What you'll gain

Builds explosive total-body power from floor to overhead.
Trains hip extension speed that carries over to sprints and jumps.
Develops overhead stability and quick under-the-bar mechanics.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1
Stand with feet hip-width apart and the bar over mid-foot, gripping the bar wide with a flat back.
2
Pull the slack out of the bar, brace your core, and take a deep breath into your belly.
3
Drive the legs into the floor and accelerate the bar up the body as the hips extend explosively.
4
Pull yourself under the bar quickly and catch it overhead with arms locked out and elbows tight.
5
Stop the catch in a quarter-squat position with the bar stable directly over the middle of the foot.
6
Stand fully tall, then lower the bar back to the hips and down to the floor under control.

Common Mistakes

Pulling with the arms early instead of driving the legs and hips first, which kills bar speed.
Catching the bar with bent or soft elbows, which collapses the lockout and risks shoulder strain.
Letting the bar swing away from the body, which forces the lower back to recover the lift.
Catching too low into a full squat, which turns the power snatch into a regular snatch.

About This Exercise

The barbell power snatch pulls the bar from the floor to overhead in one explosive motion, caught with the bar locked out and the lifter only in a partial squat. It trains the same back, glute, and hamstring power as the full snatch but skips the deep overhead catch, making it more accessible and a popular tool for athletes building speed and pulling power. For athletic performance and hybrid training apps, this is a key clip in any power-development library. Ship it as part of an Olympic-lifting progression — between the muscle snatch and the full snatch — and use it as a hero asset for sprint, jump, and combat-sport prep content where bar-speed matters more than top-end load.

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