We have received many questions about jerk technique via email or social media. Part 1 will deal with some of most common issues.
Does constant split jerking (same leg forward) result in musculoskeletal imbalances that could cause problems down the road?
This isn't an issue for the majority of lifters, so don't worry if you aren't actually seeing or feeling any imbalances between legs, for example when you squat. Typically Chinese professional weightlifters are accumulating enough overall bilateral volume (through squats, pulls, other classic lifts, jerk dips, power/squat jerks, training 9-12 sessions/wk) such that any additional work done by the front leg in the jerk is comparatively minimal. We'd estimate the additional work on the front leg in a typical training program to be less than 5%. This figure will seem small but remember that the back leg in a balanced split jerk should still be taking around 50% of the load. With such a small figure it's unlikely that split jerking will add enough work for the front leg to outdevelop the back leg and most coaches in China aren't concerned.
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Most Chinese professionals do perform some unilateral work, but not to correct imbalances caused specifically by the jerk.”
For those of you who are not Chinese professional weightlifters and/or accumulating extremely high amounts of volume, it may be that the proportion of your jerk training is higher relative to your other movements. In this case, the additional volume on the front leg may be 10 or 15% more than the back leg, which may make some imbalances apparent. What we recommend in this case is to add a few sets of unilateral work of your choice at the end of a squat session. For example, a rear leg elevated split squat. If you are a busy person with life/family outside of weightlifting, you can just do them at home in your living room, no need to waste precious gym time, or go heavy on these.
Another corner case: a lifter may develop imbalances more easily if they always catch their jerks leaning forward, thereby placing most of the weight on their front leg. For such a lifter, correct this problem first even if they do not exhibit imbalances.
Our 11 year old lifter training in China under Coach Tao Chuang. Front foot is a little too close, thus more weight is placed on front leg. If coach didn't correct this immediately, it could lead to some balance issues in the future.
Here is a special exercise one can place at the end of a clean&jerk-focused session. You should perform it with alternating legs, but add maybe just one additional set to the weak side. This is also a great movement for learning to stay vertical and keeping your back leg involved in the split:
If you feel you technique is really bad, you can actually do this exercise between your jerk sets, during rest time.
Does balance shift from heels in dip to toes on a properly extended drive?
Let's get the first thing out of the way: stay away from your heels in the jerk. Balance over the heels in the jerk makes a vertical dip and drive extremely difficult to achieve. To get any height in the drive will require you to unconsciously rock your weight over to the toes anyway, introducing another variable you'll have to control.
“This isn’t to say that your jerk should live over the toes, either. It’s not as common, but a jerk that dips forward too much will send the lifter forward as well, often resulting in a miss behind.”
The optimal balance for most lifters is over the ball of the foot or slightly behind, but still ahead of the midfoot. Experiment a little bit and find the balance that allows you to feel your quads the most, as they are the prime movers.
How long should the split be?
The short answer is "long enough to find balance between the front and back legs."
You can get within the ballpark this way. Stand over a chalk line with your midfoot. Find a split where your shin is vertical. Mark where your heel is on the platform with chalk. Without changing the split length or position of the front shin, adjust your back leg front or back such that the load feels evenly distributed between both legs. Your back leg should not be straight, so make sure there is a slight bend in the knee while you adjust. You shouldn't drop the back knee to the point where thigh is vertical. When you find the position for both feet, mark the platform where the toe of your back leg is.
Practice the split without weight. When you land in the jerk, your split should be sufficiently balanced and comfortable that you don't feel the need to drop your back leg further to catch the weight.
“You can play with chalk marks on the platform, and try hitting them each time... but don’t worry if you don’t land your feet exactly on the marks... as long as your position is balanced front/back, knee/ankle don’t collapse, torso is vertical, that’s what we are the most happy about...”
Flaring the knees during the dip of the jerk (or general problems with the dip)
The knees should follow the toes in the dip phase of the jerk. The toes should be turned out slightly, between 10-30 degrees.
To go into more detail on a related topic: a common problem in the jerk dip is when the knees go out in the descent, but then collapse inward during the drive. It's a subtle one. The first priority in fixing it is to slow down the dip, as many of these cases are caused by rushing the dip and trying to reverse into the drive too eagerly. It is also possible that the stance is too wide, or the toes and/or knees are going outward too much in the dip to begin with. You can experiment with these factors but we almost never recommend lifters standing outside hip width or turning their toes past 30 degrees.
If these are still problems, try adding in 3-5 sets of jerk dips to your squat sessions using between 90-110% of your best jerk. Don't focus on the power of the drive; just get your positions consistent, intentional, and vertical with each dip. Allowing your knees to track the way they should without valgus collapse. Hips should stay right underneath the shoulders.
Again, if you are a busy with life/work/family, you can just practice jerk dips at home in front of the mirror, only pretending that you have barbell on your chest , just go slow, don't explode... professional Chinese weightlifters often practice "empty" lifts between sets. You can aim for 50 reps total.
We will provide more answers to jerk technique questions in Part 2...