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Other/Mixed Alternative conditioning for snatches when your hands get torn up

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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grahamshark

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I've been working a lot with kettlebell snatches lately and making great progress but it's tearing my hands up pretty good. I've learned to take things easy when I notice my callouses prematurely tearing but every now and then I'll get a nasty tear that can derail my training for a week or more. What is a good alternative conditioning exercise/program that has a decent carryover to snatches that will allow me to maintain my progress while my hands heal? I've experimented a little with the air dyne bike, rower etc but i'm looking for something that has a carryover to snatches, thoughts?
 
grahamshark said:
I've been working a lot with kettlebell snatches lately and making great progress but it's tearing my hands up pretty good. I've learned to take things easy when I notice my callouses prematurely tearing but every now and then I'll get a nasty tear that can derail my training for a week or more. What is a good alternative conditioning exercise/program that has a decent carryover to snatches that will allow me to maintain my progress while my hands heal? I've experimented a little with the air dyne bike, rower etc but i'm looking for something that has a carryover to snatches, thoughts?
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I've had something very similar happen, eventually they go away for me though and haven't gotten them since. Only in the beginning
 
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grahamshark said:
I've been working a lot with kettlebell snatches lately and making great progress but it's tearing my hands up pretty good. I've learned to take things easy when I notice my callouses prematurely tearing but every now and then I'll get a nasty tear that can derail my training for a week or more. What is a good alternative conditioning exercise/program that has a decent carryover to snatches that will allow me to maintain my progress while my hands heal? I've experimented a little with the air dyne bike, rower etc but i'm looking for something that has a carryover to snatches, thoughts?
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Maybe as a stop-gap temporary solution you could cut the fingers off of some soft cotton gloves and use them until you heal up, it also works the grip a little bit more. That way you can keep working with snatches, you might need to make changes to your form to avoid the problem as technique plays a huge role in hand protection during snatch sessions. Have you had your form checked by an SFG?
 
@grahamshark I’m getting into double cleans (2x24kg) and they really get the heart pumping! Overloading the hip drive, as well as taking the arc, should carry over well when you switch back to snatching one bell.

Heavy two-arm swings are also good on the hands if you keep the fingers “hooked” on the handle away from the calluses at the base of the fingers.
 
Sean M said:
Heavy two-arm swings are also good on the hands if you keep the fingers “hooked” on the handle away from the calluses at the base of the fingers.
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This has helped me as well. Learning to hook the fingers was a game changer for my callouses as well as keeping them filed down. For healing, I would put some bag balm on the tears before bed and sleep with the fingerless cotton gloves on. A day or two of that would soften the skin up and it made a big difference.

Tears are usually a result of the skin getting pinched during the down cast. Rather the the handle "floating" from the palm past the callous line to the fingers, the skin at the base of the fingers gets pinched by the handle. Try the half or health snatch for a little while. From the top of the lock out bring the kettlebell down to the rack and then clean drop and return to the hike. It won't be as hard on your calluses while they heal and it still give you some practice letting the handle glide from the palm to the fingers. Once your callouses are in better shape keep doing the half snatches for the conditioning and weaving in full snatches with the drop using a lighter bell to start and not for continuous reps. Do one at a time.

Here are a couple videos I found helpful:





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Depending on how chewed up your hands are, Circular Cleans are great movement with a lot of conditioning potential - use them with a Front Squat, Reverse Lunge, or Clean or on their own with a heavier bell for more upper body focus.

Medicine ball overhead rotating slams are positively brutal and no grinding on the skin, same goes for sandbag snatches. One arm sandbag shouldering is possibly the best one to one I can think of.

2:56 in this video
 
Ryan T said:
This has helped me as well. Learning to hook the fingers was a game changer for my callouses as well as keeping them filed down. For healing, I would put some bag balm on the tears before bed and sleep with the fingerless cotton gloves on. A day or two of that would soften the skin up and it made a big difference.

Tears are usually a result of the skin getting pinched during the down cast. Rather the the handle "floating" from the palm past the callous line to the fingers, the skin at the base of the fingers gets pinched by the handle. Try the half or health snatch for a little while. From the top of the lock out bring the kettlebell down to the rack and then clean drop and return to the hike. It won't be as hard on your calluses while they heal and it still give you some practice letting the handle glide from the palm to the fingers. Once your callouses are in better shape keep doing the half snatches for the conditioning and weaving in full snatches with the drop using a lighter bell to start and not for continuous reps. Do one at a time.

Here are a couple videos I found helpful:





.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the second video (from top) look a little more girevoy sport than hardstyle?
 
somanaut said:
Doesn't the second video (from top) look a little more girevoy sport than hardstyle?
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hmmm... thanks for the heads up. I may have posted the wrong one; I was going by memory. The one I mean to post actually shows both GS and hardstyle. I'll have to go back and look.

Thanks
 
Thank you for all your replies. I've monitored my grip and it appears I was gripping the bell to much and not letting it glide over my hands. I did the USSS snatch test a few days ago with a 20 kg and hit 252 reps with no problems and today I completed the test with the 24 kg at 210 reps and again no tears in my hands. The first time I completed the USSS snatch test a few months ago I tore my hands up so bad I couldn't train with kettlebells or barbells for week. I've also noticed some of my worst tears occurred when I played around with snatching the 32 kg and I would over grip the bell on the way down because I wasn't confident enough with the weight, so my grip was definitely the culprit.

I will try out some of the alternative exercises you guys posted and let you know how they worked out. thanks again
 
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