Which is best for men like us - “HardStyle” or “Sport” Snatches?

Twenty years ago one of my favorite “Get ‘er Done” workouts was grabbing a 32kg KB and check here doing 10+10 Snatches for 10 sets with 2 minutes rest between sets outside on my deck.

It made me sweat … Gave me a strong pump… And was the perfect warm-up to “Pizza & Movie Night.” LOL.

The Kettlebell Snatch is considered the Tsar (Emperor) of the Kettlebell Lifts.

That’s because it enhances:

[+] Your grip and forearms (buh-bye limp handshakes)

[+] Your upper arms ( sculpts shirt sleeves)

[+] Your shoulders (so they no longer look like a clothes hanger)

[+] Your upper back and lats ( creates that ‘power look’)

[+] Your lower back ( fortifies from injury)

[+] Your hips and hamstrings ( endure long walks)

[+] Your abs/core (without a single crunch)

And when programmed properly it improves your heart health, your VO2Max, and strips off body fat… without spending hours a week on the treadmill or elliptical.

Which brings me to the question I got in an email the other day from Jason, in which he asked -

“My question is especially regarding King Sized Killer. I can elaborate as to the program’s WTF factor, but can you cover what method are you advocating this program be done in? I guess that is to say it’s a matter of personal taste depending on your goals, but maybe your other online clients may benefit from you addressing this topic. I seem to prefer training hardstyle on the lower rep days, and then on the endurance phase my body seems to default to a more “efficient” method of sport-specific style. Thoughts?”

Fantastic question.

Here was my response:

“I always advocate "HardStyle" or "Athletic" - if you know what that is. (Think Oly lifting.) And that's because it requires more effort .

I can see how your body defaults to "efficient" sport style, because that's the purpose of that style - efficiency. Honestly, I think most people ease up on their technique as the reps get higher.

But yes, at the end of the day, it really is a matter of your goals .”

Furthermore -

“Sport” style is built to enable the competitor to complete as many Snatches as possible in 10 minutes.

In order to do so, the style is designed to minimize fatigue - to spare energy, and to be as efficient as possible.

“HardStyle” or “Athletic” style is designed to maximize power output on each rep. They’re not concerned with “energy efficiency.”

Most of us guys need to be concerned with :

[+] Muscle maintenance and Type 2x/2a power muscle growth

[+] Keeping the body fat - especially stomach fat - away

[+] Improving our VO2Max

… And those 3 things are best achieved through the HardStyle / Athletic type Snatch.

As you become more advanced, and if you want to do marathon sets, you may want to learn the Sport style.

But for me, with my experience in an Olympic lifting background, that “Juice” was never worth the struggle.

It’s always just been more effective for me (and my clients and customers) to “EXPLODE!” using the HardStyle / Athletic Snatch.

If you’re new to the kettlebell Snatch, remember the following:

1- Develop your hip and grip strength & conditioning through 1-Hand Swings

2- Improve your shoulder range of motion / stability / flexibility through the TGU and Press

3- Learn how to “Tame the Arc” with the Clean

THEN…

Approach the Snatch.

And for Snatch programming?

Train in the following order:

1- Technique

2- Strength

3- Conditioning

Stay Energized,

Geoff Neupert.