Snatch & Clean Pulls - Keep the Bar Close
In any pull variation, you need to actively keep the bar as close to your body as possible the entire way up.
Pulls don’t just build strength and power—they build habits for the snatch and clean.
One of those habits is the proper transition of leg to arm action—using the arms at the right time to actively pull under the bar while keeping it close.
If you continually practice pulls letting the bar flop around haphazardly and move away from your body, guess what you’re teaching yourself to do when you snatch and clean?
This is especially important with high-pulls—lift the elbows and let the bar follow them against your body. Don’t try to lift the bar—lift your body and make the bar follow it.
If you’ve got a big belly or chest, is this a bit harder than it is for someone who’s borderline two-dimensional? Sure. Will you occasionally hit those things with the bar and will it be uncomfortable? Sure. What a great reason to keep working on your control and precision.
Never lock your elbows in the pull—that will cause the bar to swing away. Learn to keep your arms straight by NOT bending them. This will let you benefit from less arm tension AND the ability to instantly transition to an active pull under with the arms keeping the bar close.
And yes, like you, I’ve seen certain elite lifters doing high-pulls in which they are very clearly intentionally letting the bar move away from the body with weird limp arms. I shouldn’t have to say it after this video, but I will anyway: I think that’s a bad idea. There is absolutely no benefit to doing that with regard to pulling mechanics, power, speed, balance, whatever—but there are plenty of drawbacks to it.
If you think that helps you feel the bar “floating” upward due to the hip and leg acceleration on it, remember that you can experience that exact same phenomenon while actively guiding the bar against your body with the arms… which will then transfer beneficially to the lifts rather than detract from them.
Pulls don’t just build strength and power—they build habits for the snatch and clean.
One of those habits is the proper transition of leg to arm action—using the arms at the right time to actively pull under the bar while keeping it close.
If you continually practice pulls letting the bar flop around haphazardly and move away from your body, guess what you’re teaching yourself to do when you snatch and clean?
This is especially important with high-pulls—lift the elbows and let the bar follow them against your body. Don’t try to lift the bar—lift your body and make the bar follow it.
If you’ve got a big belly or chest, is this a bit harder than it is for someone who’s borderline two-dimensional? Sure. Will you occasionally hit those things with the bar and will it be uncomfortable? Sure. What a great reason to keep working on your control and precision.
Never lock your elbows in the pull—that will cause the bar to swing away. Learn to keep your arms straight by NOT bending them. This will let you benefit from less arm tension AND the ability to instantly transition to an active pull under with the arms keeping the bar close.
And yes, like you, I’ve seen certain elite lifters doing high-pulls in which they are very clearly intentionally letting the bar move away from the body with weird limp arms. I shouldn’t have to say it after this video, but I will anyway: I think that’s a bad idea. There is absolutely no benefit to doing that with regard to pulling mechanics, power, speed, balance, whatever—but there are plenty of drawbacks to it.
If you think that helps you feel the bar “floating” upward due to the hip and leg acceleration on it, remember that you can experience that exact same phenomenon while actively guiding the bar against your body with the arms… which will then transfer beneficially to the lifts rather than detract from them.
