The Jerk From Split: How To Fix Balance In Your Split Jerk
The Jerk is one of the most complex lifts out there.
It requires strength, coordination, timing and mobility beyond what most people think, but perhaps one of the most common struggles lifters have is balance in the split.
You can practice your footwork, you can get strong, but if you don’t have the balance you need, your jerks will always feel off and inconsistent.
One of the best drills to help teach and reinforce the proper split position is the Jerk from Split.
What Is The Jerk From Split?
The Jerk From Split is a movement primer or drill that is used to help reinforce the proper balance in the split jerk.
While most other jerk primers or drills involve some level of footwork practice like the Tall Jerk, Footwork Drill, or Pause Jerk, the Jerk From Split actually removes the coordination of your footwork as a limiting factor and allows you to isolate balance as the main focus.
How To Perform The Jerk From Split
To perform the Jerk From Split start with the bar on your front rack position, with your jerk grip on the bar. Then, instead of performing a jerk, leave the bar on your shoulders and step into your perfect split position. The key points for the split position are…
Vertical front shin
Bent back knee
Back heel off the ground with an active foot
Back leg’s glute squeezed
Core squeezed tight to prevent overextending lower back
Feet wide enough to feel stable side to side, think railroad tracks not a tight rope
Once you are in the ideal split position, dip to the bottom of your split catch position, drive up slightly, then punch yourself back under into the bottom of your split position. Throughout this movement, your feet should not leave the ground. If you are familiar with a push jerk, it should be a similar movement, but with your feet in a split position.
While performing this movement, aim to land with proper balance in your split position, and correct any deviations from this movement such as…
Error #1: Shifting You Balance Onto The Front Leg
The most common balance mistake people make in the split jerk is putting too much of their balance on the front leg.
In the split position, your balance should be perfectly 50/50 between the front leg and back leg. A sign that you are shifting forward on to the front leg is if your front knee travels forward in the catch instead of the ideal vertical front shin discussed in the key points above.
If this does happen, correct back to a vertical front shin and hold this position for 2-3 seconds to remind yourself where you are supposed to be. Then lower the bar for the next set and aim to sink back onto the back leg in the next rep. *Important* Making corrections before recovering for the next lift is a cheat code for ingraining the habit you need to set. Don’t perform the lift incorrectly and get mad and try to do it better on the next one. Make the correction on that lift, then recover and set up for the next rep.
Error #2: Straightening The Back Leg
Straightening the back leg is the second most common mistake people make in the jerk.
In the jerk, the back knee should be bent in order to act as a shock absorber, prevent you from going too deep, and help create stability in the core to prevent you from overextending in the back. If your back leg is too straight, it is more likely that it will push your hips forward causing you to lose your brace, and overall feel less stable.
If you end up in this position, then make sure to bend your knee to the ideal depth, hold this position for 2-3 seconds to remind yourself where you should be, then recover for the next rep and cue yourself “Drive the knee down”.
How To Implement The Jerk From Split
The Jerk from split is best implemented as a movement primer or lighter drill before upper strength work like we do on our Skills & Strength days on the OlyStrong 5-Day Team.
This exercise works really well in the 3-5 rep range to give you plenty of reps to practice the correct balance before you get into the heavier movements where it may be harder to make corrections.
To perform this exercise as a movement primer, simply do 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with an empty barbell or very light weight as part of your warm up to your first real warm up set of jerks. Most people will not be able to do this well with even 50% of their max jerk, so keep that in mind when selecting your weights for this exercise.
This exercise also works well as a warm up for upper body strength work like strict presses or push presses. On days that are primarily strength work, you can get some extra technique work in that is not particularly fatiguing, but still can help improve your clean and jerk technique. In this instance I would still do the same rep scheme as you would for a movement primer; 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with an empty barbell or very light weight. After this your shoulders should feel warm and ready to do any sort of upper body strength work!
Hopefully, this helped! If you ever need a free form check on your videos, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and drop your video in the #form-checks channel.
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