Why Snatch Grip Deadlift?

If getting "walking-like-you-have-Sidney-Crosby's-Olympic-Gold-winning-hockey-stick-up-your-ass" syndrome after a heavy session of snatch grip deadlifts isn't enough proof that they "work," here are some other reasons to do the exercise:

1. Upper-back development.

Olympic weightlifters have very impressive back development. Outside of pulling from the floor with insane frequency, one thing they do that most others don't is pull with a snatch grip. So if band pull aparts aren't exploding your posterior delts and upper traps as planned, consider adding this lift into your program.

2. Posterior chain development.

Conventional deadlifting is known for developing a muscular back more than it is for developing muscular legs. This is because, all things considered, the lift doesn't require a lot of range of motion in the hips and knees.

Even though you're not lifting as much weight when you use the snatch grip, it's more of a leg exercise because of the starting position depth. Your hamstrings and glutes gets stretched considerably more, and this is what packs on the size.

3. Assisting conventional deadlifts.

The deadlift, for all practical purposes, is like a half-squat. There's nothing "normal" about the height of forty-five pound plates, they're that size because of tradition. To increase ROM, many lifters will pull from a deficit.

The snatch grip deadlift is essentially a deficit pull because the wide grip forces you to get deeper in the starting position. You can now stop balancing on stacked plates like a jackass.

4. It can boost your vertical jump.

I've researched vertical jump training thoroughly to prepare my athletes that go onto combine-esque tests. Although journal articles are insightful, nothing compares to analyzing video footage of people attempting vertical jumps.

I'm looking at two stills taken from YouTube. The quality is too crappy to post here, so take my word for it. Both shots show jumpers stopped in the amortization phase of a vertical jump.

The guy on the left boasts a 30" vertical. Honestly, with the setup he's using, I doubt it, but for the sake of conversation, let's say he's telling the truth. The dude on the right boasts a near 50" vertical. Since that's very high, I'm going to bump it down to 40" to account for YouTube inflation.

We're left with a 10" difference. Apart from the guy on the right being noticeably more muscular, they have dramatically different body positions. The guy with the higher vertical is relying much more on hip extension, which equates to more glute and posterior chain use. The other guy is all quads and calves.

Although there are probably many reasons why the one is jumping higher, his body position isn't hurting him. And strangely enough, it's a position that resembles the beginning of a snatch grip deadlift.

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=4943293

Snatch Grip Deadlifts

Joe Giandonato, MS, CSCS

What’s a long forgotten strength exercise that can be credited for explosive starts and has tremendous carryover to increased performances on squats, deadlifts, and Olympic lifts?

What strength exercise was chosen by renowned coaches, Charles Poliquin and Alwyn Cosgrove, as hypothetically being the sole exercise in one’s program?

What strength exercise hammers the posterior chain harder than deadlifts, due to its increased range of motion?

If you answered the snatch grip deadlift, you’re right. Like the girl next door, the snatch grip deadlift gets no love, as many coaches and athletes are opting for sexier exercises, such as chained speed squats, reverse hypers, and one of my personal favorites – the box front squat. What happens if I told you that the snatch grip deadlift reigns superior over all of those exercises, because you’ll not only get similar training effects, but yield far better results!

We’re all well aware of the benefits of the deadlift, as it develops total body strength, incorporating nearly every muscle in the body from head to toe. The gluteus maximus, erector spinae, lateral and medial aspects of the hamstrings, quadriceps, trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids, finger flexors, and forearms are all called upon (1,4,5) to pick the bar up and (if your gym lacks bumper plates, or you’re a courteous member of a commercial gym that prohibits dropping any weights) put it down. Simple, right? In theory, yes, but a lot of researchers and coaches have dedicated their lives to improving sport performance, and more specifically, with regards to powerlifting, deadlifting performance.
Figuring out your snatch grip

Because no two trainees/athletes are alike, a proper snatch grip must be figured out, before proceeding to snatch grip deadlifts. Characteristics such as shoulder and wrist flexibility, as well as arm length and hand size will influence one’s snatch grip. Injury history, specifically, that of the shoulder or wrist, may also impact one’s snatch grip. Given the aforementioned factors, protocols must be followed to determine a person’s snatch grip.

To determine one’s optimal snatch grip width, strength coach Harvey Newton suggests that you take a measurement from the lateral deltoid to the first knuckles of the closed fist of the opposite arm that is abducted from the body at 90 degrees (2).

Once you’ve established a comfortable snatch grip, you can move onto the snatch grip progression exercises below, or if you already possess sufficient hip mobility and scapular the stability, skip to the set up section.

Snatch Grip Shrug

This is very similar to the snatch pull, which is employed by Olympic lifters as they progress to snatches, however, you won’t be performing these explosively, instead you’ll use these to familiarize yourself as you grip a loaded bar. At first, perform these in a power rack slightly below hip height and shrug away. It’d be best if you performed these early in the workout, either between sets or as a part of a barbell complex as you get warmed up.

Snatch Grip Rack Pull

Though rack pulls have little carryover to deadlifting performance, due to pulling from a fixed range of motion, performing them with the snatch grip with a substantial load, will undoubtedly fry your rear delts, rhomboids, and forearms to hell, which will set you up perfectly for the heavy weights you’ll be pulling from the floor ahead.

Snatch Grip Isometric Deadlift

Perform these in a power rack, pulling an unloaded Olympic bar against the catches. This will help teach proper torso position during the concentric portion of the lift, forcing you to keep high and tight, keeping the bar closer to your body.

Snatch Grip Deadlift from Floor

The set ups between a conventional deadlift and snatch grip deadlift differ slightly. First you’ll assume a foot placement between shoulder to hip width. You’ll keep the shoulders above the bar and over the arms, but you’ll have to sink your hips a little lower in order to keep your upper back from rounding. Retract the scapulae and keep a big chest. Pull. Next, you’ll extend the knees, with the bar in close contact with the kneecaps, continue to extend the knees, until the bar clears them, and then focus on extending the hips. During early hip extension, the knees and hips will extend simultaneously. When the hip extension has concluded, get into thoracic extension. Tip: If you catch yourself rounding your upper back, decrease the load, or work on strengthening the scapular stabilizers.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts from Deficit

You’ll perform these your feet affixed on an aerobic stepper; two 45 pounds plates stack on top of each other, or preferably, a raised platform. Essentially the set-up is the same, but since the bar is further from the body’s midline, you’ll have to sink your hips even lower than you would on a standard snatch grip deadlift. Basically, you’ll be pulling from a deep squat position, which is why hip mobility and a stable core are necessary to properly execute this lift.

Alternatively, you can perform this exercise with smaller plates to elicit the same effect. Though you’ll inevitably get some weird looks from fellow your fellow gym goers because you’re loading the bar 10’s or 25’s, you’re still deadlifting, which earns a lot of perplexed stares anyways. I mean, who deadlifts? Maybe 10% of lifters?

Snatch Grip Deadlifts with small plates
Snatch Grip RDL

This version of the snatch grip deadlift has the most carryover to the Olympic lifts than any the other variations. An RDL with a snatch grip becomes a preparatory movement for performing the power snatch (3).

Considerations

A guideline that I’ve always followed is that your Snatch Grip Deadlift from the floor should be roughly 70% of your conventional deadlifts. I’d suggest being conservative at first, increasing the load as you master the movement.
Initially, you should keep the volume real low, unless you want to miss work or school the next day. If you do too much work, you’ll be paying the price with tear inducing soreness of your spinal erectors, traps, and rhomboids. Trust me; err on the side of caution with these.
References

1. Graham JF. Exercise: deadlift. Strength Cond J 2000;22:18-20.
2. Newton H. Explosive Lifting for Sports. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006: 86.
3. Bird S, Barrington-Higgs B. Exploring the deadlift. Strength Cond J 2010;32:46-51.
4. Escamilla RF, Francisco AC, Fleisig GS. A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of sumo conventional style deadlifts. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2000;32:1265-1275.
5. Escamilla RF, Francisco AC, Kayes AV. An electromyographic analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlifts. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002;34:682-688.

http://www.beyondstrengthperformance.com/snatch-grip-deadlifts-for-greater-gains