I’ve just started using these exercises in my programs and just wanted a few things cleared up about how to perform them. I have read articles on them through the search engine but want a bit more info.
Which exercise usually lets you use the most weight?
When doing the push jerk are your feet meant to leave the ground and then do a “stomp” like in power cleans?
Do you knee bend the same amount for both exercises or does the push jerk require more because it is more explosive?
Are there any other things I should be doing to differentiate the two? At the moment they both feel very similar but I’m sure there must be some difference.
You can do a foot stomp on the Push Jerk if you want to, but the big difference is that in the Push Press you bend the knees and get the weight moving with your legs then finish with your delts and tris. The Push Jerk you bend the knees and get the weight moving with your legs again, but then you rebend the knees and quickly get under the bar with locked arms then straighten the legs to stand straight.
Which exercise usually lets you use the most weight?
When doing the push jerk are your feet meant to leave the ground and then do a “stomp” like in power cleans?
Do you knee bend the same amount for both exercises or does the push jerk require more because it is more explosive?
Are there any other things I should be doing to differentiate the two? At the moment they both feel very similar but I’m sure there must be some difference.
Cheers,
Ben[/quote]
Push Jerk.
I do, but not much. I try to focus on driving myself under the bar fast rather than hitting the ground hard.
I do. Any other opinions on this?
How’s your shoulder flexibility? You have to have a certain amount of flexibility to get it in the right position (over or behind your head rather than in front of it). Are you pressing push-jerk out at all, or is it just snapping straight to full extension as you drive yourself under the bar? You should be doing the latter.
Hope that helps a little. I haven’t been doing these for that long, but those are some of the techniques that helped me lift more.
I don’t know why this is so overlooked but if you look at tapes of Dimas and Khakiashvilis closely you’ll see they actually hop a little forward on their push-jerks. This helped me out a lot when I used to do them.
Thanks for the input so far. I did push jerks today for the second time only. Two weeks ago I was trying to get familiar with it and find out what sort of weight I should use. Today I had the weight right and really concentrated on bending the knees a bit more and exploding upwards so that I didn’t “push” with the shoulders once the bar was travelling upwards, ensuring that the arms “snapped” into place rather than a slower extension like in a push press. I also worked on making sure I got under the bar more in the final position. Things worked much better and about 10 hours after the workout I am feeling a lot more like I have done a solid workout. I really love doing these Olympic lifts and am planning on doing a program focused on them later in the year.