The Jerk - Always. Be. Pushing.
In the jerk, remember ABP: Always. Be. Pushing.
There should never be a moment when you’re not actively pushing up into the bar. The only thing that changes is whether you’re pushing with the legs or the arms. Never let up on that upward push, even as you transition from driving with the legs to moving under the bar.
When you move your feet, that push with the arms will move you down under the bar.
But that arm push also preserves more of the bar’s upward momentum so it moves higher than it would with just leg drive, meaning more time and space for you to lock it out overhead, and therefore the ability to jerk more weight. If you let up on that push as you transition, you’re losing momentum you can’t get back.
Don’t let up on the bar as you start to split… then try to push up into it again. You’re allowing the bar to slow and stop, meaning either it won’t move high enough to lock out, or it will crash down onto you.
Similarly, don’t try to split down as low as possible—this will encourage you cut the drive short and not get enough upward power, and/or cause the bar to crash down onto you.
In either case, you’re looking at press-outs or misses with heavy weights.
Drive and push as hard as possible without letting up, and move your feet as the bar is leaving the shoulders while you continue to punch through the bar as violently as possible.
You’ll move as low as you need to lock it out unless you’re stepping too short and/or creating too much resistance with your legs, both of which are actually common symptoms of not driving the bar powerfully and completely enough.
This is the same as a snatch or clean—you don’t squat low because you’re not trying to lift the bar; you squat low because even your best effort to lift the bar can only lift heavy weights so much.
You can improve your drive, push and transition with a push press + jerk complex, or with pause jerks, which can also be combined into a complex with a regular jerk.
There should never be a moment when you’re not actively pushing up into the bar. The only thing that changes is whether you’re pushing with the legs or the arms. Never let up on that upward push, even as you transition from driving with the legs to moving under the bar.
When you move your feet, that push with the arms will move you down under the bar.
But that arm push also preserves more of the bar’s upward momentum so it moves higher than it would with just leg drive, meaning more time and space for you to lock it out overhead, and therefore the ability to jerk more weight. If you let up on that push as you transition, you’re losing momentum you can’t get back.
Don’t let up on the bar as you start to split… then try to push up into it again. You’re allowing the bar to slow and stop, meaning either it won’t move high enough to lock out, or it will crash down onto you.
Similarly, don’t try to split down as low as possible—this will encourage you cut the drive short and not get enough upward power, and/or cause the bar to crash down onto you.
In either case, you’re looking at press-outs or misses with heavy weights.
Drive and push as hard as possible without letting up, and move your feet as the bar is leaving the shoulders while you continue to punch through the bar as violently as possible.
You’ll move as low as you need to lock it out unless you’re stepping too short and/or creating too much resistance with your legs, both of which are actually common symptoms of not driving the bar powerfully and completely enough.
This is the same as a snatch or clean—you don’t squat low because you’re not trying to lift the bar; you squat low because even your best effort to lift the bar can only lift heavy weights so much.
You can improve your drive, push and transition with a push press + jerk complex, or with pause jerks, which can also be combined into a complex with a regular jerk.
