Quads · Compound movement

Snatch Balance

A compound exercise that targets the quads with secondary work in glutes, shoulders, hamstrings. Performed with barbell, squat rack.

Primary muscle

Quads

Secondary muscles

Glutes, Shoulders, Hamstrings

Equipment

Barbell

Difficulty

Advanced

How to perform the Snatch Balance

Rack the bar across the upper back with a wide snatch grip, feet in the squat stance, and brace hard.
Dip a few inches by bending the knees, then drive the bar up off the shoulders just enough to unweight it.
Aggressively drop and drive yourself DOWN under the bar, punching the arms to lockout as you descend into a deep overhead squat.
Catch the bar locked out overhead at the bottom of the squat with the torso upright, then stand up — the drill trains a fast, confident turnover under a fixed bar.

Suggested working range: 2–4 reps. Default progression: percentage.

•Pressing the bar up with the arms instead of driving yourself down under a bar that stays roughly fixed.
•Dipping slowly and timidly rather than a sharp dip-and-drop to train a fast turnover.
•Catching high above parallel instead of riding all the way down into a deep overhead squat.
•Letting the bar drift behind or in front of the mid-foot in the catch, losing the balanced overhead position.