In a weightlifting competition, the bar is on the floor and, in the blink of an eye, it's overhead. It looks like brute strength. It's not just that.
The whole of weightlifting comes down to two movements, the snatch and the clean and jerk. Each has well-defined phases, its own rules and mistakes that almost every beginner makes. Understanding what happens in each phase gets you halfway to learning them well, and to seeing why so many coaches use them even with people who will never compete.
In this article we explain both, step by step, how they are judged in a race and how to learn them safely.
What weightlifting is, in two lines
It's an Olympic sport, part of the Games since 1896, where the aim is to lift the heaviest possible load from the floor to overhead with valid technique. There are only two lifts in competition:
- the snatch, where the bar goes from the floor to overhead in a single movement;
- the clean and jerk, in which the bar goes first from the floor to the shoulders and only then from the shoulders to overhead.
In Brazil the snatch is called “arranco” and the clean and jerk “arremesso”. In English they're the snatch and the clean and jerk, the names you'll hear in a CrossFit class. If you want a more general introduction to the sport, we have a guide to weightlifting for beginners.
Snatch and clean and jerk side by side
| Snatch | Clean and jerk | |
|---|---|---|
| English name | Snatch | Clean and jerk |
| Bar path | From the floor to overhead, in one go | From the floor to the shoulders, and from the shoulders to overhead |
| Grab the bar | Wide, close to the plates | Narrower, shoulder-width |
| Reception | Squat with the bar overhead | Front squat, then the split or the squat under the bar |
| Load | Lighter | Heavier, usually a lot heavier |
| What it demands most | Speed, mobility and precision | Leg and trunk strength, and leg power in the jerk |
The snatch, phase by phase
The snatch is the faster and more technical of the two. The wide grip shortens the distance the bar has to travel, but it demands a tough finishing position: the bar overhead, arms locked out, and the body in a deep squat underneath it.
1. Starting position
Feet hip-width apart, bar against your shins, over the middle of your foot. Back straight, chest open, shoulders slightly in front of the bar, arms straight and relaxed. Your hands grip the bar wide apart, in a wide grip.
2. First pull
The bar leaves the floor through leg drive, slow and controlled. The back angle stays almost the same until the bar passes the knees. Anyone who pulls with their arms or lifts their hips first loses position here, and never gets it back.
3. Transition
Once past the knees, the bar keeps rising close to the thighs and the knees move slightly forward under it again. It's the phase you see least and train most: it puts the body in the strongest position for the explosion that follows.
4. Second pull
The fast, full extension of the ankles, knees and hips, all at once. The bar gets most of its speed at this instant. The arms stay relaxed; they are there to guide, not to pull.
5. Getting under the bar
Here's the secret of the snatch: instead of trying to get the bar all the way up, the athlete pulls themselves down under it. The elbows turn over, the feet move into the squat position and the body drops fast.
6. Catch and recovery
The bar is overhead, arms locked, at the moment the body reaches the squat. From there, the athlete stands up with the bar under control and stays still, standing, until given the signal to put it down.
The clean and jerk, phase by phase
The clean and jerk lets you lift more weight because the path is split in two: first the bar goes from the floor to your shoulders, and only then from your shoulders to overhead. In between, the athlete can breathe and reset.
First part: from the floor to the shoulders
The sequence is very similar to the snatch: starting position, first pull, transition and second pull. The grip is narrower, though, at shoulder width.
After the extension, the athlete drops under the bar and catches it on the shoulders, resting in front of the neck, with the elbows high and pointing forwards. The body goes down into a front squat and then stands up. With low elbows the bar rolls forwards, which is one of the most common causes of a missed attempt.
Second part: from the shoulders to overhead
With the bar on your shoulders and your legs straight:
- Short dip. The knees bend a few centimetres, with the torso upright and the weight on the heels.
- Drive. The legs extend powerfully and send the bar upwards. The power comes from the legs, not the arms.
- Getting under it. The athlete moves their feet apart, almost always into a split (one foot forward and one back), and locks their arms out under the bar.
- Recovery. Bring your feet together, front foot first and then the back one, and stand still with the bar overhead.
The jerk is where many people miss a weight that went up nicely to the shoulders. It's not a lack of arm strength: it's almost always a dip that's too deep, or the torso tipping forward on the drive.
How a weightlifting competition is judged
The rules are easy to follow for anyone watching:
- Three attempts at each movement. First come the three snatch attempts, then the three clean and jerk attempts.
- The Olympic total is the sum of the best snatch and the best clean and jerk. It decides the ranking. Anyone who fails all three attempts at one of the lifts ends up with no total.
- One minute to start the attempt after being called.
- Three judges. White light for a good lift, red for a no lift. Two whites are enough for the attempt to count.
- The bar weighs 20 kg for men and 15 kg for women.
- Bodyweight categories. Since June 2025, the International Federation has used eight categories per gender for seniors and juniors: 60, 65, 71, 79, 88, 94, 110 and over 110 kg for men, and 48, 53, 58, 63, 69, 77, 86 and over 86 kg for women.
An attempt is invalid, for example, if the athlete touches the floor with their knees, bends their elbows to finish pressing the bar, or puts it down before the referee's signal.
On the weightlifting page there's a simulator where you enter your best snatch and your best clean and jerk and see what level your total is at.
The most common mistakes when you're learning
They come up in almost everyone:
- Pulling with the arms too early. Bent arms in the first pull steal speed from the leg drive.
- Letting the bar drift away from the body. A bar that drifts away from the thighs falls forward, and the athlete goes after it.
- Incomplete extension. Dropping under the bar before you've finished extending your hips and knees leaves half your power unused.
- Being afraid to drop. In the snatch, anyone who stops halfway instead of dropping into the squat ends up pushing the bar with their arms.
- Receiving with low elbows in the clean of the clean and jerk, and losing the bar forwards.
- Not enough mobility. Stiff ankles, hips, thoracic spine and shoulders stop you from reaching the receiving positions. We covered this in the article on joint mobility and range of motion.
How to learn them safely
Nobody starts with the full movement under load. The usual route is step by step, with a light bar or even a wooden stick:
- Positions first. The overhead squat, the front squat and the split position, each one on its own.
- From the top down. The movement is learned from the thighs or knee height (the so-called “hang” variations) before starting from the floor.
- “Power” versions. In the power snatch and the power clean you catch the bar higher, without a full squat. They teach speed before depth.
- Pulls and squats. The strength exercises that support the lifts, and that drive the load up over the months.
- Add load only when your technique can handle it. If your technique changes as the weight goes up, the weight is still too heavy.
Having someone watching from the outside makes all the difference. Most of these mistakes aren't felt, they're seen, and a coach corrects in one rep what could take you months on your own. We explain what this brings outside the gym, in strength, mobility and posture, in the article on the benefits of weightlifting.
Snatch and clean and jerk in CrossFit
Both lifts come up often in CrossFit classes, frequently in their “power” or “hang” versions. Understanding the technique improves all your training and lets you move heavier loads with less risk. See how they fit into a class in our article on CrossFit exercises.
Frequently asked questions
Which is harder, the snatch or the clean and jerk?
Technically, the snatch. The load is lighter, but the final position demands more mobility and more precision. The clean and jerk demands more strength, especially in the legs.
Do I need experience to start?
No. You start without any load, working on the positions, and you progress at your own pace.
Do I have to compete?
No. Most people who do weightlifting don't compete. They train for the technique, the strength and the challenge of seeing their total go up. Anyone who wants to compete can prepare for the Portuguese Weightlifting Federation events.
Learn the snatch and clean and jerk at Revolution
At Revolution, in Buarcos, weightlifting is part of the general class timetable: any plan gives you access to the sessions on the schedule, at no extra cost. The coaches guide each person from the basic positions up to the loads that make sense for them, and the same plan also gives you access to the CrossFit classes. Discover the weightlifting classes in Figueira da Foz and what each level works on.
Your first class is free and requires no experience at all. We have classes all day, from 06:30 to 21:00: see the timetable, check the plans on prices, with no small print, and book your class on contacts.
Bring comfortable clothes and gym trainers. The bar, the plates and the technique are on us.
Grace and Isabel are two CrossFit benchmarks done using only the clean and jerk and the snatch. We explain what each benchmark WOD demands and how the load is scaled.
