clean & jerk vs snatch

[twitch_88]

Recently I've been using olympic lifts to build strength for my muay thai. My clean and jerk form is fine but my snatching is not particularly amazing and I cant really lift as much weight as I think I should be able to. Because of this snatching tends to get forgotten about to save myself embarresement from looking like a tit while doing it and also so I don't injure myself. What I was hoping to find out is if the clean and jerk works all the muscles that snatching does, or if it really would benefit me to be performing snatches aswell. If it does then great, if not then I'll need to work on my technique so that I can snatch effectively.

[SickDevildog]

Snatches with the barbell feel awkward for me too, the way I fixed it was to do DB snatches.

I think it's normal to have a heavier clean and press/jerk than a snatch.

Not sure about the muscles worked, sorry.

[Cuchulain82]

Cleans and jerks/presses work similar muscles, but you should try to do both. The snatch is a different lift, and it enables you to do other things- ie: snatch into overhead squat, one-handed snatch into turkish getup, etc.

To get better, start by going light. Try snatching with just the bar, then with 10 lbs on each side, etc. Snatching is very technical. As was said, you can try dumbbells, or kettlebells if you have them.

FYI- I can onehanded snatch a bar that weighs 65 or 70 lbs, but I can't to that much with two hands. Why? Because of flexibility and ROM; if that is an issue for you too, seriously consider stretching with the specific intent to get good a snatches.