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

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 (CMJ H ), muscle morphology, and weightlifting performance; however, the combined and independent contributions of lower-limb muscle anatomical cross-sectional area (CSA) and CMJ H to snatch 1 repetition maximum (SN1RM) remain unclear. This study examined the relationships between CMJ H , vastus lateralis CSA (VL CSA ), rectus femoris CSA (RF CSA ), 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 VL CSA and RF CSA , CMJ H 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 CMJ H and VL CSA (both: r = 0.753, p < 0.001), as well as with RF CSA ( r = 0.513, p = 0.025). The hierarchical regression model showed that CMJ H alone explained 56.7% of the variance in SN1RM ( F = 22.298, p < 0.001). Adding VL CSA increased the explained variance to 69.2% (Δ R 2 = 0.124, F = 17.936, p = 0.022), whereas RF CSA did not further improve model fit (Δ R 2 = 0.012, F = 0.613, p = 0.449). These findings indicate that CMJ H and VL CSA 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.