When it comes to Olympic lifting, it’s about more than just the time you spend under the bar performing snatches and clean and jerks. You can hone the strength, stability, and technique required for these lifts through various olympic lift alternatives that don’t involve actual Olympic lifts. Integrating these supplementary movements into your routine can be a game-changer to improve your performance on the platform.
In this guide, we’ll dive into several essential olympic lift alternatives for building the strength and confidence needed to excel in Olympic lifts. You won’t see typical strength movements such as pulls and squats included in this list—we’ll save those for another time.
Instead, you’ll focus on mastering the movements that target specific aspects of your lift, such as stability, positional awareness, mobility, and explosive power. Understanding and incorporating these exercises into your training regimen can enhance your lifting technique, prevent injuries, and ultimately lift heavier weights more efficiently. Let’s explore some of the best olympic lift alternatives to elevate your lifting game without performing it themselves.
Snatch Alternatives
Snatch alternatives will improve overhead strength and stability, mobility in your catch position, and clean up the timing and aggression of your snatch turnover.
Overhead Squat
The Advantage: Mastering the overhead squat is essential for successfully performing a snatch. The overhead squat lays the groundwork for developing the necessary overhead strength in the snatch grip position. It enhances mobility and stability in the bottom position, and overall, it is the most effective way to build the confidence required to hold heavy weights overhead.
How it’s Done:
- Position a barbell at shoulder height on a squat rack or blocks.
- Step under the bar, placing it on your traps like a back squat
- Grip the bar with your snatch grip
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
- Press or push press the bar overhead.
- Begin the movement by pushing your hips back and bending your knees, descending into a squat. Keep your chest up and core tight.
- Focus on constantly keeping your arms straight, pushing up into the bar, and maintaining full foot pressure.
- Push through your whole foot to return to a standing position. Keep the barbell steady overhead.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 6 sets of 3 to 5 reps
Snatch Grip Push Press
The Advantage: Like the overhead squat, the snatch grip push press is crucial for developing overhead strength, stability, and confidence. One of the standout features of this snatch alternative is the necessity for an aggressive punch-to-lockout after completing your leg drive. This aggressive punch instills the intent of a quick and strong lockout, which is essential for improving your snatch numbers. By focusing on this explosive lockout, you can better prepare your body for the demands of the snatch, enhancing your overall lifting performance.
How it’s Done:
- Position a barbell at shoulder height on a squat rack or blocks.
- Step under the bar, placing it on your traps like a back squat
- Grip the bar with your snatch grip
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
- Initiate your dip by slightly bending at your knees, tracking over your toes, and maintaining a vertical torso.
- Push your legs through the floor to drive the bar up.
- Punch your arms through the bar as your legs straighten.
- Hold for a moment at lockout, then lower the bar with control.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 8 reps.
Muscle Snatch
The Advantage: The muscle snatch refines positions, timing, and acceleration. Starting from the floor or a hang position, it hones your awareness of the snatch’s positional requirements and bar path. Key to the muscle snatch is the precise timing of the second pull (knees to full extension) and the third pull (arm action). This movement demands a fluid finish, combining a solid leg drive with patient arms that use leg momentum to pull the bar high and close to your body (cue: zip your jacket), ensuring balance and acceleration. Train with light weights to perfect positions, timing, and acceleration for improved snatch performance.
How it’s Done:
- Set your snatch starting position.
- Push with your legs against the floor through the whole foot, like a squat.
- Aim to maintain the same back angle until the bar is above your knees.
- Continue aggressively pushing against the floor with your legs as the bar moves through your hips.
- Extend your hips, keeping the bar as close to your body as possible and making complete contact at your hip crease.
- Push your entire body vertically rather than leaning back.
- Keep pushing into the floor.
- Pull your elbows up and out to maintain bar speed, shrugging up and back.
- Punch straight up into the bar and push your head through your arms.
- Reset and repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 4 sets of 2 to 3 reps.
Clean Alternatives
The focus here will be refining your clean turnover with precision and aggression and cleaning up your catch position in the clean.
Tall Clean
The Advantage: Tall cleans are exceptional for helping you achieve and feel vertical extension required at the finish of your clean. Moreover, tall cleans are instrumental in teaching proper mechanics for pulling under the bar, emphasizing speed, aggressiveness, and precision during the clean turnover. Focus on feeling your elbows punch through as your feet contact the floor in the catch position.
How it’s Done:
- Grip the bar with your clean grip, slightly wider than shoulder width.
- Balance your feet, brace your core, and squeeze your legs.
- Rise to the balls of your feet and pause slightly, maintaining your balance.
- Pull your elbows up and out to initiate your pull under the bar.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades to bring the bar into your front rack position.
- Plant your feet firmly to the floor and descend into your squat in one fluid motion.
- Stand up out of the squat, pushing with your legs.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Muscle Clean
The Advantage: The muscle clean serves dual purposes in your weightlifting program. At lighter weights, it teaches and reinforces correct upper body mechanics for perfecting your clean turnover, ensuring a smooth transition into the front rack position without the bar crashing down. Once you’ve mastered the muscle clean from various hang and floor positions, increasing the weight on the barbell helps strengthen the turnover of your clean, enhancing your overall performance.
Coach’s Tip: If you’re new to the muscle clean, start with a tall muscle clean (arms only from a standing position) variation to refine your turnover mechanics.
How it’s Done:
- Set your clean starting position.
- Push with your legs against the floor through the whole foot, like a squat.
- Aim to maintain the same back angle until the bar is above your knees.
- Continue aggressively pushing against the floor with your legs as the bar moves through your hips.
- Extend your hips, keeping the bar as close to your body as possible making full contact at your upper thigh.
- Push your entire body vertically rather than leaning back.
- Keep pushing into the floor.
- Pull your elbows up and out to maintain bar speed, shrugging up and back.
- Bring your elbows around aggressively as you squeeze your shoulder blades.
- Reset and repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 6 sets of 3 to 5 reps.
Power Clean to Front Squat
The Advantage: The power clean to front squat dials in your receiving position for the clean. You must have the correct timing, positions, and reinforcement to receive the bar in proper positions with a strong stance. Once you receive the bar in an ideal power clean position, higher than knee height, with your feet in your squat stance, you’ll pause, then immediately descend into a squat. This exercise is for you if you tend to catch your power cleans with a wide foot position!
How it’s Done:
- Set your clean starting position.
- Push with your legs against the floor through the whole foot, like a squat.
- Aim to maintain the same back angle until the bar is above your knees.
- Continue aggressively pushing against the floor with your legs as the bar moves through your hips.
- Extend your hips, keeping the bar as close to your body as possible making full contact at your upper thigh.
- Pull your elbows up and out, squeezing your shoulder blades as you pull under the bar.
- Receive the bar in a power clean position.
- Pause for one to two seconds, staying tight in the catch.
- Descend into a front squat and recover.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 6 sets of 2 to 3 reps.
Jerk Alternatives
These three jerk alternatives will improve overhead strength, the timing and technique of your jerk dip and drive, and reinforce your split jerk positions and overhead stability.
Push Press
The Advantage: I frequently remind my athletes that the push press is a fantastic exercise for honing the dip and drive of the jerk. Incorporating the push press into your routine can refine your jerk technique and enhance power output by using lighter loads moved at higher velocities. Additionally, combining push presses with jerks in a complex can significantly improve carryover, making your training more effective.
How it’s Done:
- Position a barbell at shoulder height in a squat rack or off jerk blocks.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, core tight, and back flat.
- Grip the barbell with your jerk front rack position.
- Dip slightly with the knees pointed slightly out.
- Drive with the legs out of the dip and PUSH the barbell overhead.
- Punch aggressively into the bar and get your head through your arms.
- Once locked out, slowly lower the weight back to the start position.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Programming: 3 to 6 sets of 3 to 5 reps.
Press in Split Jerk
The Advantage: The press in split jerk simplifies your jerk technique, bringing it back to basics. This exercise involves working from a static jerk position, ensuring you start with an optimal split stance before adding the press. It helps you master proper split positions and balance, refining your catch position. When performed from the front rack, it teaches the correct bar path, moving the barbell from the front rack to the ideal receiving position slightly behind your head. I recommend starting from a behind-the-neck position if you’re new to this movement. This way, the bar begins in the correct position, requiring you to press straight up, simplifying the movement.
How it’s Done:
- Position a barbell in your jerk front rack position, gripping it slightly outside shoulder width.
- Get into the ideal split position: ensure your front shin is vertical, your back knee is slightly behind your hips, your weight is on the ball of your rear foot, and your split stance is balanced and diagonal.
- Relax your back knee, tighten your core, and press the barbell into the overhead position.
- Pause at lockout for 2 to 3 seconds, then return to the start position.
- Keep your feet stationary throughout the set.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 4 reps of 3 to 5 reps.
Tall Split Jerk
The Advantage: The tall jerk helps establish the aggressive intent of punching under the bar and the timing of your feet in the split jerk. It removes any upward momentum you receive from your legs in the traditional split jerk, causing you to rely on a forceful punch under the bar as you move your feet into the ideal split position.
How it’s Done:
- Position the bar in your jerk front rack position.
- Balance your feet, brace your core, and squeeze your legs.
- Rise to the balls of your feet and pause slightly, maintaining your balance.
- Punch under the bar aggressively while moving your feet into your split jerk stance.
- Stabilize the bar overhead and ensure balance in your catch position.
- Recover with your front foot first, and bring your back leg under your hips.
- Pause, then reset.
- Repeat for the desired sets and reps.
Programming: 3 to 5 sets of 3 reps.