*Focusing just on the ‘Jerk’
The ‘Jerk’ doesn’t get enough attention nor recognition. You would think that this lift would get a lot more notoriety considering it’s part of the competition lifts, ‘Clean and JERK’. Yet many novice lifters only focus on the snatch, clean, pull, squat, and press…
Typically I split the clean and jerk into two different parts until a few weeks from the competition phase. This of course is subjective to the lifter and what seems to work best, but we’ve found separating the clean and jerk to be highly successful.
Programming the Jerk (Power/Split)
It’s very difficult to explain where and when to add the jerk. It’s really based on what the lifter needs, time frame, and development. Generally speaking I would suggest a hi-low program, this mean one day you’ll have a higher volume and lower intensity, medium with low/intensity, low volume with a varying intensity depending on the week. The point is that most novice lifters need to have the split jerk placed into the weekly program –exposure to the jerk will help develop better timing and bar awareness. Everyone hates misses but to miss it on the jerk is always tough: