I pulled ( no pun intended) the following off the excellent Takano Athletics site for my athletes who have jerking issues. Read and learn!
Most of the talk about technique these days centers around pulling, with very little focused on jerking. This may be due to the fact that so many people are having trouble mastering the pull, that they don’t clean enough weight to cause problems with the jerk. It may also reflect a lack of jerking or jerk related movements in many training programs.
The jerk is, however, extremely important if you are going to compete in the sport of weightlifting. A successful, heavy clean & jerk can be the coup de grace in a tight competition, and furthermore it is the heaviest weight you can lift overhead. Some attention must be paid to the jerk, especially as your clean becomes more proficient. When you can clean heavy weights (in proportion to your strength), you will have to put some effort into developing a proficient jerk.
Over the years I’ve observed plenty of athletes attempting to improve their jerks by working on pressing movements without truly understanding why and how they work. Although the arm and shoulder strength developed by pressing is certainly helpful, the torso development that comes from standing presses is equally as important, if not more so. The jerk itself, however, is largely the result of powerful leg drive, and if you don’t have the movement pattern of rapid leg and hit extension coupled with plantar flexion of the ankles, your jerk drive will never be maximized.
In the accompanying photo you can see Lindsey Valenzuela, a great jerk, at the peak of her jerk drive and the role of the legs is obvious.
If you are one of those having jerking problems, I recommend the following exercises to help you improve the drive portion.
1) Proper executed push presses cannot be completed if the weight is not drive to a height where the arms and shoulders can be brought into play.
2) Front Squats obviously strengthen the legs, but also strengthen the torso which transfers the force from the legs to the bar.
3) ¼ Front Squats place even more emphasis on torso development and work the legs through much of the leg drive range.
4) Jerk Drives off the rack or jerk blocks develop the dynamics of the leg action, and allow you to focus on the action of your legs.
Since these are more or less assistance movements they should be included toward the end of your training as often as two or three times per weeks. Remember to monitor whether or not they’re helping your jerk, and when they seem to have remediated the problem you can lessen the frequencies of their inclusions and/or eliminate the least effective ones.
The jerk is, however, extremely important if you are going to compete in the sport of weightlifting. A successful, heavy clean & jerk can be the coup de grace in a tight competition, and furthermore it is the heaviest weight you can lift overhead. Some attention must be paid to the jerk, especially as your clean becomes more proficient. When you can clean heavy weights (in proportion to your strength), you will have to put some effort into developing a proficient jerk.
Over the years I’ve observed plenty of athletes attempting to improve their jerks by working on pressing movements without truly understanding why and how they work. Although the arm and shoulder strength developed by pressing is certainly helpful, the torso development that comes from standing presses is equally as important, if not more so. The jerk itself, however, is largely the result of powerful leg drive, and if you don’t have the movement pattern of rapid leg and hit extension coupled with plantar flexion of the ankles, your jerk drive will never be maximized.
In the accompanying photo you can see Lindsey Valenzuela, a great jerk, at the peak of her jerk drive and the role of the legs is obvious.
Your legs should hit this position at the job of the drive!
1) Proper executed push presses cannot be completed if the weight is not drive to a height where the arms and shoulders can be brought into play.
2) Front Squats obviously strengthen the legs, but also strengthen the torso which transfers the force from the legs to the bar.
3) ¼ Front Squats place even more emphasis on torso development and work the legs through much of the leg drive range.
4) Jerk Drives off the rack or jerk blocks develop the dynamics of the leg action, and allow you to focus on the action of your legs.
Since these are more or less assistance movements they should be included toward the end of your training as often as two or three times per weeks. Remember to monitor whether or not they’re helping your jerk, and when they seem to have remediated the problem you can lessen the frequencies of their inclusions and/or eliminate the least effective ones.
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