Explaining Snatch Performance: Insights From Countermovement Jump Performance and Quadriceps Muscle Size

ABSTRACT: Neves, PS, Valcanover, MB, Maders, GL, Rigo, MEC, Alves, AES, Cintra, JM, Cabreira, G, Ferretto, D, Cattelan, MA, Leite-Nunes, TD, Laporta, LI, and Pedrosa, GF. Explaining snatch performance: Insights from countermovement jump performance and quadriceps muscle size. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2026-Previous studies have shown associations between countermovement jump height (CMJH), muscle morphology, and weightlifting performance; however, the combined and independent contributions of lower-limb muscle anatomical cross-sectional area (CSA) and CMJH to snatch 1 repetition maximum (SN1RM) remain unclear. This study examined the relationships between CMJH, vastus lateralis CSA (VLCSA), rectus femoris CSA (RFCSA), and SN1RM in weightlifters. Nineteen trained weightlifters (9 men and 10 women; age: 28.1 ± 3.6 years; body mass: 78.6 ± 13.5 kg; training experience: 3.9 ± 1.8 years) underwent ultrasound assessments of VLCSA and RFCSA, CMJH testing using the MyJump 2 app, and SN1RM testing. Associations were analyzed using Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple linear regression. SN1RM was significantly correlated with CMJH and VLCSA (both: r = 0.753, p < 0.001), as well as with RFCSA (r = 0.513, p = 0.025). The hierarchical regression model showed that CMJH alone explained 56.7% of the variance in SN1RM (F = 22.298, p < 0.001). Adding VLCSA increased the explained variance to 69.2% (ΔR2 = 0.124, F = 17.936, p = 0.022), whereas RFCSA did not further improve model fit (ΔR2 = 0.012, F = 0.613, p = 0.449). These findings indicate that CMJH and VLCSA are complementary predictors of snatch performance, jointly explaining nearly 70% of the variance. Monitoring jump performance and vastus lateralis muscle size may therefore provide practical insights for training and performance optimization in Olympic weightlifters.