The clean and the snatch are both powerful and explosive lifts when done correctly and the speed and power translates into many sports.

The other night, I did hang power cleans and did not do very well as I was lacking in both speed and power. I wasn’t sure how “athletic” my snatches would be tonight. If to snatch, as the dictionary defines it, “a sudden motion to seize something; grab” or merely just a slow”grope”!

I started off with 3 rounds of Burgener’s famous warm-up and started light (and stayed light) with Drop Snatches. My goal tonight was to “explode” the lift and do it as quickly as possible. So, for the drop snatches I dropped 45/45/55/65/75/85/90, 3 reps each.

Those went well, so it was time to move on to Hang Squat Snatches. It was quiet at the gym and so it was was easy to concentrate on good lifts. (I could use some coaching, though).

45/55/60/65/70/75/85/90. Each set was 3 reps. 

They went up ok, not heavy and not pretty either, but it was fun to practice both these fine lifts. 

A number of people at my gym have been buying kettlebells lately and have asked me how to do some basic movements to get started. I suggest buying some training from an RKC instructor like Steve Belanger, as I did or get some video training or buy Pavel’s “Enter the Kettlebell” book and/or dvd.
The starting point should be the two-handed swing, seen here.

 
Once you get good at that, here are some other things you can add to your kettlebell routines.