TRAINING & EQUIPMENT

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The jerk is a total-body lift that helps athletes develop tremendous power. Here Ian Wilson is shown jerking a personal record of 423 pounds to win the 207-pound bodyweight division at the 2012 Senior Nationals.

A Closer Look at Overhead Lifting Th e value of jerks and push presses for athletes

BY KIM GOSS, MS FS has always promoted the training. In fact, many elite weight- make it difficult for Schwarzenegger power clean as a core exercise lifters of the past also competed in to even qualify to compete as a profes- Bfor athletes, and the mes- : Legendary Olympic sional – yes, he was a bodybuilder ahead sage has gotten across – the lift is now weightlifting champion Tommy Kono of his time, but there is a new standard an integral part of the conditioning competed in the amateur Mr. Universe; today. At 6-foot-2 Schwarzenegger programs of the majority of high school John Grimek was a Mr. America and competed at 235 pounds bodyweight; and college strength programs. But it also an Olympian in weightlifting; Mr. at 5-foot-11, eight-time Mr. Olympia hasn’t been easy, as the lift has had its Olympia Sergio “The Myth” Oliva Ronnie Coleman reportedly competed share of critics, from those who pro- began as a competitive weightlifter for at 305 pounds. The game has changed. mote single-set bodybuilding programs Cuba. But those days are over. One reason the jerk has been to some of the newer functional train- Today, it would be highly unlikely overlooked by so many strength coaches ing gurus who believe that standing on for a weightlifter to compete at a high is that overhead work as a whole has a large rubber ball is the best way to level in bodybuilding because the level been downplayed in favor of the bench develop physical superiority. Now we of competition is so much greater. press. When the Olympic press was can move on to promoting other lifts, was a seven- eliminated from competition after the such as the jerk. time Mr. Olympia, losing the title only 1972 Olympics, many bodybuilders Overhead lifting has always been once, in 1969 to Oliva. The caliber and strength athletes lost interest in the a part of bodybuilding and strength of bodybuilders now, however, would sport of weightlifting.

34 | BIGGER FASTER STRONGER MAY/JUNE 2012 In the BFS program the bench The Power Factor when a basketball player fakes to drive press retains its value as a core lift. BFS CEO/Founder Dr. Greg to the basket. Further, Charles Poliquin, one of the Shepard talks about the idea of a Now let’s look at some research most accomplished strength coaches power clean being a jump – likewise, from Dr. John Garhammer, Ph.D., in the world, says that prone pressing the jerk combines a powerful leg drive a respected sports scientist who did exercises such as the bench with dynamic extension of the shoul- pioneering work in the biomechan- press should amount to about 20 ders, upper back muscles and triceps. ics of Olympic-style weightlifting. In percent of your total pressing move- As a bonus, you get a rapid eccentric his peer-reviewed study of Olympic ments. However, the exercise that contraction of the legs during the split lifting exercises published in 1980 we’d like to see become more popular – the type of muscular contraction that in Medicine and Science in Sports and in athlete programs is the jerk, a lift occurs in a sudden change of direction, Exercise, Garhammer looked at power of power. such as when a halfback makes a cut or output, which is a measurement of www.biggerfasterstronger.com 1-800-628-9737 | 35 TRAINING & EQUIPMENT the amount of work done in a specific pounds. At the University of Maryland Many lifters perform jerks by period of time – in other words, it Cameron competed in a mock sprint taking the bar off racks (either measures the most effective force for against Renaldo Nehemiah, a wide in front of the neck or behind) to help dynamic sports. What Garhammer receiver for the 1982 Super Bowl cham- improve the jerk, because cleaning the found was that the power output for pions, the San Francisco 49ers, and weight creates fatigue that can affect the jerk drive was higher than for the the first to run the 100-meter hurdles how much they can lift. The problem pull and the clean pull in all nine under 13 seconds. Nehemiah won eas- with this method is that after they clean Let’s be perfectly clear – the best exercise for improving technique in the jerk is the jerk! bodyweight classes tested, and in several ily, of course, but for the first 10 yards the weight, their balance usually shifts weight classes the forces exceeded those Cameron was ahead. forward and they have to adjust; this achieved in the second pull of the Let’s be perfectly clear – the best balance issue does not occur with jerks snatch and clean. exercise for improving technique in from the rack. Also, if you just add If you watch elite weightlifters on the jerk is the jerk! Of course squats jerks after performing a clean, you save will give you the power to drive heavy a lot of time because you only have to weights overhead, but most of the perform one exercise. assistance exercises that athletes use Specific directions for performing to improve the jerk actually make it the jerk will have to be left for a future worse. For example, exercises such as article, but I hope I’ve piqued your The receiving posi- tion of the push jerk is push presses (i.e., no rebending of the interest in learning more about this with the hips behind knees or splitting of the legs) adversely dynamic exercise. the bar, rather than affect technique in the jerk directly underneath the hips as occurs in because it uses a different the receiving position recruitment pattern of of the jerk. the upper body muscles. The push jerk (in which there is a rebending of the knees but no split) is better. However, this lift causes the weight to be YouTube, you’ll find that while the thrown forward, with the power clean is fast when the bar passes hips behind the bar rather the knees, the jerk is performed so than directly underneath quickly that it can be described as “dip, the hips as occurs in the drive and blink – the bar is locked over- receiving position of the head!” The result of this type of power jerk. training is that weightlifters have devel- oped the ability to overcome inertia. In December 2010, Ian Although it’s expected that weightlifters Wilson became the fi rst can jump high, which is true, it also 16-year-old in the coun- try to clean and jerk 400 means they have what coaches often pounds, when he did 401 refer to as “first step” quickness. pounds at a bodyweight Take the case of Mark Cameron, of just 204 pounds. Senior American records and who is the lightest (at 240 pounds) medals in world competi- American to clean and jerk 500 tion are certain to follow.

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