Weightlifting at the Olympics will present you with many challenges. The clean & jerk is made up of two distinct movements. The jerk is a very difficult part of weightlifting where you have to lift the barbell up off your collarbones and out to your arms' full length.
Although the clean and jerk are performed together on the platform, your jerk can have a mind of its own. The jerk is a weightlifting move that has three main styles that are accepted in competition: the split jerk, the power jerk, and the squat jerk. They all have the same goal of lifting the bar overhead with two straight arms.
If you use the right technique and have enough overhead strength, you should be able to jerk as much weight as you can handle in a clean.
Is the Jerk Valuable in Sports Performance?
Can the jerk be used in sports training to help develop leg power? Yes, it does. Does this option work well for most athletes? No, it isn’t. I am more careful than ever about using the word “optimal” because the best program is the one that the athlete both enjoys and improves from.
Many people find the Nordic hamstring curl uncomfortable because it puts pressure on the tendons behind the knee. These tendons attach the hamstring muscles to the bone. If the athletes are bothered by the research, they won't care about the details like fascicle length. We found that it was better to have athletes engaged in a program that works well, rather than having an empty weight room with the perfect program on the screen.
Push Press
The jerk begins with a movement where you dip down and then drive up with your legs, which generates the power needed to force the barbell off your shoulders. It has to be precise, upright, and tight, which is easier said than done when you’re in the moment.
The push press is an exercise that combines features of the jerk and the press.
Benefits of the Push Press
- Teaches you to correctly use your leg power in an overhead lift.
- Reinforces the full extension of your dip and drive technique.
- Lets you put more weight overhead than in the strict press.
How to Do the Push Press
Raise the barbell to the front rack position with your elbows pointing upwards, similar to how you would during a front squat. Your feet should be hip-width apart. Stand up tall with a tight back.
Bend your legs until they're at a quarter squat, then quickly stand up and push the barbell off your shoulders. Extend your ankles, knees, and hips as you drive the bar. Push the bar above your head while your feet go back to the floor. Put your arms behind your ears, with your elbows locked, at the top of the rep.
Push Jerk
There are various jerk styles, but the upper body mechanics are generally the same. The push jerk requires no “footwork” and helps you focus on your bar path. Stability is challenged and the bar must be kept close.
Benefits of the Push Jerk
- Catching the bar without moving your feet works your balance and patience.
- Helps you be more comfortable dropping under a bar.
How to Do the Push Jerk
To squat with a barbell, first put the barbell in a squat rack. Then, holding the barbell in both hands, bring it to the front rack position, with your elbows up. Stand on straight legs with your feet hip-width apart. Find tension through your back and shoulders.
Get down into a quarter squat position, then jump up and drive forward. Lift the weight off your shoulders and extend your arms upwards, then quickly drop down under the barbell. Your arms should lock out in one smooth motion. After you secure the barbell, stand back up.
Jerk With Pause
You need to move as quickly as you can while still being in control during the jerk. To create the most stable lift, you must maintain all the positions. Add a pause to the important positions of the jerk to get consistent and comfortable while building strength. This will help you avoid injury and increase your chances of success.
Benefits of the Jerk with a Pause
- It trains patience in the jerk.
- Helps you generate the most power in the drive phase.
- Identifies weaknesses or imbalances in your technique.
How to Do the Jerk with a Pause
The jerk can be paused at the bottom of the dip, or after the weight has been caught. Start by grabbing the barbell from the squat rack and placing it in the front rack position.
Bend your legs to a quarter squat and pause for 2 or 3 seconds before jerking. Then, drive the barbell vertically off your shoulders. To avoid repeating the dip motion, pause once you reach the bottom of the dip.
To pause in the catch position, stop moving once you’ve locked your arms overhead. Try to be as strict as possible before you recover.
Jerk With Slow Dip
Your jerk will not be successful if you do not dip and drive correctly. A thorough drive cannot take place unless you dip properly. The better your dip, the better your drive. The best way to improve the quality and posture of your dip is to add some tempo to your movement. Staying in control of the dip helps you maintain your connection to the bar.
Benefits of the Jerk With Slow Dip
- Teaches greater acceleration on the way up in the jerk.
- Allows you to focus on your center of balance while you dip.
- Encourages you to stay patient and tight in your dip.
How to Do the Jerk With Slow Dip
Take your barbell to the front rack position. Stand on two legs with your upper back pressed against something.
Slowly lower your legs to a quarter squat position, similar to the jerk, over the course of three full seconds. Make sure to reverse the motion at the bottom and then perform the jerk of your choice.
Tall Jerk
In order to catch the barbell in the right spot, you will need to drop down quickly. The tall jerk is a segmental jerk exercise where you raise the barbell directly overhead, without dipping first.
Benefits of the Tall Jerk
- Highlights the downward movement required in the jerk.
- Teaches you to move your feet as fast as possible.
- Locks in the correct posture of your upper body.
How to Do the Tall Jerk
Stand tall with the barbell in the rack position, feet shoulder-width apart. Once you have set the bar in place, use your arms to push it overhead while at the same time moving your feet into the splitting (or dropping) position. From the starting position, move to the catch position without dipping your knees.
Begin with the barbell above your head, then lower it to your chest before explosively jerking it back up. For this exercise, hold the barbell over your head with your arms straight. Next, finish pressing the bar overhead while moving your feet apart.
Jerk Balance
This balance is designed to help you improve your split jerk. Assuming a split position is required for your sport, it's probably new to you and feels uncomfortable. The jerk balance is an excellent training tool for developing the specialized footwork you need to jerk effectively.
Benefits of the Jerk Balance
- Makes you more comfortable in your split stance.
- Catching quickly strengthens your jerk recovery.
- Trains the consistency of your foot placement.
How to Do the Jerk Balance
Place your feet in a jerk split stance that is slightly closer together than where you would normally stand when receiving the bar. Start in a split stance with your legs bent and the barbell in the front rack position.
Jerk Recovery
Your success with the jerk depends on a patient and controlled recovery. The purpose of this exercise is to help you build the muscle memory needed to execute this part of the lift correctly so that you will be successful on competition day.
Benefits of the Jerk Recovery
- Helps you figure out what a balanced split position should be.
- It focuses on just the recovery for familiarity purposes.
- It strengthens your overhead stability.
How to do the Jerk Recovery
The jerk recovery must be performed with adjustable safety bars in a squat rack. you can perform recoveries from a rack in various stances, including a split stance, power stance, or squat stance.
The bar should be at the level of your clavicle when viewed from the front, and the back of your neck when viewed from the side. Pick the barbell up off the safety arms and hold it at shoulder level. Get in position under the barbell while it is on the rack. Hold the bar in the starting position, then push up and pretend to finish a jerk.
An overload movement, the jerk recovery should be done with heavier weights than you might be used to.
Jerk From Blocks
The best way to improve your jerk is to practice it more. If you want to be efficient and precise in your practice, you should use blocks. when performing the jerk. A jerk block is a large block of wood, steel, or foam that you can rest your barbell on around shoulder height when performing the jerk.
Working off of blocks allows you to set your barbell down between reps and pick it back up when you're ready to start again. If you do the jerk exercise with the barbell taken from a rack, you have to “catch” the barbell on your shoulders between each repetition, which can use up your energy over time.
Are There Risks Associated with Jerks and Similar Movements?
Not taking a risk is a risk. The real problem is taking unnecessary risks. Despite all the excitement around anti-fragile and resilient training, many teams still don't train hard enough, or they miss workouts entirely. The exercise is not good for everyone and some people's bodies are not good for it. There is a risk of injury to the lower back, shoulders, and elbows/knees when training heavily, but if progression is done correctly, the risks are not as bad as people think.
The main issue with athletes who jerk is that they are unprepared and coaches try to rushes the process. This myth that overhead athletes should not jerk is not accurate. The reason that some coaches may tell overhead athletes not to jerk is because some of them are fragile and more likely to get injured while playing other sports such as pitching or tennis. Training heavily does not lead to an increased chance of injury, but rather it amplifies the effects of other risk factors. For example, I wouldn't be Neymar, but I wouldn't worry about everyone in soccer. I would rather eliminate the rite of passage for jerks than insert it with overconfidence.
Jerks can cause shoulder strain and lumbar extension issues because of the split position or the front-loaded rack position. Both [massage techniques] are highly individual based on [the massage therapist's] technique and anatomical factors. Some athletes are more prone to extension issues to the spine because of both their build and mechanics. This research shows that the hip and knee are under more strain during a push jerk than during a jump, which means that exercises like the push jerk carry more risk.
If an athlete has an excessive curve in their lower back, adding more weight or stretching them out further can't be justified by those who excessively advocate for pain relief. The pain experts who are the best at their job are the ones who focus on chronic pain, not on injury pathomechanics. Why is this an issue? Our posture in activities of daily living is different than the posture we see in athletes during high performance sports. Jerk injuries among athletes are not commonly researched, but weightlifting is an exception. Most often, these injuries are the result of overuse.
The primary focus when working out with weights should be to lift a light enough weight so that you can do the repetitions without missing any and thus risking injury to your shoulder. You can increase your strength by lifting a load much lighter than what you would use in competition, but many athletes miss reps of the jerk because they try to lift a load that is too heavy.
Important Technique Differences You Should Know
The Jerk is not a true press, because the primary drive forces are not coming from the shoulders. The drive in a jerk comes from the legs, with the bar being accelerated through the upper body. In contrast, a jerk is more of a lower body explosion with the upper body staying in extended position. I continue to include pressing options with athletes to teach them to be well-rounded lifters and to contrast the feeling of a jerk versus a vertical press. Although it may be tempting to view jerks as fast-paced, it is important to resist this temptation as it can lead coaches astray.
A jerk is a type of lift that can be done from the front rack position or from the back (behind the neck) by athletes. Athletes can receive or catch jerks in a split stance or in a symmetrical power stance, depending on what their needs are and the preference of the coach. I prefer a split stance myself, as athletes usually feel more comfortable moving quickly in this position. However, if an athlete feels better keeping their feet and legs together, then I am okay with that.
The rear leg is positioned with the heel lifted and the front foot remains grounded with the heel open Use your weight evenly on both feet when in a split stance position, with the rear heel lifted and the front foot's heel open. The center of mass of the system load (barbell and body) needs to be kept steady, as a heavy load will raise the balance point higher. Split squats and split stance squats may look similar, but the goal of barbell reception is balance, not the creation of a unilateral squat action. There is very little research on how well athletes can transfer their performance to another sport, but there is a lot of research on analyze techniques with respect to how much weight they can lift and how they can continue lifting the weight after the initial thrusting period.
I'm not concerned with the maximum load, but I do think loads near 80-85% are ideal for athletes looking to increase their power development training. As long as the technique is efficient in expressing vertical force safely, I am not worried about absolute loads, provided they stay in similar ratios to snatching and cleaning. The bar should be lifted straight up and down, without being pushed out to the sides, in order to avoid hitting the chin or nose.
Before You Add the Jerk into Your Program
Polishing a jerk takes a lot of training and patience. If you don't have time for that, it's not worth it. It's easy to include an exercise in a program and hope it will be effective because the athlete is talented, but this approach is not for the lazy or those who lack courage. Jerk lifts require more confidence than clean and snatch lifts, so athletes should focus on them.
