills here before doing them again in a WOD.
cooldown: handstand walks and holds + 20 min couch stretch, recline quad stretch, etc.
9am with whit and jb
Snatch: a couple of misses forward
95×2
115×2
135x2x5
Metcon at 115 with 5 bar muscle ups… That was the plan anyway. Did 2 bar muscle ups in the second round and thought my hands were about to become hamburger, so switched to 3 ring muscle ups for the remaining rounds.
1 p.m. (aka "The Hangover, Part IV") w/JB & Noah.
Paused snatch: 95x2x5. Couple misses forward, but on the whole found this very helpful, like with the paused C&J earlier in the week.
Metcon: thought about doing it at 95# but went down to 75# instead. Probably should have split the difference and done 85#. Strict C2B chin-ups in lieu of muscle-ups. Felt OK, as OK as 12 minutes of such work can feel. Now off to enjoy a day even nicer than yesterday!
Snatch – 60x2x3 and 65x2x2 – a couple times I pulled forward, but made all the reps
Metcon at 115 and 5 BMU – thought it would get tougher than it actually did. BB work in about :30 per round, BMU unbroken and burpees in about :30 per round
1pm hangover club
Snatch: stuck with 53#, which is 70% for me. Actually did 8 sets of 2, however. Really tried to dial in technique– knowing that Matty Chm & a girl in hook grip's insta feed don't release their hook grip… I didn't think too much about it. Wod was also at 53. Fun!
AG was lots of fun!! Sprints + max push-ups for 10 rounds! Did 93 total push-ups… Have a LOT of work to do before Murph. Tons of fun working out outside though.
Lastly, inspired by Charlie, I went for the longest run I've been on in awhile this morning! I have not been committed to my diet or keeping up my cardio capacity and let's be honest- it's April 17!! Yikes! Time to get it together esp with Murph coming up!!
Yay Sunshine!
For the record, I don't release my hook grip when I snatch and it doesn't tend to bother me. I think its a personal thing related to wrist flexibility.
I'm an admittedly average bar to compare against, but just saying. Glad you guys liked the article.
12pm with Noah and JB
63# for the snatch work. Need to continue working on not pulling early.
Wod with 53# snatch/OHS unbroken, 5 regular kipping pull ups unbroken, burpees…
Back for OG
HBBS: 180x3x3 (88%). Felt pretty good. a few sticky reps.
Clean and jerk..worked up to 93 to try to drill in some cues Frank gave me on Wed.
Alternated pistols and ring dips with the red then orange band.
Funny and informative read.
1pm hangover class as well
Snatches done at 63#
5 single C2B- still not ending up in the right position at the top to cycle them.
AG:
max pistols :30 done with green band. Think I can try the blue band next time.
WOD: 8 rounds of max pushups followed by a sprint
30-15-12-10-10-10-10-10=107 pushups.
I didn't actually go to failure on any of these, but pretty close. Was just too painful to take it that far.
Ok, take 3…(posted on the wrong day somehow….need sleep!):
Oops, stuff went missing from my post.
WOD:
Snatches and OHS @53# unbroken Burpees in 30-32s
Fitness 5×2 115×2/125×2/135
WOD
95#
C2B 3/2