Sunday
Jun012008
The Split Jerk
Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 06:58PM 
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Reader Comments (13)
How did you get Greg to be so stoic?
"Verticality?"
Doug,
We drug him with horse tranquilizers and meth. He gets really fast, but he doesn't talk much.
Verticality is one of several noun forms of the adjective "vertical".
Best,
Jon
Hmmmm
I guess my limit vocab is just not up to speed.
Good job in the video, what camera are you using?
Jon,
You don't coach the Spl Jerk by teaching the stance first? Longer split for Greg would do him much good - his front leg is way too far in now.
And it's absolutely not necessary to have vertical torso in receiving position of the jerk: PJ, squat jerk, Kendrick Farris semi squat semi split jerk etc.
nicely executed informational video Jon~
Great job on the vid Jon.
great instruction as usual from jon. lifter's elbow position went from verticle on the presses to straight out in front of torso for the split jerk. is one position better than the other?
Leo,
Care to offer some support for your argument? Assertions are not evidence.
Note that Kendrick Farris is a world-class olympic lifter, and strong as an ox. I would never deign to offer coaching for someone of this caliber. Nonetheless, after reviewing several videos of Kendrick's jerks, I'd argue that he's striving for a vertical position under the bar, getting away with a very slight forward lean because of his tremendous strength.
The vast majority of my amateur athletes (and yours) would never get away with this.
Best,
Jon
Nice video Jon, good info, well presented, thanks!
Jon - I see where you're coming from now a bit better.
Vertical torso - It's the same concept as in the OHS - it's nearly impossible to do and if with max loads OHS will resemble more of a Back squat torso angle rather the more upright Front Squat. Yet people squat successfully in the OHS with torso quite a bit off vertical.
Now, forward lean in the jerk might be limited in majority of people by simple lack of flexibility in their shoulders - hence the perfectly upright position is about the only position they'll strive for.
Perfectly upright torso is not a necessity, rather it's one of the ways of keeping the body in the jerk.
Does that make sense?
I must have drank some "hatorade" recently or something though.
Leo,
We're pretty much in the same boat now. Forward lean happens, but isn't desirable during the jerk. Hence teaching the newbies to keep vertical!
Keep off that hatorade, brother. It's bad for the blood pressure.
Best,
Jon
Hi Jon,
Yet again, another great tutorial.
I have a question with regards to the split. Do you always split with the same leg forward, or do you advocate switching between right leg forward, left leg forward etc.? If not, would this not result in me ending up with a dominant limb and an imbalance in strength?
Thanks Jon, I hope you are well.
Michael.
Michael,
I always use the same foot (right) forward. Unless you're training the SJ all the time, I can't imagine you'd end up with any imbalance worth mentioning. Nonetheless, it is interesting to try switching. Give it a shot!
Best,
Jon