The Kettlebell Snatch

Many of you have asked me about the kettlebell snatch, so here's a quick 101 on the snatch. The kettlebell snatch is considered the "tsar" of kettlebell lifts in the RKC realm. It is the exercise that is used to test physical fitness for Russian military and several elite operators in the U.S.. Specifically, the US Secret Service CAT team uses it. The feat you must accomplish to become an RKC instructor is 100 snatches in 5 minutes with a 24kg bell for males. More can be read about this at www.dragondoor.com.

The snatch is a true test of endurance, strength, and guts. It will work most of your body and is an intense cardio-respiratory workout. A good workout with high reps of snatches can get your heart rate going better than sprints, depending on the number of reps and sets as well as weight of the bell. It also forges a mind of steel. You must possess heart in order to do lots of snatches. If you lack the mental fortitude, you will not succeed at intense snatch workouts at first. If that's the case, you should use the snatch to help build that mental pain tolerance.

The snatch should not be attempted until you have mastered two-arm and one-arm swings. I also suggest becoming proficient at get-ups and practice at holding a heavy kettlebell locked out overhead. Safety first always. If the kettlebell wants to go somewhere, let it. Let go and drop it moving your body out of it's way. This means working out outside as I'm sure you don't want a kettlebell ruining your floor. I've included a video here of me doing some snatch training. This is video from my train up for the snatch test. This is by no means an example of perfect technique, at this point I had already done about 50 snatches non-stop. This is also not a tutorial on how to do a kettlebell snatch. If you want to learn, email me at chadraysfitness@gmail.com. Enjoy!