Stop Running From Your Jerk Problems
I'm gonna be real with you for a second.
I've been coaching CrossFit for eight years now, and there's this moment that happens at least three times a week. Someone walks up to me after class, usually still dripping sweat, and says something like "Hey Marcus, so... I'm pretty decent at cleans, my snatch is coming along, but jerks? Man, I just can't figure those out."
And you know what I used to tell them? "Oh yeah, jerks are tricky. Just keep practicing."
What a load of crap that was.
Here's the truth bomb I wish someone had dropped on me years ago: You don't hate jerks because they're inherently harder. You hate them because you've been avoiding the stuff that actually makes you good at them.
We're All Running From Our Weak Spots
I read this piece by Oleksiy Torokhtiy recently (yeah, the guy who jerked 240kg and makes the rest of us look like toddlers with barbells), and something he said hit me right in the gut. He basically admitted that even Olympic-level athletes hate the jerk.
OLYMPIC ATHLETES. People who've dedicated their entire existence to moving heavy things overhead.
That made me feel a lot better about my own jerk journey, which has been... let's call it "humbling." There was this one time during a competition where I cleaned 285lbs pretty smoothly, stood there feeling like a hero, then proceeded to fail the jerk three times in a row. Same weight I'd hit in practice dozens of times.
The crowd was awkward-silent. I wanted to crawl under the platform and disappear.
But here's what I learned from that disaster, and from guys like Torokhtiy who actually know what they're talking about: The jerk isn't failing us. We're failing the jerk.
The Real Problem (Spoiler: It's Not Your Shoulders)
Most of us approach the jerk like we're trying to solve a Rubik's cube while riding a unicycle. We overthink the hell out of it, panic when the weight feels heavy on our shoulders after a clean, and then wonder why our technique falls apart.
Torokhtiy mentioned something that made me go "OH. OHHHHH." He said athletes complain that after a clean, the bar feels "crushing." Not because the weight is too heavy - they literally just cleaned it - but because they're not prepared to jerk under pressure.
Think about it. You've just hit a PR clean. Your heart's hammering, your legs are a bit fried, and now you've got 10 seconds to nail this jerk or watch all that work go to waste. No pressure, right?
This is where most of us (myself included) have been approaching things completely backwards. We practice jerks when we're fresh, split jerks with perfect form, maybe throw in some push presses for "accessory work." Then we wonder why everything goes to hell when we're actually tired and stressed.
Breaking Down What Actually Matters
Here's where I started stealing... I mean, learning from Torokhtiy's approach. The guy focuses on four main components: dip, support, drive, and fixation. Sounds simple enough, except most of us are terrible at least three of these.
The Dip: This isn't just bending your knees. It's about staying tight, controlling the descent, and creating a platform to drive from. I used to think of it like a quarter squat. Wrong. It's more like compressing a spring while balancing a pissed-off cat on your shoulders.
Support: This is where that "crushing" feeling comes in. If you can't hold the weight comfortably on your shoulders, you're already done. Torokhtiy does jerk supports holding 110-130% of his max clean & jerk for 8 seconds. Meanwhile, I used to skip right to the fun stuff.
Drive: The explosive part everyone focuses on, but it only works if the first two components don't suck.
Fixation: Sticking that landing and proving you're actually in control. This is where your overhead position either saves you or destroys you.
Guess which one I was completely ignoring? All of them, but especially support and fixation.
What Actually Works (No Olympic Coach Required)
Okay, so I'm not suggesting you start jerking 255kg from the racks like some kind of weightlifting superhero. But there are some brutally effective things you can steal from the pros that won't require a mortgage payment.
Front Rack Holds Are Your New Best Friend
Load up a barbell with about 110% of your best clean & jerk (or whatever you can clean and hold). Get it in the front rack position and just... hold it. For 8-10 seconds. Do this 3-4 times.
It's boring. It's not Instagram-worthy. It works.
I started doing this twice a week and holy crap, the difference in how confident I felt with weight on my shoulders was night and day. Plus, it helped me figure out my actual front rack issues instead of just hoping they'd magically improve.
Jerk + Front Squat Combos When You're Already Tired
This one's diabolical, but Torokhtiy's onto something here. Instead of always practicing jerks when you're fresh, try this: do a couple moderately heavy cleans (like 80-85%), then immediately go into jerk + front squat combos.
Clean the weight, jerk it, bring it back down to the front rack, front squat, then jerk again. Do this for 3-4 sets.
You'll quickly discover where your technique falls apart when you're actually fatigued. It's not fun, but it's honest.
Push Press Variations (But Actually Do Them)
I used to program push presses and then half-ass them because they felt "easy" compared to jerks. Big mistake. Torokhtiy does push press variations with pauses in the dip, from front squats, with bands - basically making them as challenging as possible.
Try this: Push press with a 3-second pause in the dip. Use about 70-80% of your jerk max. The pause forces you to actually control the position instead of bouncing out of it.
Stop Making This Harder Than It Needs to Be
Here's something that took me way too long to figure out: You don't need to fix everything at once.
Torokhtiy talks about spending six months focusing almost exclusively on the jerk while maintaining other lifts at lower intensities. Most of us try to PR our snatch, clean, AND jerk every week, then wonder why we're not making progress anywhere.
Pick a cycle. Focus on jerks. Let your ego take a backseat and actually work on the boring stuff that makes jerks better:
- Overhead stability work
- Front rack strength and comfort
- Core strength (real core work, not just planks)
- Actually understanding the timing instead of just winging it
The Question You Need to Ask Yourself
I'll leave you with this: When was the last time you spent an entire training session just working on making your jerks better?
Not jerks as part of a clean & jerk complex. Not jerks at the end of a workout when you're already fried. Just jerks, with the respect and attention they deserve.
My guess is never, or close to it.
Look, I'm not saying you need to fall in love with jerks. Some lifts will always feel more natural than others. But stop running from the thing that's holding back your total. Stop making excuses about how jerks are "just harder" or "more technical."
They're only harder because we've been avoiding the work that makes them easier.
So here's my challenge: Pick two things from this article. Spend the next month actually doing them consistently. Not perfectly, just consistently. And then come back and tell me jerks are impossible.
I'll wait.
What's the one thing about jerks that frustrates you most? And more importantly, what are you actually going to do about it? Drop a comment - let's figure this out together.
