EN
Get started

Snatch-Grip Deadlift

A deadlift pulled from a very wide snatch grip, which lowers the start position and loads the upper back hard.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar over your midfoot and take a hip width stance.
  2. Push your hips back and hinge until your torso is close to parallel with the floor.
  3. Take a very wide double overhand grip, with your arms angling outward from the shoulders and your hands out near the collars.
  4. Pull the slack out of the bar and let your hips settle so the armpits sit over the bar.
  5. Drive through the whole foot and extend the knees and hips, keeping the bar against your legs.
  6. Stand tall at lockout, then reverse the hinge to return the bar to the floor.

Key technique cue

Shoulders over the bar, bar against the legs; pull with the hips, don't squat it up.

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the weight up instead of hinging, which puts the shoulders behind the bar.
  • Retracting the shoulder blades hard, which shortens the arms and adds range for no benefit.
  • Taking a grip so wide that the shoulders cannot hold position under load.
  • Letting the bar drift forward off the legs, which turns the lift into a lower back pull.

Benefits

  • Loads the upper back and traps far more than a conventional deadlift.
  • Lengthens the pulling range, so the hamstrings work from a deeper start position.
  • Builds grip strength directly, since the wide hands make holding the bar harder.

Progression: from easier to harder

  1. Step 1
  2. Step 2
  3. Step 3
  4. Step 4 You are here
Full “Deadlift” progression

About the exercise

The snatch-grip deadlift keeps the mechanics of a conventional pull but widens the grip until the hands sit near the collars. That drops the shoulders and hips lower at the start, lengthens the range of motion, and puts a much longer moment arm on the upper back, so the trapezius and the rest of the upper back work far harder to hold position. Hamstrings and glutes still drive hip extension, the lats keep the bar close, and the grip is usually the first thing to fail. The wide grip also makes bar path discipline unforgiving, which is why it is classed as an advanced lift.

Updated

Similar exercises

A week of training and meals built for you

Workoutify plans workouts around your days, time and equipment — and a menu for your goal and macros.

Build my week