# Single-Arm Dumbbell Snatch: how to do it

- Main muscles: glutes, front delts
- Also works: hamstrings, traps
- Equipment: dumbbell
- Level: advanced
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell_snatch/156de52aae/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Squat down and grip the dumbbell between your feet, arm straight.
2. Drive up hard through your legs, keeping the dumbbell close.
3. Shrug and pull your elbow high as you rise onto your toes.
4. Drop under it into a quarter squat, arm locked overhead.
5. Stand tall, then lower to your shoulder, thigh and floor.

## Cues

- Legs first, arm last.
- Keep the dumbbell close to your body.
- Punch up and lock your arm fast.

## Common mistakes

- Lifting with the arm before the legs finish.
- Letting the dumbbell swing out in front.
- Pressing it up at the end instead of catching it locked.

## Starting position

One-arm snatch from the floor, right hand (the arm nearest the camera). Straddle the dumbbell, feet between hip- and shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little. Squat down with the hips lower than the shoulders and higher than the knees, back flat, chest up, eyes ahead. Grip the dumbbell handle overhand (palm facing back), arm straight, shoulder over or just in front of the dumbbell. The left arm hangs by the left side.

## The movement

Drive the hips, knees and ankles straight together. The arm stays straight while the dumbbell slides up close to the thigh. As the legs reach full extension, rise onto the balls of the feet and shrug the right shoulder hard, elbow straight and pointing out. At the top of the shrug, bend the elbow and pull it high and out, keeping the dumbbell as close to the body as possible; the trunk is upright and the head tips back slightly. Then pull the body under the dumbbell: turn the arm and hand round and under it and drop the hips into a quarter squat, heels down, so the arm locks straight overhead just as the dumbbell reaches its highest point. Hold, then stand up tall with the arm locked. Lower the dumbbell under control to the front of the shoulder, then to the thigh, then squat to set it on the floor between the feet.

## End position

Start: hips below the shoulders, dumbbell on the floor. Pull: hips and knees straight, heels up, shoulder shrugged. Catch: quarter squat, arm locked vertically overhead. A heavy dumbbell (heads about 20 cm across) puts the handle about 9 cm off the floor, so the shoulder joint can be at most about 0.65 m high. With the shins at about 36° and the hips just above the knees, the knees bend about 115°, and the trunk has to lean about 65° to bring the shoulder that low, over or just in front of the dumbbell. The first version of this spec said 105° and 45°; that shoulder height (about 0.87 m) is out of reach for anyone. The dumbbell sits between the feet at the toe line, so the stance is about shoulder width. NSCA calls for a quarter squat in the catch [1]; ExRx allows a deeper one [2], so the accept range runs past 60°.

## Tempo

Start 0.4 s, lift to the knee 0.5 s, explosive extension and shrug 0.25 s, pull under and catch 0.3 s, hold 0.3 s, stand 0.6 s, hold overhead 0.4 s, lower to the shoulder 0.7 s, to the thigh 0.6 s, squat to the floor 0.8 s. The app tells users to finish the set, then switch hands.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stance, heel to heel | shoulder width | hip to shoulder width | [1] |
| Toe-out, each foot | 10° | 0–20° | [1] [2] |
| Hip and knee at full extension | 0° | 0–10° | [1] |
| Knee flexion in the catch | 45° | 30–70° | [1] [2] |
| Elbow at the catch and finish | 0° | 0–5° | [1] |
| Arm from vertical overhead, side view | 0° | within 10° | [1] |
| Feet in the catch vs the start | same spot | within 5 cm, flat | [1] [3] |

## Sources

1. [NSCA, One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch (Kinetic Select excerpt from the Exercise Technique Manual for Resistance Training, 3rd ed.)](https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/kinetic-select/one-arm-dumbbell-snatch/)
2. [ExRx, Dumbbell Power Snatch](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/DBSnatch)
3. [Lauder and Lake 2008, J Strength Cond Res, "Biomechanical comparison of unilateral and bilateral power snatch lifts"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18438258/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell-snatch