Clean and Jerk Demonstration

The following video shows a demonstration of the clean and jerk:

A clean and jerk starts with the barbell on the ground, with the bar over the mid-foot   Reach down while keeping the back in a neutral position. Lift the bar up past the knees, then bend the knees under the bar and jump up, transferring the power of that jump into the bar.  Keep the momentum of the bar going and jump under the bar to catch the bar on our shoulders in the bottom of a front squat position.  Keep your elbows up so that the bar lands on your shoulders, not on your collarbone.  That’s the “clean” part of the movement.

Now, do the jerk.  To do this, bend your knees slightly and jump up, again transferring the power of the jump into the barbell.  As the barbell travels up past your head, bend the knees again and catch the weight of the barbell with your arms fully extended.  Then, straighten the knees to reach a standing position with the barbell over your head.  Alternately, you can shoot one foot forward and the other back, as shown in the video.

Now drop the barbell back down onto your shoulders, and back to the ground.  That’s one clean and jerk.  The most important things to focus on are to keep your back neutral and land the bar on the shoulders, not your collarbone.

If you don’t have a barbell, you can do a similar movement with a heavy object.  Start with the object on the ground, lift it up to your chest, then up over your head.

 

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