Thread: Clean/Jerk

Originally Posted by BigDyl

I was doing the Clean + Jerk today during my back workout, and I had horrible form. From the movies I have seen, it looks like the clean portion is a deadlift that you throw as high as you can, then jump under and catch and then front squat it up. Then jerk you just use your legs/delts to propell up by throwing on foot forward and one back. Am I right?

However, when I did them, i deadlifted the weight up, arched my back, and used my bicepts to get it to my shoulder, then i just military pressed it up. I could not seem to do it right.

Study and practice.

For the clean, it starts as kind of a speedy deadlift. Then for the second part of the pull you need to shrug, do a little hop, perform a jacked up reverse curl, and get under the bar so it falls right on you.

For the jerk you kind of do a quarter squat and propel up using your arms and your legs, but immediately drop under it. Kind of hard to explain. Once you extract the kinectic energy from your mini hop and use it to propel the bar up you need to immediately begin to drop under it.

Again, watch videos. That explanation sucks.

Yeah, videos are by far the most important research tool. Once you know those videos forwards and backwards and have tried the same thing many, many times, then ask for tips from experienced lifters on how to perfect your form.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Study and practice.

For the clean, it starts as kind of a speedy deadlift. Then for the second part of the pull you need to shrug, do a little hop, perform a jacked up reverse curl, and get under the bar so it falls right on you.
.

No jacked up reverse curls. the bar is not supposed to travel away from you. it travels UP, like a straight line along your body. Also, the speedy deadlift can only work for some people. Some people can't apply force that fast for that long. Some people will have their balance throwen off by the quickness off the floor. A lot of guys temper their initial pull from the floor and then accelerate through the last phase of the lift. There is more than just a deadlift.....you need to pull from the floor and keep it close enough so that you can re-bend the knees to initiate the second phase of the pull and get fuill extension with the ankles, knees, hips and shrug! The little hop is not entirely correct either. Some say jump, some say don't. What you do know is that once you leave the floor you loose power. If you focus on emphasizing the jump you will throw off your pull. It is not a jump UP! It is a jump down. A re-adjusment during the unsupported squat under phase of the lift. You re-position the base of support to make a catch and squat out ouf the hole. Your eblows need to turn fast to get under the bar (no jump up to it). The ONLY REASON YOUR ELBOWS BEND is because you are goin down! You are not pulling with your arms. In fact just the opposite you want your arms to stay straight for as long as possibly to allow for a solid pull. If your arms bend early you will have a hard time moving bigger weights, you will loose more cleans as the trajectory of the bar will be off, you will loose power, and you wont get under the weight fast enough. This is why most coaches say turn your elbows out on your pull.

For the jerk you kind of do a quarter squat and propel up using your arms and your legs, but immediately drop under it. Kind of hard to explain. Once you extract the kinectic energy from your mini hop and use it to propel the bar up you need to immediately begin to drop under it.

Again, watch videos. That explanation sucks

Don't push with your arms. The jerk begins were the clean ends. Usually an adjustment of the hands to a wider grip will help you with your jerk as the bar will have to travel less distance overhead. A lot of guys will pop the lockout of their front squat hard enough to make the bar pop off their chest and as the bar is in the air they move their hands outward and re-catch it with a wider grip (see videos). From there get yourself set and you really want to push through your heals of the start of the jerk to keep you from losing the weight forward. The length of the dip is different for people but ingeneral you don't want to dip to far as you will loose a lot of power trying to squat out of a deeper postion and apply force longer. A quarter squat is fine. Once you begin coming out of the quarter squat shrug yourself under the bar. If you start the lift with your shoulders you will end the lift with your shoulder as your timing will be off and you will get called for a press out. Shrug under the bar again and split your stance as fast as possible. Once the bar begins to move overhead, again, turn the elbows outward to strength your lockout and push your head and chest though and under the bar to secure the weight overhead otherwise you will loose it out front. Once you have it secure take once step back with the front foot and one step forward with the back foot and bring your feet together.


Like it has been said.....watch video, practice, practice, practice, practice...

Biceps are weak, dont use them.

Anyone got some videos I can watch? I have seen some, but I do not remeber the links.

Originally Posted by P-funk

No jacked up reverse curls. the bar is not supposed to travel away from you. it travels UP, like a straight line along your body. Also, the speedy deadlift can only work for some people. Some people can't apply force that fast for that long. Some people will have their balance throwen off by the quickness off the floor. A lot of guys temper their initial pull from the floor and then accelerate through the last phase of the lift. There is more than just a deadlift.....you need to pull from the floor and keep it close enough so that you can re-bend the knees to initiate the second phase of the pull and get fuill extension with the ankles, knees, hips and shrug! The little hop is not entirely correct either. Some say jump, some say don't. What you do know is that once you leave the floor you loose power. If you focus on emphasizing the jump you will throw off your pull. It is not a jump UP! It is a jump down. A re-adjusment during the unsupported squat under phase of the lift. You re-position the base of support to make a catch and squat out ouf the hole. Your eblows need to turn fast to get under the bar (no jump up to it). The ONLY REASON YOUR ELBOWS BEND is because you are goin down! You are not pulling with your arms. In fact just the opposite you want your arms to stay straight for as long as possibly to allow for a solid pull. If your arms bend early you will have a hard time moving bigger weights, you will loose more cleans as the trajectory of the bar will be off, you will loose power, and you wont get under the weight fast enough. This is why most coaches say turn your elbows out on your pull.




Don't push with your arms. The jerk begins were the clean ends. Usually an adjustment of the hands to a wider grip will help you with your jerk as the bar will have to travel less distance overhead. A lot of guys will pop the lockout of their front squat hard enough to make the bar pop off their chest and as the bar is in the air they move their hands outward and re-catch it with a wider grip (see videos). From there get yourself set and you really want to push through your heals of the start of the jerk to keep you from losing the weight forward. The length of the dip is different for people but ingeneral you don't want to dip to far as you will loose a lot of power trying to squat out of a deeper postion and apply force longer. A quarter squat is fine. Once you begin coming out of the quarter squat shrug yourself under the bar. If you start the lift with your shoulders you will end the lift with your shoulder as your timing will be off and you will get called for a press out. Shrug under the bar again and split your stance as fast as possible. Once the bar begins to move overhead, again, turn the elbows outward to strength your lockout and push your head and chest though and under the bar to secure the weight overhead otherwise you will loose it out front. Once you have it secure take once step back with the front foot and one step forward with the back foot and bring your feet together.


Like it has been said.....watch video, practice, practice, practice, practice...

Well, now I know what to work on once I get back to cleaning. Haha.

Originally Posted by BigDyl

Anyone got some videos I can watch? I have seen some, but I do not remeber the links.

check out the olympic lifting amzing lifts thread that I started. tons of videos there.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Well, now I know what to work on once I get back to cleaning. Haha.

come to nyc.