Block Snatches/Cleans in Injury Rehab

Experiencing pain during the Snatch or Clean from the floor? Multiple body regions and factors could be contributing to the issue. Sometimes, simplifying the lift by reducing the range of motion to specific positions through the pull, in order to target where errors and pain arise while re-incorporating tension and loading principles, can be an effective strategy for helping an athlete return to pain-free lifting.

What is a Block Snatch/Clean?

The “Block” Snatch and Clean are variations of the lifts that start on the blocks instead of the floor. The height of the bar can be controlled by changing the height of the blocks (i.e. starting the bar at knee-height, hip-height, or just a few inches from the floor below the knees). The lift from the blocks can be performed as just Pulls, Power Snatches/Cleans, or Full (squat) Snatches & Cleans. 

Typically, these lifts are done with lighter weights and focus on developing speed, power, and technique. They are often included in the early weeks of a macrocycle to help athletes fine-tune their sequencing and technical cues. As the macrocycle advances, the Snatch and Clean are performed with greater specificity, targeting the full lifts from the floor.

Implementing Block Snatches and Cleans in standard programming serves several purposes, including:

1.  Timing: Enhances coordination of hip and knee extension before pulling under the bar, improving performance across various ranges of motion.
2.  Speed and Force Development: Focuses on increasing speed and force production in the lower extremities during the extension phase of the lift.
3.  Motor Control: Targets specific motor control aspects, such as engaging the lats and shoulders when the bar is at knee height, maintaining balance through the midfoot before initiating hip, knee, and ankle extension, and much more!

Using blocks is a common and effective method to enhance an athlete's power and technical skills, particularly in the early stages of a cycle. This approach helps athletes apply motor skills to more complex movements as they advance.

With this in mind… what purpose can they serve in REHAB?! 

Sometimes, the lines between what is TRAINING and what is REHAB can be blurred…. In a good way! An exercise is rarely ”only” a training or rehab exercise, because what matters is how it’s programmed. A given exercise that may normally be used in training (the Snatch, for example), can be morphed into a rehab exercise by altering certain variables that change the outcome/training goal of the movement. We can manipulate how it’s dosed (volume, load), how it’s trained (ranges of motion, what cues are implemented) and what variations are used (snatch pull vs power snatch vs snatch, etc), to give it rehabilitative purposes. This will always be based on the needs of the patient, tissue loading capacities, and so many other contextual factors. (Check out my blog post: How Do We Define a Training vs a Rehab Exercise?)

The BLOCKS can be used as a way of managing these variables with rehab intentions!! 

1.  Managing Pain — if an athlete has pain with performing a lift from the floor (due to knee pain, low back pain, etc), we can temporarily reduce the range of motion within which they perform the lift. We can have them work for 4-6 weeks by pulling the bar from a reduced range, such as from knee-height, so we can temporarily offload the stress to those areas, maintain their training stimulus, and keep them practicing the lift as specific to the FULL lift variation as possible. Additionally, this athlete should be implementing other accessory exercises to strengthen their knees/ low back/ etc, (depending on what’s relevant to their condition), to develop load tolerance and gradually restore lifting from full ranges. 
2.  Train Timing & Sequencing Errors that are a Direct Cause of Pain — If an athlete struggles with controlling the lift from the floor and exhibits movement faults that contribute to pain, it's advisable to reduce the range of motion to a manageable level where they can focus on correcting these errors. For instance, if an athlete experiences knee pain when pulling from the floor and displays knee hyperextension past their knee (usually as an attempt to offload quad use/ anterior knee load during this phase), they are likely exacerbating their pain + impairing their technique. This could contribute to difficulty achieving successful lifts as well. Let’s limit the range of motion to a height where the athlete can maintain control of their knee flexion, maintenance of quad tension, then transition to full hip and knee extension from the power position. We can gradually increase the range of motion they work in, as they improve.
3.  Modify Load & Volume — because these lifts from the blocks are often trained at lower intensities, and lower repetitions for higher quality, we can capitalize on this while an athlete recovers to gradually wean them back into training. They can focus on quality of the lifts by reducing how many reps they do, training at lower weight to build tolerance, all while prioritizing specific motor cues at certain positions through the lift. 
4.  Train the Set-Up, and Load Positions — Sometimes, simply re-training an athlete's setup position and helping them gain confidence lifting the bar from the floor can be a significant breakthrough in their return to barbell training. Developing the ability to create tension through the shoulders, lats, legs, and arms, while also managing breathing and bracing, is crucial for establishing a solid foundation for the entire lift. This can be practiced at various heights of the lift to enhance motor control through different phases and build the athlete’s confidence at each stage. Additionally, training a lift-off in these phases can help build control and load tolerance in POSITIONS of the lift. For example, setting the blocks where the bar is right below knee-height, then learning to brace and build tension in this position, followed by lifting it 2” from this height past the knees, can be essential to re-develop control through the transition from the 1st and 2nd pull of the lift. Depending on where the pain problem is, this can be a useful tool to revisit the control factors of a lift when re-integrating an athlete to it.
5. Rebuild Tolerance to Speed — when managing an athlete’s recovery from injury, I often have them build strength under load in certain POSITIONS of a lift (i.e. overhead holds, lift-off from the ground, etc). I then work with them on timing & sequencing through these positions, before training them with speed and power development. Well, since the blocks are an excellent way to train power and force production from into the 2nd pull and through the transition to the receiving position, this can be used with rehabilitative purpose to wean an athlete back into normalcy with the lift. 

Overall, BLOCK work is an effective training tool, and can also have uses for injury rehab too! It’s all about the WHY behind our purpose, and the HOW behind our programming, to give it a rehabilitative effect! :)

Ready to learn more? Have specific pain problems that are limiting your performance goals? Czarbell is here to help. Reach out at [email protected], or schedule an appointment with me through the main page of this website, to learn more!