Friday, May 02, 2008

Ups and Downs


Enter the Jerk: The most efficient way to blast something over your head...the weightlifting equivalent to a slap in the face. Learning to jerk means learning to rapidly open and close your hips. This of course leads to greater athletic development as most activities are powered and controlled by (you guessed it) the hips. Learning to jerk also means learning to throw your body at an object as a unit, as opposed to a scattered collection of body parts. More 'one-pieced-ness' means more muscle behind the movement means more power produced means more weight lifted. Fun!

Note how Aaron gets his hip fully extended (or open: no angle between his femur and torso) before he rapidly pulls back under the weight to lockout. Also note how vertical his initial dip is (chest and shoulders do not drop or lean forward at all)...both are critical for a good jerk. How's your jerk?

Who doesn't love the jerk?
-Boz

1 comment:

FilthyBrit said...

Aaron is the man. My jerk needs a lot of work (though not as much as my clean). Looks so simple when Aaron does it, but my feet invariably end up doing something wonky. Add this to the ever-expanding list of skillz to refine!