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Push Jerk

An overhead jerk that re-dips and receives the bar with the feet staying in place, splitting the difference between a strict push press and the footwork of a split or squat jerk.

OlympicBarbellOverhead drive
GoLightWeight mediapush-jerk

Demonstration coming soon

Primary

DeltoidsQuadriceps

Secondary

TricepsGlutesTrapeziusCore

Equipment

Barbell

Pattern

Overhead drive

Setup

  1. 01Rack the bar on the front delts with elbows slightly down from clean position.
  2. 02Take the bar from a rack or clean it to the shoulders.
  3. 03Set the feet at hip width with weight over mid-foot — this is the stance you will receive the bar in.
  4. 04Brace the trunk and set the gaze straight ahead.

Execution

  1. 01Dip straight down a few inches with an upright torso.
  2. 02Reverse hard and drive the bar off the shoulders with the legs.
  3. 03Without moving the feet, re-bend the hips and knees into a shallow dip to receive the bar overhead.
  4. 04Lock the elbows in that same shallow dip, then stand to full extension.

Checkpoints

  • -The feet never leave the floor and never move from the drive stance — no split, no jump-out.
  • -The bar leaves from the shoulders, not the hands.
  • -The receiving dip is shallow, well above a parallel squat.
  • -Elbows lock while the knees are still bent in the catch, before the final stand.

Common mistakes

  • -Splitting the feet fore and aft — that is a split jerk.
  • -Jumping the feet out and riding the catch into a deep squat — that is a squat jerk.
  • -Locking the arms out with no re-bend of the knees at all — that is a push press, not a jerk.
  • -Dipping forward onto the toes and sending the bar out front.

Programming notes

  • -Use 3 to 6 sets of 1 to 3 reps from the rack or blocks.
  • -Useful for testing overhead speed and rack strength without the footwork demands of a split jerk.
  • -Loads typically sit between a strict push press and a split jerk for the same lifter.

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