Jerking...

**DSM4Life** · 10-26-2010, 05:34 PM

I was going to mix in some Olympic lifts to help change the boredom of my routine. I started with the clean and jerk. Before i moved onto the full clean jerk i was just working on the jerk starting with the bar in hand. I am good with coming down, jerking up, hip drive, i can flip the wrist fine but my problem is the hold. I have shorter arms and its not possible for me to allow the bar to rest of my delts (hold position). My forearms his my biceps and they simple will not move that far back. The bar ends up being just in front of my chest. Even without the bar i can't get my arms back that far. Any tips ?

**BgMc31** · 10-26-2010, 10:49 PM

Sounds like you are lacking in wrist and lat flexibility. You need to concentrate on forcing your elbows up in the catch position.

**DSM4Life** · 10-27-2010, 04:40 AM

Originally Posted by BgMc31

Sounds like you are lacking in wrist and lat flexibility. You need to concentrate on forcing your elbows up in the catch position.

I noticed that my elbows aren't as high as they should be but i can't get them up and back. When i hold the arm position at the top and lift my elbows parallel to the ground my palms are at like my mouth . My fingers just about extend to my shoulder.

**GetSwole83** · 10-27-2010, 05:24 AM

wow with the title of this post I had a totally different idea of what might be discussed here....

**DSM4Life** · 10-27-2010, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by GetSwole83

wow with the title of this post I had a totally different idea of what might be discussed here....

Yet you still came out. Get those skeletons out !

**BgMc31** · 10-27-2010, 11:49 AM

Yep, flexibility is your issue DSM. I had the same problem when I first started learning the oly lifts. The best thing to do is get a weight that you can neither front squat nor jerk and get into a oly style front squat hold. It will force your wrists to stretch to the position needed. Also you can work your lat flexibility using this. It will help you get your elbows higher as well. I do it 2-3 times for about 10 seconds each before I clean, or jerk.

**Phildude** · 11-05-2010, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by BgMc31

Yep, flexibility is your issue DSM. I had the same problem when I first started learning the oly lifts. The best thing to do is get a weight that you can neither front squat nor jerk and get into a oly style front squat hold. It will force your wrists to stretch to the position needed. Also you can work your lat flexibility using this. It will help you get your elbows higher as well. I do it 2-3 times for about 10 seconds each before I clean, or jerk.

I did this for a summer after my workouts, after the muscles were already worked and warm. I personally did this with little weight, but enough to force me to stretch. While it didn't seem to do much at first, when I started cleaning again I saw a huge jump in flexibility. Definately recommend BGMC31's advice.