Snatch-Grip High Pull
Wide-grip barbell pull that finishes with an aggressive shrug and the elbows driven high and outside.
How to do it
- Take a wide snatch grip on the bar and set your feet at shoulder width with the toes turned out slightly.
- Stand tall, brace your trunk and pull your shoulders back so the lats hold the bar close.
- Dip into the power position by pushing the hips back and letting the bar slide down the thighs.
- Drive through the whole foot and extend the knees and hips explosively.
- Shrug the traps hard, then keep pulling so the elbows rise high and outside the bar.
- Let the bar settle back down the thighs under control and reset for the next rep.
Key technique cue
Extend legs and hips first, then pull the elbows high and out.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Using a clean-width grip, which changes the bar path and the muscle emphasis the lift is named for.
- ✕ Bending the elbows before full extension, which cuts the hip drive and lowers the pull height.
- ✕ Letting the bar swing away from the body, which turns the pull into an upright row.
- ✕ Loading past the point where the elbows can finish high, which defeats the purpose of the variant.
Benefits
- ✓ Trains the transition from leg and hip extension into the arm pull.
- ✓ Builds trap and upper back strength with heavy pulling loads.
- ✓ Reinforces a close bar path without needing to catch the lift.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Snatch-Grip High Pull
About the exercise
The snatch-grip high pull is a snatch pull with a continued arm pull on the end. You set a wide snatch grip, extend the hips and knees explosively from the power position, shrug hard, then keep pulling so the elbows travel high and outside while the bar stays against the body. It exists to train the timing between the lower-body extension and the arm pull, and it is loaded at roughly seventy to ninety percent of the best snatch so elbow height is not compromised. The traps take the target load, with the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, shoulders and upper back supporting.
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