Fixing your jerk: bar placement and leg position

The jerk can be a tricky situation for some lifters who are having issues placing the bar overhead and then having to fix the body underneath it. Let's take a look at how to fix your body underneath the bar and placing the bar overhead. 

Bar placement and leg position

No matter where the bar remains or travels it should always be on top of the hips or ankles. As you dip and drive and the bar moves upward the center of the bar should always remain on top. The farther away the barbell is from the center of your hips and ankles it creates a distance that is mechanically disadvantageous. Holding the bar in front in a disadvantageous position will cause you to use up more energy that otherwise doesn't need to be spent if held in an efficient advantageous position.

In the above picture you can see Cheri Chan of San Francisco NCAA D1 athlete who I've been working with. Observe the barbell is fixed under her hips for the most part but the load is has forward momentum because the back foot is almost straight. The back foot ideally needs to be bent similar to a lunge position to support the weight overhead and prevent any horizontal momentum. 

Here she demonstrates better more optimized positioning with properly loaded support and with a hind leg in a more bent position. Observe the lunge position. Tibia almost vertically straight. Barbell is above her ears and not in front of her head but not behind her head. You don't have to support the load behind the head. Some lifters do. If you have shoulder mobility that allows you to do so then by all means do it. However, you don't want the barbell to be too far behind your head for it can cause momentum to shift behind you and that can cause you to lose the bar behind. 

This is Marcin Dolega of Poland World Champion and Olympian properly supporting the load overhead. Observe the hind leg in a properly bent position similar to a lung. The load is exactly where it needs to be which is on top of the hips. 

Practice

Practice jerks with lighter loads (50% or 60%) of max and work on the position. Place the bar exactly where it needs to be placed in the most efficient receiving position to minimize horizontal momentum of the bar. 

For coaching and online programming contact me Coach Cano at 805-402-6335 or email me at 

capscave@gmail.com

Coach Cano