After my most recent push session, I took a 20kg/44lb kettlebell out on the back patio and did a 10 minute AMRAP complex.
Here's the complex:
1 half snatch + 1 clean & jerk left
Hand to hand swing to switch sides
1 half snatch + 1 clean & jerk right
Repeat for 3-5 sets per side per round.
I ended up doing 15 reps per lift per side, so 60 total reps.
I'm thankful I kept these light because my triceps and shoulders were about shot by this point in the workout. Gravity seemed to be working against me with a vengeance.
I like both snatches and half snatches, but, contrary to popular kettlebell community opinion – I think half snatches are the overall better option.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't do both.
But, I want to touch on the 2 reasons that I think make half snatches a better overall exercise than full snatches.
Reason 1:
Half snatches are easier to learn and perform than full snatches. It's recommended to learn the half snatch before progressing to full snatches. This makes half snatches more accessible to more people.
Reason 2:
While both snatch variations train many fitness qualities to a high degree, half snatches have the edge in the hypertrophy department.
In a full snatch, you drop the bell from overhead straight down between the legs using an overspeed eccentric. This is great for many things, but not great for hypertrophy.
The best hypertrophy exercises have an element of slow, grinding lifting that requires high tension. In the half snatch, you get that slow, grinding, high tension during the eccentric phase of the exercise.
In a half snatch you pull the kettlebell explosively over your head. This first half of the lift is ballistic. But, once the weight is overhead you switch gears from ballistic to grind, and slowly – under high tension – resist the bell down into the front rack position, overloading the shoulders and triceps during the process.
Focused eccentric grinds are a good way to stimulate hypertrophy. Since hypertrophy is both beneficial AND cool, this gives the half snatch the overall advantage over full snatches, in my opinion.
Plus, combining ballistics + grinds into 1 exercise is kind of the cats pajamas in kettlebell training. Clean & press has elements of ballistic + grind and it's an incredible exercise for strength, muscle, and conditioning. The same is true for clean & squat, clean & lunge, and many other popular exercises.
When training with kettlebells, it's nice to take advantage of this unique ability to do both grinds and ballistics. When you can do both in a single exercise – dreams really do come true.
I won't touch on clean & jerk too much today, but it's a really fun ballistic exercise, as well, and a great conditioning movement. Anyone that's ever clean & jerked barbells, dumbbells, or kettlebells understands there is something exciting and primitive about the exercise. For my purposes in this finisher complex, it was a good way to put the finishing touches on a good push session and sneak in a little extra overhead volume.
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