Avelyne, Sandi, & Jose at Stagecoach

A couple weeks ago I posted on Beginning the Jerk, so today I’d like to discuss how we complete the lift after the dip and drive. After the drive portion of the Jerk the bar should have some upward momentum which you’ll use to your advantage to lock out your arms with the bar overhead. First, don’t think about using your arms to press the bar overhead. Instead think about pushing yourself under the bar.
Let’s talk about 2 different ways we can catch the bar after the drive phase. The rack position, dip phase, and drive phase is the same for both, the only difference is what the feet do in order to catch and stabilize the weight overhead. The first is known as the push jerk, or power jerk.

Push Jerk

You’ll notice that the feet only move laterally from an under the hips, or jumping, stance to a little wider than shoulder-width, or squatting, stance. Although our feet are in a squatting position, we only want to drop low enough to allow our arms to lock the weight out overhead. Once the bar is stable overhead, we stand so our knees and hips are fully extended.

The second position is known as the split jerk or the split stance.

Split Jerk

This position is a shallow lunge position that gives the lifter more balance because they can not only balance side to side, but front to back as well. Let’s discuss how to get into a good split stance. First, get into a deep lunge position with your dominant leg forward and back knee on the ground. Make sure your front knee is directly over the associated heel then raise up about 6 inches staying in a lunge position. This is approximately the depth at which you’ll want to receive the weight after the drive and push under. Make sure your feet are about shoulder width apart in the lunge and not directly in line. This gives you the lateral balance you’ll need to stabilize the weight.
To get to the finish position with knees and hips fully extended you’ll need to recover from the shallow lunge position.  The order you move your feet can make or break the entire lift.  Bring your front foot back underneath your hips first. Moving your back foot first is tricky with a heavy weight overhead because as the weight is taken off of the back foot, the body leans forward and makes it more difficult to keep the weight supported overhead. It is not uncommon to see people dump the weight because it gets too far away from their mid-line when they recover with their back foot first. 

You have the preference to choose between the two stances in your jerks today.  However, it is typical to see the split stance used with heavier weights and the push jerk stance used in higher rep workouts where time is of the essence because it takes less time to stand and recover each rep than the split jerk.

WOD 04.28.10

Jerk 3×3

5 Rounds
5 Deadlift (65-70% of DL Workset)
10 Burpees

Cash-out: 3-5 Skin the Cats