Topic: The Jerk...

[Cloud Strife]

This is interesting...

They say that it is much easier to move more weight using the suicide grip in the bench (Although it can be a tad dangerous  )

So what about using the suicide grip in the jerk? I recall Marc Huster using this style of jerk.
"his jerks are always ridiculously easy compared to his cleans " (comment)
An effective jerk requires a quick separation of the bar from the chest...

I only tried to jerk some light weight using this grip today. It seemed much easier to push the bar away from the body. Also, the bar is resting on your palms which I believe may increase the surface area the bar is resting on and may perhaps reduce the chance of of one blacking out. Because the bar is directly over the forearms, I think it should allow for a much more efficient transfer of energy in the jerk. What are your thoughts guys?

Marc Huster in Atlanta 1996

[Shaun Le Conte]

I think so many people have nothing to say because they haven't tried it. I haven't tried it.
Does Huster leave his thumb on the same side as his fingers even when supporting the bar overhead?

I am thinking that without my thumb holding the bar opposite my fingers, and my tendency to jerk the bar a bit forward, I would have some problems with control.

[Cloud Strife]

Thanks for your thoughts Shaun!

From the video, it does look like his thumbs are on the same side as his fingers. I can't really tell overhead though. I think it would be relatively quite difficult to jerk the bar while readjusting the grip.

The suicide grip is something I definitely want to experiment with...

Just some thoughts:

I suppose one needs to take into account many different factors such as the length of their arms or forearms and etc. During my previous training session, the suicide grip enabled me to relax my fingers. I think a relaxed grip is extremely important in the jerk. In my regular grip, the bar would somewhat constrict the movement of my fingers. Using
the suicide grip, the push in the jerk was fast and snappy. The arms straightened extremely easily. I think the bar also traveled in a very straight line, but the body had to slightly shift forward.

[Jake Brant]

I used the thumbless grip in my jerk for a while. It helped to loosen up the tension in my arms and shoulders when the bar rested on my chest. The first time I jerked 182 was with the thumbless grip. The only real problem I had with it was after I stood up from the clean and threw it off my chest to get my thumbs adjusted, I sometimes didn't get my thumbs under so I had to re-throw the bar up in the air to adjust my hands. And as you know, when your doing a heavy clean and jerk that re-adjust can kill you. The thing is, my jerk has always been an issue so its hard to say if it's a good way to jerk or not. Than again, Taranenko jerked thumbless and he did alright. lol

[Judas]

I've always done them thumbless, thinking about it, it seems kinda crazy. DOING IT, well, it seems so much more natural than a full grip jerk. The coach i go to occasionally tells me that all the best lifters jerk with a full grip, but thats something i've never even begun to try and research. Personally, i have terrible (for a weightlifter) tricep flexibility. When i rack, i get two, maybe three fingers a side under the bar, and have to pop it at the top to re-grip (get all four under). I've tried the full grip recently, and found it really cranks my elbows around quicker, but its painful, and not in a good way. They certainly get higher with a full grip. I cant even do high powercleans with straps, so this is something i should work on. I DID like the full-grip jerks though, not as natural feeling, especially now that i've widened my grip again, but they do seem stronger.

Thats me though. My arms are too big to do this sport.

[Dave Chiu]

I have been going thumbless (false or suicide gr) JK for almost 20 yrs.  Standard just feels weaker, but I use it when making the instant transition of things like CL+FSJ or PC+QJ.

Another Olympic champ Valery Shary was also a thumbless JK guy, but he actually went there btwn the pop and rack!!

I learned the habit from Ahmed Ragheb, and have always found it very energizing to flip the thumbs out when re-racking at the top of the FS