"Snatch" is one of the three main competitive kettlebell sport lifts. In competition, lifters snatch one kettlebell at a time and attempt as many reps as possible in either five or ten-minutes. If you set the kettlebells down or stop in any position other than overhead, the set is over... and you only get to switch hands once!

You certainly don't have to compete to train and get tremendous benefit from a snatch program. It's low impact strength and cardio in one. It will challenge your coordination, increase your grip strength, strengthen your posterior chain, increase your flexibility and mobility, shoulder stability, balance. It's a full-body exercise, and you'll notice your shoulders, arms, abs and glutes tone up particularly quickly.

This is a 2-day per week program which pairs perfectly with the 2-day per week, 6-week Long Cycle Training Program, or you can add a few days of KettleFIT workouts for conditioning, and/or mobility workouts, depending on how many days per week you can work out.

In any case, it's important to break up your training days - recovery is hugely important to your success with sport training. For example:

Monday - Snatch Day 1
Tuesday - Long Cycle Day 1 or KettleFIT
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - Snatch Day 2
Friday - Long Cycle Day 2 or KettleFIT
Sat/Sun - OFF or Mobility, or active recovery like an easy hike, yoga, etc.

We created this program when there were two competitions our club wanted to attend, which were two weeks apart. So the program is a 6 week training program leading up to the first "competition" (Week 6 Day 2.) Then, week 7 is a "de-load" and week 8 is a "ramp-up." Week 8 Day 2 would be your final "competition" set. It's critical to get as much recovery as possible after the week 6 Day 2 competition set if you plan to continue with weeks 7 & 8. That means plenty of sleep, water, eating really clean, and not doing the extra conditioning workouts week 7. Take 3-4 days off after the competition set, then do week 7 Day 1, another day or 2 off, then week 7 day 2.

You'll need: One medium-weight kettlebell (referred to as your "100%," and/or "working" weight) and an assortment of lighter & heavier weights (50%-120% of your medium weight) are a huge bonus but not required; use the closest weight that you have and increase or slow your pace accordingly. Best practice +/- 1 rep per kg.