FIRST 30 · MOVEMENT LIBRARY
Barbell movements: understand the lift before chasing the load.
Clean, snatch and deadlift are different tasks, not interchangeable names. Their path, receiving position and purpose differ. Use this guide to recognize those differences before your coach demonstrates the workout. You do not need to memorize it: return to the movement you encounter in class.
Before looking up a movement
Three questions to decode a lift
Where does the bar start, where does it finish, and how do you receive it? A clean finishes at the shoulders; a snatch finishes overhead. Hang describes a starting position above the floor. Power describes a receiving squat above parallel. A hang power clean combines two independent instructions.
Power does not mean “pull harder”
Power identifies the receiving position, not permission to add weight. Squat clean and squat snatch explicitly involve a full receiving squat. Muscle snatch is a different variation, not another name for power snatch. If the board simply says clean or snatch, the coaching briefing establishes the intended version.
An empty bar still weighs something
Bars do not all weigh the same. Identify your bar and whether the board uses pounds or kilograms. A 15 kg bar with one 5 kg plate on each side totals 25 kg. This is an arithmetic example, not a loading recommendation. Your coach will select equipment and load for your starting point.
A complex is not automatically a workout round
A complex connects movements, such as a deadlift, hang clean and front squat. The briefing must clarify how often to repeat it and whether you can set the bar down. Do not assume it must be unbroken or choose load solely from your strongest lift.
How to watch the demonstration
First identify the start and finish. Then notice the sequence of legs and arms and the receiving support. Do not copy the demonstrator’s speed or load. The clip is a visual reference; your coach adapts range, equipment and task. Stop a painful variation and tell your coach.
Find your movement
- Deadlift · DL
- Clean
- Power clean
- Hang clean / Hang power clean
- Snatch
- Front squat · FS
- Back squat · BS
- Overhead squat · OHS
- Strict press / Shoulder press
- Push press
- Push jerk / Split jerk
- Thruster
01
Deadlift · DL
A deadlift moves a load from the floor to standing with long arms; it does not finish at the shoulders or overhead.
What to distinguish
Notice the close path and trunk position. Your coach may raise the start or change equipment. Bouncing the bar is not the same task as a controlled repetition.
02
Clean
The bar arrives at the shoulders in a front rack. You move underneath the load rather than curling it with your arms.
What to distinguish
Notice the receiving position, not just bar height. PVC, a training bar or a hang variation may be appropriate starting tasks.
03
Power clean
A clean received in a partial squat above parallel, then completed standing.
What to distinguish
Power does not specify the weight or mean stiff legs. A consistent light receiving position matters more than chasing load.
04
Hang clean / Hang power clean
Hang changes the start to a position above the floor; power adds a partial receiving squat.
What to distinguish
Hang does not always mean exactly above the knee. Identify both the specified start and the receiving position.
05
Snatch
The load travels from the floor to overhead in one continuous lift, usually with a wider grip than the clean.
What to distinguish
Recognize the path and a stable receiving position first. Power and hang also modify this lift; the video is not a heavy-lifting challenge.
06
Front squat · FS
A squat with the bar supported on the front of the shoulders; the rack position distinguishes it from a back squat.
What to distinguish
Your coach can adapt the rack, load or implement while preserving the intended squat task.
07
Back squat · BS
A squat with the bar supported on the upper back. Rack setup and unracking are part of learning the movement.
What to distinguish
Do not transfer another squat’s load automatically. Learn setup and how to finish or stop a set first.
08
Overhead squat · OHS
A squat while supporting the bar overhead, combining a squat with control of the overhead position.
What to distinguish
It is not simply a front squat with raised arms. PVC and an adjusted range may be used; depth does not take priority over control.
09
Strict press / Shoulder press
A shoulder-to-overhead press without deliberate leg drive.
What to distinguish
Compare it with a push press: if you dip and drive with the legs, you have changed the variation.
10
Push press
A short leg dip and drive helps propel the load overhead.
What to distinguish
A jerk adds a second movement under the load. These are not interchangeable names for a fast press.
11
Push jerk / Split jerk
Both use leg drive and a receiving action under the bar. A split jerk receives with the feet split forward and back.
What to distinguish
Learn receiving and foot recovery with your coach. Do not improvise a split to rescue a load you cannot control.
12
Thruster
A front squat flows into an overhead press as you stand.
What to distinguish
It is not a clean: the thruster repetition starts from front support. Load, depth and dumbbell variations require their own coaching cues.
Keep exploring
Videos and scope
Original explanatory copy by RETO. Selected CrossFit demonstrations link to the originals; no videos were downloaded or edited. The official library offers additional clips. These guides organize names for learning and reference; they do not prescribe loads or certify technique. Competition standards should be checked for each event.