One of the our goals this training cycle will be focusing our efforts on improving strength and technique on the clean and jerk. We will use a variety of movements to reinforce proper positions on both portions of the lift, one of these being the Tall Jerk.
The Tall Jerk is used to teach your body to push down under the bar during the jerk. We recommend using this as a warmup/primer before you begin to jerk. Perform 3-5 reps for 3-5 sets with a submaximal load. The goal here is to improve speed and timing by being aggressive on every single rep.
There are 4 basic variations to the Tall Jerk and each will improve your performance.
- Standing with bar on Shoulders: Start flat footed with the bar in the rack position. With no leg drive, push your body under the bar into your split position, recover with your feet back together under control and reset. Think about your arms locking out at the same time your feet hit the ground.
- Standing with bar at forehead: The same as above except you will press the bar to right above your forehead, pause, and then complete the lift from the position. Lower the bar to right above your forehead for the next rep.
- On toes, bar on shoulders: This is performed the same as the first variation except you raise up on your toes, like you would at the top of your jerk drive, pause, then complete the lift.
- On toes, bar at forehead: Just like variation #2…From your toes press the bar to right above your forehead, hold, and then complete the lift.
Try this variation out before you jerk next time and let us know what you think! As always, be consistent…that is how change is made in technique.
