I’ll let you know up front that this post has nothing to do with the birth of Nick.  I’ve noticed a trend in the jerk not only in our gym but also here at Wright-Patterson CrossFit in Ohio.  Many of us may perform the jerk in a way similar to the press, but this is sadly very inefficient and not all too pleasant on our wrists.  As we set up for a press our wrists should be as straight as possible to reduce excess strain on the wrist joint.  When we do this, however, the barbell is supported only with our arms (see Ruth’s post for more detail on the press).  This is much different than the rack position of a front squat where the barbell is primarily supported on the front of our shoulders, while the wrist is flexed and the grip is open not supporting the load directly, but keeping it pushed back onto the shoulders so that it doesn’t roll forward and cause you to dump the weight.

Elbows High, Bar Resting on Deltoids in the Rack Position

As we prepare to jerk, we transition from the front squat rack position and flare the arms out slightly while still keeping the weight supported on our shoulders and not the wrists.  You may feel your arms bear more weight than before but the bar should still be planted firmly on your deltoids and maybe a bit on your collar bones.  Now we’re ready to dip and drive the bar up to begin the jerk.  During the dip ensure your dip is straight down then up almost as if you were performing the movement on a wall (which is great practice to learn the movement and keep from leaning the torso forward in the dip phase).

Flared Elbows, Bar on Shoulders, Textbook Dip Position

The drive phase should be explosive and there should be as little pause as possible in the transition from the dip to the drive.  Also ensure you stay on your heels throughout the entire dip and drive until you reach triple extension (extension of the ankles, knees, and hips) where the feet tend to come off ground from the explosivity of the drive (think jumping the weight up).

Drive w/ Triple Extension

In order to transfer the momentum of the drive phase to the bar, the bar has to be in solid contact with your shoulders.  If you dip and drive while supporting the weight with your arms, like the press, your arms will actually act as shock absorbers and significantly lessen the transfer of force from the dip and drive to the bar.  A good rule of thumb is to drive with enough force to at least get the bar to your forehead.  We’ll finish discussing the jerk in a future post but for now practice what we explained here and you should feel like your using more of your legs to thrust the bar overhead and your wrists, elbows, and shoulders will thank you.

WOD 04.07.10

Back Squat 3×5

500m Row
30 Burpees
10 Shoulders to Overhead