No More Shame, Respect the Hang

The “hang”, of course, is in reference to a variation start position for the snatch and clean and jerk. For many novice and intermediate lifters, the hang position can feel remedial. Counter to what it might feel like, I’m here to tell you that the hang snatch isn’t “Snatch Lite” and the hang clean isn’t the “Junior Varsity” version of the clean. 

A commonly referenced and debated topic in strength and conditioning about the difference between training and testing is highly relevant here. Testing (and competition) have rules and are sometimes a sport in and of themselves. Weightlifting, for example, is both the world’s most diversely participated in Olympic sport and its events are classical gym exercises (the snatch and clean & jerk). Training on the other hand is most interested in the effect the training elicits rather than the rules it does or doesn’t abide by. 

Considering that the height the bar sits off the ground with bumper plates on is completely arbitrary rules to the sport of weightlifting. It should be noted that (unless you’re competing in the sport of weightlifting) taking the bar from the hang rather than the floor should never come with any shame by the same rights and logic that not having a giant number on the side of your car, like your favorite Sprint Cup driver does, means you shouldn’t drive. You can and you should drive your car even if your car doesn’t meet the specifications of NASCAR’s standards. 

Think it’s silly? I think the public’s insistence in making poor lifts from the floor unnecessarily is silly. In this case, “holding the standard” isn’t about following the rules to a sport you don’t play. 

What’s more is that athletes of other sports that use weightlifting in their training to improve their performance almost always take their lifts from the hang position. Why? Because the hang position reaps nearly all of the signature benefits of the major lifts without any of the troubling limiting factors from the floor, which is an arbitrary standard to begin with.

If your favorite college and professional athletes embrace the hang, you can, too. Hang on!