Snatches - kettlebell snatches

Snatches - kettlebell snatches, I mean - are a simple, fun and effective way to get rid of body fat, while toughening the shoulders, back and arms. 

They are also useful for coordination, capacity training, and learning to produce, redirect, and reduce force with the hips - an essentially athletic quality, thinks I, even for the non-athlete. 

If you want to snatch, you need to learn to swing first. No exceptions there. 

But after that, here are some tips that can help:

1. Keep the elbow "quiet" and the bell close to the body. This is known as taming the arc - you don't want the weight swinging too far out in front of you. It's not efficient. 

2. Keep a loose grip on the bell so you don't tear callouses or prevent a smooth transition of the weight onto the forearm. 

3. Hips back - not down. Hinge, don't squat. 

4. Commit! Don't chicken out half way through and do a "half-snatch." If you're going to snatch you have to go all the way. 

I get it may be scary the first time you attempt the snatch, but more bad reps are caused by a lack of confidence than anything. So just fake it til' you make it. 

5. Work it from the top down. Before snatching the bell up, learn to drop it from the lock out to get a feel for the groove. 

So start with a press then throw the bell "into your stomach", moving the hips out of the way at the last split second. Imagine you're playing chicken with your zipper - as scary as it sounds, it's the proper way. 

Finally - reps. This is a move that takes time to wrangle in. You'll be frustrated at first and that's OK. Take care of your hands, and stop before you get too beat up. Your forearms will toughen and overtime, with practice, your technique will improve.