Topic: Video: Clean and Jerk PR

[Joshua Davis]

Paul,
It's really cool that you and I are pretty much neck-and-neck with our lifts. Last Saturday, I got my first 125 c+j and the week before that I finally got a 127.5 clean-only and 90 snatch.

The upsetting thing is that I am a superheavy.  :shock:

My question for you is this... what are your squat numbers looking like, and/or your clean-only? We push squats really, really hard over here and I always see a correlation between improving 1rm squats and the lift improving as well.

[Paul LaDuke]

Josh,

Thanks for the comments.  I back squatted 175kgs for a max about 4-5 weeks ago.  My front squat is lagging behind the back squat a bit at 140kgs for a max.  I feel the front squat to back squat ratio should be around .85 so my front squat should be 148kgs or so.  The problem with my front squat is that I am not strong enough to support over 140kgs on my shoulders - my back rounds, my shoulders and elbows drop.  This is the same problem I have with a max clean - mid-back weakness.  So I am working more on the front squat than the back squat at this point.  Working on the weakness should improve my front squat max and my clean max.  My clean only max is also 127.5kgs and I haven't tried 130 yet.

Make sure that your squat is the olympic style squat - feet in the clean catch stance, very upright and tight back/chest and a FULL deep squat.  If you can clean .8 or more of your back squat, push the back squat to make gains in the clean.  If your clean is lagging behind the .8 ratio, work on your clean.

[Joshua Davis]

My squats are deep Paul, much to the damage of my ego... going from a 275kg power/parallel squat to a 210kg weightlifting squat has been a chore... but I know I'm stronger when squatting deep, so I do it. I don't pay as much attention to the ratios, as I have always front and backsquatted really heavy, so I have a good base level of strength. Technique and familiarity are what hold me back in the classic lifts.

I came pretty close to nailing 127.5 today, in fact I cleaned it 3 times. First time I tried the jerk I was out of my groove just enough to miss lockout, second and third times I got a cramp in my left lat, which has been bothering me lately.

The next few weeks are going to be tricky, I am going to "fix" my jerk by hitting them a bit more often... but I have a meet in 3 weeks. We'll see how it pans out. Today's training went fairly well, even with me purposely attempting some fairly reckless jumps (5-7.5kg) on both lifts after getting my planned openers.

[Paul LaDuke]

I have read many places and have been told by various sources that the jerk is a timing/technical lift.  You may want to try doing a lot of reps in the 70-85% range to improve your timing.  Mike Conroy wrote a great article on the Jerk available on the Idaho Weightlifting Federation website and in one of Mike's Gym's newsletters.  

If your really struggling with the jerk, trying ending your training sessions with 3-5 sets of 3 rep jerks from the rack.  You can vary it with some behind the neck jerks also.  Focus on pushing your head through your arms so that the bar ends up behind your ears.

I read that 1 elite lifter would perform jerks quite often with very light weights just to enforce the timing and form of the jerk.  The point is that you don't have to go heavy and hard to improve the jerk especially this close to a competition.

Good luck and make sure you post your results!

[Jim Hooper]

Another great piece on jerk technique, timing, coordination, etc., probably the best I have seen, is Bud Charniga's "More About the Jerk" article, available here: http://www.sportivnypress.com/English/frames.html .

[leighton richards]

Cant really comment on technique as I'm not qualified, but still great Job Paul!  If your making progress then thats good right!

[Pete Church]

Another great piece on jerk technique, timing, coordination, etc., probably the best I have seen, is Bud Charniga's "More About the Jerk" article, available here: http://www.sportivnypress.com/English/frames.html .

Good stuff there!!!